In 2019, IRCC created a Minimum Support Calculator that sponsoring groups must use to generate their budget. 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to receive a template specific to your province and family composition. In your email, please include:

• the name of your community, and
• the names & birthdates of each member of the family you are sponsoring.
• any other information that would affect the budget - i.e. pregnancy, health concerns, etc.

Once you have formed your core team, chosen the sponsorship type, and have begun to assign team member roles with at least the Representative (Team Lead) and Treasurer in place, you are now ready to approach your church board.

The sponsorship does not become 'official' and legally binding until you sign and submit the required documents for the Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) and the forms required by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Formerly called, "Preparing For and Transitioning to Month 13," this monthly webinar is required training by your SAH. Every member of the Core Team must take this webinar.

To register for this webinar click here.

If this timing is not convenient, check back here at the end of the month for the date and time it will be offered again next month.

At this point, a Core Team will be in place, the Church Board will have given their approval, and fundraising has begun. Once the church has signed the "Church Letter of Support" it is time to select a refugee family if that hasn't been done yet, and complete the application forms.

As the Core Team meets together to plan and prepare for settlement, part of your preparation responsibility is to take time to learn about the refugee(s) country of origin and culture in preparation for their arrival. Choose the best resource for your team, and then review the cultural basics presented there. You could read through a segment when you meet together, and then discuss any questions or issues that are raised, or one person could present to the team. 

Whatever means you choose, your SAH will ask the Team Lead to confirm the sponsorship group has done some cultural sensitivity training prior to the refugee's arrival.

Culture Crossing Guide covers basics of greetings, communication style, personal space, eye contact, views of time, gestures, gender roles and taboos for a number of different cultures.

EveryCulture.com is another resource that may be good for your group.

If you find other helpful links or resources, please contact us. We will add those links that may be helpful for others too.

This is a new webinar offered by RSTP, and is required training by your SAH. The Team Lead and finance person from the Core Team must take this webinar.

Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Time: 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm EDT

This interactive webinar allows sponsors to connect with a case study group about a woman named Aliya to learn how to keep sponsorship records and respond to IRCC's requests for information.

Attendees will also learn about the purpose and process of the Assurance framework that all sponsors work with.

To register click here.

Register to access the recording of a previous presentation of this webinar here. Attending the webinar in person provides opportunity to ask questions of the facilitator.

Managing Expectations in the context of Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR)

This training is required by your SAH. Every member of the Core Team must participate in the Resource Kit activities.

Managing Expectations Resource Kit

This kit can be used at one or two of your Core Team meetings to explore the unidentified expectations within your own sponsorship group. One or two Core Team members could facilitate the training after looking through the material using the guided questions and videos included. 

RSTP's "Managing Expectations Resource Kit" is available for download here.  Video links and Resource Kit Activities only (a duplicate of the activities already found in the Resource Kit) can be accessed through these links. This kit works like curriculum. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you need assistance to facilitate this training.

Now that the sponsored refugees have arrived, all the work that went into settlement and budget planning will be put to the test. Is it a good plan? Are the expectations realistic?

As with every successful endeavor, there must be an informed plan or course of action. And as with every successful endeavor, that plan must be flexible enough to bend to real life, with real people. To help CGs navigate the adjustments that are to be expected once they move from theory to the real thing, we require the CG Representative submit a quarterly report designed to provide us with the practical information we need, and to create room to notice potential issues as they arise.

This monthly on-line workshop hosted by RSTP is highly recommended training by your SAH. At least 2 members of the Core Team must attend this on-line workshop.

This is one of the webinars that is required training by our SAH. Every member of the Core Team must take this webinar.

Continue to learn with Aliya's sponsorship group as they discover why the settlement plan is central to the application, how to calculate the application budget, where to find the application guide and how to read it with ease. Attendees will learn:

• how long sponsors are expected to provide financial support to refugees sponsored under the PSR program;
• the minimum amount of financial support that sponsors are expected to provide to refugees on arrival and the relationship between the Sponsorship Cost Table and the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) rates;
• how to use the Minimum Financial Support Calculator to calculate the minimum level of financial support required on arrival;
• situations that may change the amount of financial support that sponsors are expected to provide once the refugees arrive in Canada; and,
• an overview of sponsors’ settlement responsibilities under the program and how settlement agencies can assist sponsors with fulfilling their settlement responsibilities.

