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Ottawa Won’t Say if People Misused a Now-Defunct Refugee Residency Sponsorship Policy
The Canadian Immigration Department declined to confirm if the refugee permanent resident sponsorship policy was misused before it expired last week due to potential integrity concerns.
The policy allowed certain refugees to sponsor family members not originally listed on their initial immigration application, including children and LGBTQ+ partners in countries criminalizing those relationships.
Advocates and academics supported the policy for its humanitarian impact, especially for marginalized groups.
The department stated it will evaluate new exemption requests individually on humanitarian and compassionate grounds but refused to provide further details about actual misuse.