Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 377, January 27, 2016
Charities and not-for-profits involved in refugee sponsorship (“Refugee Support Organizations”), particularly those who are a refugee Sponsorship Agreement Holder with the federal government (“SAH”), are facing an influx of needs and requests that has not been seen in Canada in decades. In the months since the new Liberal government’s initiative began, SAHs and Refugee Support Organizations have constituted the “front line” facing the recent surge of requests for aid and refugee sponsorship. In particular, SAHs and the federal government are struggling to meet the real and significant need that exists to help facilitate refugees’ sponsorship, passage, and integration into Canada. For the refugees and their families, many of whom are fleeing from Syria and other conflict areas, this journey is one of the most dramatic and life altering experiences any individual may endure. To a lesser extent, but by no means less important, both SAHs and Refugee Support Organizations are having to either start “fresh” or exponentially increase a previously small refugee sponsorship program in order to address the current influx of refugees in Canada.
To read more, please see Charity and & NFP Law Bulletin No. 377.