Sawt Falasteen - Canada ends refugee family sponsorship exemption over integrity concerns

Canada’s immigration department says potential integrity concerns prompted it to end an exemption that allowed certain refugees to sponsor family members omitted from their original permanent residency applications.

The temporary policy began in 2019 and ended on September 10, 2026. It covered cases that could include children not yet born when the refugee’s application was submitted.

Permanent residents generally cannot sponsor relatives who were not declared in their original documentation. The government says humanitarian and compassionate exemptions may still be granted.

The policy was last extended in September 2023. A memo prepared for the immigration minister at that time said roughly 2,000 applications had been received and described the risk to programme integrity as minimal.

Refugee advocates were told on September 9 that the exemption would end imminently, but were not given an explanation. They have asked Immigration Minister Lena Diab to reinstate it.

The department did not identify the specific potential integrity concerns cited as the reason for ending the policy.

K.AbuDahab--SF-PST