Refugees & Asylum

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.