Group of Five Sponsorship Pause: What It Means and What You Can Do

IRCC has extended the pause on new Group of Five and Community Sponsor private refugee sponsorship applications until December 31, 2026. This resource explains what the pause means, which streams are still accepting applications, and alternative options.

This resource explains the current pause on the Group of Five (G5) and Community Sponsor (CS) streams under Canada's Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program, first announced November 29, 2024 and extended to December 31, 2026. It clarifies which streams are affected, which are not, and what alternatives remain available to groups wishing to support refugee resettlement.

The Group of Five program allows five or more Canadian citizens or permanent residents to jointly sponsor a specific refugee from abroad — a meaningful and direct way for communities to contribute to resettlement. The extended pause means that new standard G5 and Community Sponsor applications cannot be submitted for intake. Groups who have already submitted applications or who are exploring resettlement options need accurate, current information about what remains available.

• The G5 and Community Sponsor streams were paused on November 29, 2024 and the pause was extended to December 31, 2026 by IRCC in November 2025
• The Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) stream is NOT paused and continues to operate under its annual quota system
• The Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) program is also NOT paused — Groups of Five and Community Sponsors are still eligible to participate in BVOR, which matches them with refugees already identified by the UNHCR
• The pause was introduced because demand for the PSR program created a backlog of more than 100,000 individuals awaiting first-stage approval, with wait times stretching well beyond IRCC's service standards
• Applications that had already been submitted to IRCC before the pause date are still being processed — the pause only affects new intake