Resettlement from outside Canada

People who can be resettled from outside Canada fall into two classes.

1) Convention Refugee Abroad Class

You may be in this class if you:

• are outside your home country; and
• cannot return there due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on:
  • race,
  • religion,
  • political opinion,
  • nationality, or
  • membership in a particular social group, such as women or people with a particular sexual orientation.

You must also be:

• outside Canada, and want to come to Canada,
• referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or another referral organization, or be sponsored by a private sponsorship group, and
• selected as a government-assisted or privately sponsored refugee, or have the funds needed to support yourself and any dependants after you arrive in Canada.

2) Country of Asylum Class

You may be in this class if you:

• are outside your home country or the country where you normally live and have been, and continue to be, seriously and personally affected by civil war or armed conflict, or have suffered massive violations of human rights.

You must also be:

• outside Canada,
• referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or another referral organization or be sponsored by a private sponsorship group, and
• privately sponsored, or have the funds needed to support yourself and any dependants after you arrive in Canada.

You will have to pass a medical exam and security and criminal checks.

Some people are not eligible

You are not eligible to resettle to Canada as a refugee from outside Canada if:

• you have another secure offer for protection, such as an offer to be resettled in another country;
• you become a citizen of another country and have the protection of that country;
• you choose to return to live in the country you had left; or
• the reasons for your fear of persecution no longer exist.

Canada-Quebec Accord

Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, the Quebec government selects the refugees who settle in Quebec. Citizenship and Immigration Canada is responsible for determining whether a person selected by Quebec qualifies as a refugee based on Canadian immigration regulations.

For more information, visit the website of the Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles.