refugee sponsorship
Re-uniting families
Welcome
Giving refugees a new start in Edmonton
IslamicFamily is a federally-approved Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) that helps families with strong ties to Edmonton privately sponsor refugees. Through our program, we guide private sponsors through the entire application process, ensuring they have the tools and knowledge needed to support a refugee’s transition to their new home.
Applications are open from February 3rd, 2025 to March 3rd, 2025. Apply here.
How Sponsorship Works
Helping refugees start a new life in Edmonton
Sponsoring a refugee requires careful planning and commitment. Here’s what the process looks like:
Before you begin
What you need to know before applying
Sponsorship is only open to Edmonton residents.
All sponsors must attend an information session before applying.
IslamicFamily does not provide financial support to sponsored refugees.
Sponsors must commit to providing financial, social, and practical support for one year.
Once submitted, applications cannot be changed.
Have questions? Email us at refugee@islamicfamily.ca
FAQ
Answers to common questions
Find quick answers to the most frequently asked questions about refugee sponsorship, eligibility, and the application process.
We are a small organization and our focus is only on people living in Edmonton. We are unable to help you with your request. If you are looking to immigrate to Canada, please visit your local Canada consulate and see the Government of Canada's Immigration & Citizenship website.
IslamicFamily is not an immigration consultant. We are a social service agency, and our work focuses on supporting people living in Edmonton. One way we do this is by supporting Edmonton families to privately sponsor refugees. If you do not live in Edmonton, or if your family member(s) is not legally recognized as a refugee, then we unfortunately are not able to help.
For someone to be resettled in Canada, as a refugee, they must be in one of the following classes:
- Convention Refugee Abroad Class
- Individual is outside their home country
- Individual cannot return to their home country due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on: race, religion, political opinion, nationality, and/or membership in a particular social group (examples: gender, sexual orientation, etc.)
- Country of Asylum Class
- Individual is outside their home country or the country where they normally live, and
- Individual has been seriously affected by civil war or armed conflict, or
- Individual has been denied basic human rights on an ongoing basis
Please note that we are only capable of accepting applications from Edmonton residents. If your family member meets the criteria as a refugee and you live outside of Edmonton, you can reach out to the SAH that serves your community of residence here. You can search based on the province and city in which you reside.
If you are an applicant who lives in Edmonton, your application will be reviewed by an independent committee. Please note the following:
- As a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH), IslamicFamily gets a quota (number of refugees that we can help sponsor), once a year, from the Government of Canada. The number is very limited and we can't exceed this allowable number.
- Applications open once a year. If you would like to get notified once the application opens, please either follow us on social media or subscribe to our mailing-list so that you receive the most current information.
- Starting in 2025, attendance to one of three mandatory information sessions at the IslamicFamily Hüb is required to submit an application.
- Our application is online. Meeting any of our staff will not help fast-process any application.
- Once the application deadline is closed, all the applications are sent to an independent committee (it doesn’t include any IslamicFamily staff). The committee reviews the applications, and chooses the applicants that will be processed.
- Successful sponsors are those who are well settled in Edmonton, are connected to the city, have steady employment and financial stability.
IslamicFamily doesn’t provide financial support for privately sponsored refugees when they arrive. Sponsors have the full financial responsibility, and must be able to provide for the refugee for one year.
Once the application is accepted, the sponsor is required to deposit their one year financial sponsorship contribution into a bank account managed by IslamicFamily. IslamicFamily will provide the refugee, when they arrive, with monthly income support from this account.
Sponsored refugees are not allowed to access Alberta Work for financial assistance throughout the first year of sponsorship.
IslamicFamily cannot help you obtain a visitor visa for your family or friends. Please visit this website to apply and learn how to get a visitor visa to Canada.
IslamicFamily prefers not to get involved in filling out applications, so that we remain neutral and objective in the process of choosing the refugees to be sponsored.
Refugees sponsored by IslamicFamily do not need UN refugee status. However, please note that we ask for documentation that proves the refugee lives out of their country of origin.
If the refugee you want to sponsor has UN refugee status then we may refer you to apply through the Group of Five, and reserve the spot at IslamicFamily for a refugee who was not able to obtain UN refugee status.
Sponsors are responsible to help the family resettle in Edmonton. A full list of duties can be reviewed here. IslamicFamily is able to support in some of these areas, but not all.
Refugees are legally entitled to work. However, if they don't speak English, the first step is to enroll in English classes to gain the language skills required to work, learn, and integrate into the community.
IRCC will follow up and ask for documentation that proves that the refugee is registered in certified English classes. Once they obtain English skills, refugees will be able to work.
Refugees are able to work part-time, when they are enrolled in full-time English training.
Refugees working during their first year of sponsorship are still eligible and entitled to sponsorship funds from their sponsors. This is a government regulated guideline to protect refugees and ensure sponsors uphold their responsibility.
IslamicFamily doesn't have lawyers who can help you with your in-land claim. For further information on how to seek asylum when you are inside Canada, please visit the Government of Canada’s Asylum Seekers info page, or the Government of Canada’s Immigrantion & Citizenship info page.
The cost varies depending on the number of individuals in the family, their ages, and their needs. This calculator will give you an estimate.
We can only inquire about the application status for submissions made through our organization. If your family member applied through another organization or directly through the UNHCR, they will need to contact them directly, as we are unable to assist with those applications.
The sponsorship application is submitted online through our platform, "Embark." However, if you have been in the country for less than one year, you are ineligible to sponsor at this time.
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