IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2026 - Refugee Resettlement & Complementary Pathways

Context

In accordance with the Immigration Levels Plan, and in support of Canada’s international commitment to refugee protection, Canada accepts a targeted number of refugees from overseas as permanent residents under its Refugee Resettlement Program each year. In addition, complementary pathways create other safe and legal pathways for refugees and other displaced people to find protection solutions outside of traditional refugee resettlement programs.

Background

• The Canadian refugee system has two main parts:
  • the Refugee Resettlement Program for people overseas who need protection; and
  • the In-Canada Asylum Program for people making refugee claims from within Canada.
• Under the Refugee Resettlement Program, Canada resettles people from abroad who have been found by an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officer to meet the refugee definition under Canada’s legislation, including:
  • to have a well-founded fear of persecution; or, to be seriously and personally affected by civil war, armed conflict or massive violation of human rights;
  • be outside their country of nationality or habitual residence; and,
  • be admissible to Canada including on security, criminality, and health grounds.
• In addition to the Refugee Resettlement Program, Canada also welcomes refugees and other displaced persons through the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, a labour-based complementary pathway for skilled refugees and other displaced persons to immigrate to Canada through economic programs, and gives employers access to a new pool of qualified candidates to fill job openings.

Current Program

• Canada’s Resettlement Program has three program streams:
  • The Government-Assisted Refugees program resettles the most vulnerable refugee populations identified by United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and other designated referral partners. Under the Resettlement Assistance Program, the Government of Canada provides pre-arrival services, immediate and essential services in the first four to six weeks in Canada (e.g., port-of-entry services, information and orientation sessions, temporary accommodation, assistance in locating permanent accommodation), as well as income support up to a maximum of one year.
    • Financial support typically includes a one-time “start-up” payment to help refugees purchase household necessities, and monthly income support for shelter and basic needs in line with prevailing social assistance rates for the province in which they reside. Following the one-year period, if clients are not able to support themselves, they transition to provincial or territorial social assistance programs.
  • The Private Sponsorship of Refugees program allows private groups, including Canadians and permanent residents, to identify and sponsor refugees for resettlement to Canada. These refugees often have family/community connections in Canada, and receive income and non-financial supports from their sponsors typically for one year after arrival, or until clients can support themselves.
    • Sponsors are required to provide financial support at rates equivalent to what is provided to government-assisted refugees.
  • The Blended Visa Office-Referred program matches UNHCR-referred refugees with private sponsor groups in Canada. Sponsors provide non-financial settlement supports and six months of income support, with Canada providing the remaining six months of income support.
• Resettled refugees have permanent residence and protected person status upon landing in Canada and have access to all IRCC-funded settlement services available to permanent residents.
• In addition to its global leadership on resettlement, Canada is considered a leader in complementary pathways.
• In 2018, Canada launched the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP), the world’s first refugee labour mobility pilot. The EMPP supports skilled refugees and displaced persons to immigrate to Canada through economic pathways by offering administrative facilitation measures to offset the barriers due to their displacement.

Impacts

Overseas Partners

• The UNHCR is Canada’s primary partner for referring and identifying government-assisted refugees for resettlement to Canada. The UNHCR has an extensive network of protection officers with effective safeguards to ensure a strong referral process to combat fraud or integrity issues. In addition, the UNHCR has diplomatic protection and established relationships with refugee hosting states to support effective identification of refugees requiring resettlement, as well to secure exit permission once resettlement is approved.
• Canada also works with other civil society organizations to identify and refer refugees, in support of specific priorities (e.g., LGBTQI+ refugees, human rights defenders, EMPP candidates) and from populations or areas that the UNHCR is not in a position to reach (e.g., urban settings in Kenya).
• The International Organization for Migration provides logistical support for refugee processing overseas including arranging travel, as well as, pre-departure medical assessments under the Interim Federal Health Program.
• Through the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility and the Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways, Canada engages with international communities of practice to support the development of new complementary pathways around the world.
• Canada also participates in many international refugee fora, including within the United Nations systems such as UNHCR Executive Committee, the Global Refugee Forum, and the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways.
• Canada also engages with other resettlement states including through the Resettlement Pathways Diplomacy Network (a multilateral initiative intended to drive high-level strategic and diplomatic engagement).

In-Canada Partners

• IRCC-funded resettlement service providers in 46 communities (outside of Quebec) deliver services that meet the immediate and essential needs of government-assisted refugees upon their arrival in Canada.
• Private sponsors, including organizations (e.g., faith-based and diaspora groups) and groups of individuals, identify privately-sponsored refugees for resettlement to Canada.
• Communities in provinces and territories receive government-assisted refugees based on settlement capacity, family connections, the availability of medical services, and other factors.
• The province of Quebec operates its own resettlement program. Under the Canada–Quebec Accord, Quebec is responsible for setting its own immigration levels plan and IRCC is responsible for processing and approving applications.
• NGO stakeholders support the EMPP by identifying skilled refugees and other qualified displaced people abroad and connecting them with employers in Canada.

Recent Developments

• Globally, the number of people forcibly displaced continues to rise, while the number of resettlement spaces has declined.
• In 2025, Canada resettled a total of approximately 38,785 refugees, including 15,730 government-assisted refugees, 22,975 privately sponsored refugees, and 80 blended visa office referred refugees.
• IRCC has a number of existing resettlement commitments that target specific populations with unique protection needs, including Sudanese, Uyghurs, LGBTQI+, Afghan Ismailis, and others.
• For both the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program and EMPP, the Department continues to process applications in line with available admissions spaces.