441-00802 (Citizenship and immigration)

Canada has a long history of providing protection to people fleeing persecution in their homeland or displaced by conflicts. The objectives of Canada’s refugee program are to save lives, offer protection to the displaced and persecuted, meet Canada’s international legal obligations with respect to refugees, and respond to international crises by providing assistance to those in need of resettlement. Canada offers resettlement on the basis of need, and without discrimination based on religion.

Canada recognizes the atrocities suffered by the Yazidi community, in particular the enslavement and sexual violence, affecting Yazidi women and girls, at the hands of Daesh, and is proud to have been able to provide many with the opportunity to start new lives in this country. As of July 31, 2022, Canada has welcomed almost 1,500 Yazidis and survivors of Daesh and their family members to Canada. For the resettlement of these individuals, including the Yazidi women and girls, the Government implemented a tailored approach to the resettlement process. Recognizing the importance of community connections, four core cities where there was an existing Yazidi diaspora were selected from the existing network of destinations with the adequate supports in place. The core cities selected for the resettlement of survivors were Toronto, London, Winnipeg and Calgary. The core cities were selected via comprehensive consultations with stakeholders and pertinent agencies. The criteria for selection included various aspects of the resettlement process including; adequate medical and psychosocial supports, availability of interpreters, and adequate community capacity to support those arriving.

Since their arrival, settlement services have been accessed by an average of 1,250¹ survivors of Daesh per year. Within this cohort, approximately 55% are female clients accessing settlement services such as: Information and Orientation Services, Needs and Assets Assessment and Referrals, Community Connections, Language Assessment, Language Training, Employment Related Services, and Support Services.

Support Services have consistently been accessed by Yazidi women availing themselves of the Settlement Program, including crisis counselling. In 2022-23, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Settlement Program planned spending totals $1.026 billion.

Through these broad ranging supports, the Government of Canada has demonstrated its commitment to assisting Yazidis to settle and integrate into the communities in which they have resettled.

¹This data excludes Survivors of Daesh who landed in QC as they do not receive Settlement services funded by the federal government.