441-01198 (Foreign affairs)

The Government of Canada is concerned with the persecution of minorities around the world and is committed to providing protection to people at risk. This includes those who unacceptably face discrimination on the basis of their religious beliefs and those who face precarious conditions in their countries of asylum, such as Christians of Pakistani origin who have fled to Thailand and other countries. Canada has a strong and longstanding humanitarian tradition of resettling at-risk populations from around the world who have fled persecution in their home countries. This is why the Government has significantly expanded the resettlement program by tens of thousands of annual spaces, providing hope to Pakistani Christians and other populations at risk of finding safety in Canada. The target for the Refugee Resettlement Program has grown from 14,000 people in 2015 to over 51,000 people in 2023, which represents more than 260% growth.

Canada’s Refugee Resettlement Program is designed to both provide protection to the most at-risk refugees around the world, and also to provide Canadians with the opportunity to identify and sponsor refugees lacking a durable solution. Refugees can access Canada’s protection through the Government-Assisted Refugees Program, the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program, or the Blended Visa Office-Referred Program. Under the Government-Assisted Refugees Program and the Blended Visa Office-Referred Program, Canada relies on trusted organizations like the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to identify refugees who are the most in need of resettlement. The UNHCR has a global mandate to identify and prioritize those most in need of resettlement on the basis of their intersectional needs. The identification of resettlement needs is part of ongoing assessments of protection gaps by the UNHCR. Refugees are identified as in need of resettlement when they are at risk in their country of refuge or have particular protection needs. Specifically, the UNHCR identifies and refers the most at-risk refugees for resettlement, with all refugees falling into one or more resettlement submission categories: Legal and/or Physical Protection Needs (this includes those who are persecuted because of their ethnicity, religious beliefs and/or sexual orientation); Survivors of Torture and/or Violence; Medical Needs; Women and Girls at Risk; Family Reunification; Children and Adolescents at Risk; and Lack of Foreseeable Alternative Durable Solutions.

Refugees who may not qualify for resettlement through the UNHCR can also access protection in Canada through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program, which allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to identify refugees whom they wish to sponsor for resettlement to Canada. Private sponsors refer refugees to IRCC who they deem to be in need of protection, while also demonstrating that they have the capacity to provide the necessary financial and non-financial supports to sponsor a refugee to Canada. Groups of Five or more Canadian citizens or permanent residents, or Community Sponsor organizations, associations or corporations can apply to sponsor a refugee who is in possession of a Refugee Status Determination, issued either by UNHCR or a foreign state. Sponsorship Agreement Holders, who sign a sponsorship agreement with the Minister of IRCC, and the Constituent Groups that work with them, can apply to sponsor a refugee. The requirement for a Refugee Status Determination document does not apply to refugees sponsored by Sponsorship Agreement Holders. In 2023, Sponsorship Agreement Holders will be able to sponsor 13,500 refugees – an increase of 1,000 refugees from each of the last three years and a ten-fold increase from when the annual cap on the number of refugees these groups can apply to sponsor annually was introduced in 2012.

IRCC recognizes that refugees in countries of asylum may face difficult conditions and strives to process cases as fast as possible. Applicants facing particularly acute risks may be eligible for expedited processing, which is extended on a case-by-case basis, in light of their individual circumstances. Canada’s Refugee Resettlement Program reserves space for the urgent resettlement of refugees facing immediate and imminent threats to their life, liberty or physical safety. The Urgent Protection Program ensures that Canada is able to respond to urgent requests from the UNHCR for resettlement of refugees under threat of being returned home, of expulsion or of facing direct threats to their lives. Refugees at risk, or people aware of such a case, can alert the UNHCR to the danger they face.

Canada stands ready to continue to be a steadfast supporter of persecuted minorities all over the world, including through concrete means such as the resettlement of those most at risk.

During its second cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 2016, Canada recommended that Thailand provide access to legal status for asylum seekers and refugees without discrimination, end arbitrary detention, and implement effective legal safeguards against refoulement consistent with international human rights and refugee law.  While Thailand did not accept the recommendation, Canada has continued to advocate on such issues on an ongoing basis. 

Canada and other countries provided additional recommendations during Thailand’s third cycle of the UPR in November 2021. These included a recommendation to strengthen efforts to protect the rights of persons who are marginalized and most vulnerable, and encouragement for Thailand's accession to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees and its optional protocol and for continued efforts to provide safe haven and assistance to those fleeing persecution. Thailand committed to continuing to provide humanitarian assistance to persons of concern in Thailand. Additionally, Thailand pledged to engage with the international community and cooperate with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to enhance the protection and assistance for refugees and asylum seekers.

Canada continues to regularly engage Thailand on human rights, including concerning migrants and refugees, and advocates around other UPR recommendations made by Canada at various levels – including by the Prime Minister during his bilateral meeting with Thailand’s Prime Minister in November 2022.