2023 Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program -

Sponsor a Refugee

Expression of Interest (EOI) was open Monday, May 8, 2023, at 9:00am until Sunday May 14, 2023, at 4:00pm.

The Expression of Interest (EOI) Lottery has now closed. If you were not able to submit the Interest to Sponsor Form in 2023, we encourage you to try again in 2024 when the Interest to Sponsor Form opens. 

If you were able to submit your Expression of Interest to sponsor form in 2023, read below on how Expressions of Interest are processed:

1. All interest forms received that meet the requirements of the program, including the eligibility criteria outlined in the Interest to Sponsor Form, will be entered into the lottery for random selection/draw.
2. We will contact you if your Expression of Interest form is chosen in the lottery.
3. Submission of an Expression of Interest to Sponsor Form does not guarantee a sponsorship spot. We will be conducting further screening and assessment to verify accuracy of information shared in the Expression of Interest and to evaluate your capacity to sponsor refugees. 
4. Co-sponsors who pass the screening will be invited into a mandatory training. In the training, you will learn more about your role and responsibilities in the sponsorship and you may ask questions or seek clarifications relevant to the requirements of the program. After the training, you are expected to evaluate yourselves as co-sponsors jointly and determine whether you have the time, settlement capacity and the financial capacity to sponsor the refugee(s) you have identified in the Expression of Interest to Sponsor Form. 
5. Spots won are non-transferable between families and co-sponsors. Co-Sponsors can only sponsor the refugee(s) selected in the lottery. Co-sponsors cannot transfer the spots won to a different family or co-sponsors. 
6. After the training, MIIC will enter into an agreement (Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)) with the selected co-sponsors. The MOU details the terms and conditions of both parties in the sponsorship.
7. We will email the sponsorship application package to both co-sponsors. You will be told about how much time you have to send us or bring the complete package.
8. We require that co-sponsors deposit 100% of funds into our refugee fund account. We do not accept any pledges/promises to deposit the funds later. We also do not accept in-kind deductions as part of the calculations of the amount of the fund required. Details of how the funds will be deposited will be shared during the training.
9. We will review the application package submitted to:

a) Assess your eligibility as a sponsor.

b) Assess if the person you are sponsoring is eligible for sponsorship.

We will return your sponsorship package/application to you if:

• It is incomplete.

• You weren't invited to apply.

• We didn't get it before the deadline mentioned on your invitation.

• Administrative fees and/or settlement funds are missing.

For more information on the 2023 Lottery requirements send an email to general.psr@miic.ca

Please follow our social media pages for lottery updates.