COW – Private Sponsorship of Refugees Intake Pause – May 28, 2026
- Demand for our Private Sponsorship of Refugees program is very high. This has led to a large inventory of applications and long wait times.
- To help manage pressure on the system, we extended the pause on new applications from Groups of Five and Community Sponsors until December 31, 2026; Sponsorship Agreement Holders can continue to submit applications according to their cap (5,000 spaces).
- We continue to process existing applications and welcome privately sponsored refugees during the pause, based on targets in the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan.
- This year's Levels Plan reduced admission targets for privately sponsored refugees (from 23,000 in 2025 to 16,000 in 2026) as well as for government-assisted refugees (from 15,250 in 2025 to 13,250 in 2026), as part of our plan to return to sustainable immigration levels.
- We continue to work closely with partners and stakeholders who support refugee resettlement and to help them adjust to the new targets.
- We have a world-leading refugee resettlement program, and recognize that many Canadians want to help welcome refugees.