IFSSA will open the window to sponsor refugees for a one month period. There may be multiple windows to apply throughout the year. You can be notified of when the window opens by signing up for our newsletter.
After each sponsorship window an IFSSA committee will assess applications based on the urgency, timeliness, the viability of the refugee case, and IFSSA’s financial ability to support the case. IFSSA will let you know within 5-6 weeks if it will be able to help you sponsor a refugee. Applications that don’t proceed to sponsorship will have the opportunity to reapply during the next opening.
Spots are generally allocated in February, but additional spots may become available later in the year. The amount of spots granted in a given year is decided by government, not IFSSA.
Applicants need to be able to present a strong case that they are sponsoring a refugee who has a well-founded fear of persecution and who is unwilling or unable to return to their home country.
IFSSA reserves the right to refer sponsors to other options, like Group of 5, et al. Eg. Someone with a refugee card, and a sponsor with sufficient funds may be better off going through a group of 5.
Applications must begin with an Edmonton based connection, generally family-linked. IFSSA will not accept claims directly from refugees or sponsors outside of greater Edmonton.
IFSSA will maintain a fund for sponsoring refugees. This fund is specifically for refugee sponsorship and will not come from IFSSA’s general donations or grants. (This fund may accept zakat).
This fund will be available to sponsoring families with household incomes of less than $60k. Sponsoring families need to show proof of income such as a letter of employment, T4, etc.
Should the fund have insufficient funds, families will be placed on the waitlist until sufficient funds are available.
Should the family have sufficient income to sponsor, it will be asked to create a secure bond for the refugee by the time IFSSA is ready to submit the application – the application process may take 15 months or more. (Should the application be unsuccessful the bond will be returned, minus processing/administrative fees). This bond will be available exclusively to the refugee to cover their monthly needs according to RAP (Resettlement Assistance Program) guidelines during their first year in Canada. The size of the bond will be based on rent and basic necessities for a year. Provisions may be added to return portions of the bond back to the sponsoring family should the refugee begin earning or no longer need the funds. The refugee will have the choice to live independently.
Refugee applications will be accepted during the window and assessed afterwards by a committee. IFSSA will notify the community via its newsletter of when applications will open. Families will be asked to apply via a form on IFSSA’s website. IFSSA will only make an announcement about refugee sponsorship opportunities opening up after its worked through its backlog.
New applicants will be added to a newsletter, but will not be added to the waitlist until IFSSA’s application window opens.