COW – Private Sponsorship of Refugees Intake Pause – May 28, 2026
Demand for our Private Sponsorship of Refugees program is very high. This has led to a large inventory of applications and long wait times.
To help manage pressure on the system, we extended the pause on new applications from Groups of Five and Community Sponsors until December 31, 2026; Sponsorship Agreement Holders can continue to submit applications according to their cap (5,000 spaces).
We continue to process existing applications and welcome privately sponsored refugees during the pause, based on targets in the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan.
This year's Levels Plan reduced admission targets for privately sponsored refugees (from 23,000 in 2025 to 16,000 in 2026) as well as for government-assisted refugees (from 15,250 in 2025 to 13,250 in 2026), as part of our plan to return to sustainable immigration levels.
We continue to work closely with partners and stakeholders who support refugee resettlement and to help them adjust to the new targets.
We have a world-leading refugee resettlement program, and recognize that many Canadians want to help welcome refugees.
