Zero Intake Cap on Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) by Groups

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryCanada

Operative dateJanuary 1, 2026

CategoryOther

Policy toolNew pathway

Affected groupNew applicants

Policy effect

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration issued Ministerial Instructions setting the intake cap for new Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) applications submitted by 'Groups' to zero for the 2026 calendar year.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

Cabinet approved admission targets, without further growing inventories. Scope These Instructions apply to groups, as referred to in section 138 of the Regulations, who are applying under Part 8, Division 2, of the Regulations, and for which the sponsorship application was submitted on or after the coming-into-effect date listed in these Instructions. Applications made under a temporary public policy made under section 25.2 of the Act are excluded from these Instructions. Setting the number of new sponsorship applications to be accepted for processing in a calendar year The number of new sponsorship applications under Part 8 of Division 2 of the Regulations that will be accepted for processing in a calendar year, by groups, is set at zero. The year begins on January 1, 2026, and ends on December 31, 2026. Humanitarian and compassionate requests A request made under subsection 25(1) of the Act from outside Canada and that accompanies an application that was not accepted for processing under these Instructions will not be processed. Effective period These Instructions take effect on January 1, 2026, and expire on December 31, 2026. October 2, 2025 The Hon. Lena Metlege Diab, ECNS, KC …

Canada GazetteCanada Gazette. Zero Intake Cap on Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) by Groups. Effective 2026-01-01.; Ministerial Instructions with respect to the processing of certain sponsorship applications under the Refugee Class, Canada Gazette, Part I, Vol. 159, No. 47.Open official source

Retrieved from https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2025/2025-11-22/html/notice-avis-eng.html

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

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Zero Intake Cap on Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) by Groups

Policy effect

Official source excerpt

Review method

Other Canada changes operative in 2026