Register here.

Formerly called "Preparing for Arrival and Providing Post-Arrival Support: Handling Unrealistic Expectations and Practicing Ethical Considerations."

This webinar is offered monthly and is required training by your SAH. Every member of the Core Team must take this webinar.

Date: Thursday May 18, 2023
Time: 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm EDT

In this new series of training by RSTP, attendees follow a fictional sponsorship group as they prepare to welcome a newcomer family. Today's webinar picks up the story when Aliya’s brother and his family are due to arrive! Follow along with Aliya and her team as they make sure they have everything ready to welcome and give orientation to Samuel, Estelle and their 2 children. This interactive webinar will provide:

• a recap of sponsors’ settlement responsibilities;
• review ethical considerations that are important to keep in mind when sponsoring refugees;
• the power imbalance that exists in the sponsor-sponsored newcomer relationship and tips on how to mitigate the imbalance;
• and the importance of managing expectations.

To register click here.

If this timing is not convenient for you, the RSTP Video Library has a copy of an older version of the webinar available here.

This is one of the webinars that is required training by your SAH. The Team Lead must take this webinar, and then communicate the applicable content to the refugee before the Visa Office interview.

Date: TBD 
Time: TBD

Listento the July 29, 2020 webinar here.

The interview with the Canadian visa offices (VO) abroad is the stepping stone towards granting permanent residence status for your sponsored refugees and bringing them to safety in Canada.

Community Specific Settlement Plan

Settlement planning is one of the more time consuming tasks of a sponsorship undertaking. IRCC needs to see that every facet of resettlement has been considered and that there is a plan in place with enough flexibility that the task will be completed even if unforeseen issues arise.

Contact us to receive a "Detailed Settlement Plan" template. It is best for different members of the Core Team to be responsible for different aspects of settlement i.e. transportation, schooling, language training, medical, housing, etc. 

Take the time to do the research, to make the phone calls, to do the leg-work necessary to become informed as you prepare to walk with newcomers through their first year of resettlement in a new country. Contact settlement providers in your area and consider what you need to know about your community that will be useful for newcomers.  

Once the template is finished, send it to your SAH for a completeness check as part of the "Required by SAH" documents. When the family arrives, this will become a living document, changing as required and as unforeseen situations arise, and as newcomers become more independent.

Training in the comfort of your own home by qualified RSTP trainers, SAH members, and settlement providers will help equip you and your team to meet settlement responsibilities.

Attending regularly featured RSTP webinars or watching a recorded webinar are required by each Core Team as outlined below:

Required by the Team Lead plus one other Core Team Member:

• What is the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program?
• Preparing for the Visa Office Interview
• On-line Workshop 

Required Training by each Core Team Member:

• Preparing a Settlement Plan
• Preparing for Arrival and Orientation
• Fulfilling Your Obligations through Assurance
• Completing a Successful Sponsorship Year
• Power Imbalance - 3 minute audio
• Managing Expectations - resource kit with activities and video links. This training will be facilitated by the Team Lead or another "teacher" among you using the curriculum available below.

Volunteer Screening & Cultural Awareness

Along with the webinars/videos, each core team person and volunteers who wants to work one-on-one with newcomers after arrival will:

• submit the results of a Vulnerable Sector Screening Check to their Team Lead
• participate in Cross-Cultural Awareness training facilitated by the Team Lead
• participate in Volunteer Screening and orientation as provided by their church. If a church does not already have a volunteer screening program in place, the AGC recommends Plan to Protect Orientation Training. Plan to Protect does offer a Refugee and New Immigrant module, but the information specific to refugees and newcomers is outdated and sometime erroneous. We do not recommend you take this module specifically.

This is one of the webinars that is required training by your SAH. The Team Lead and one or two others from the Core Team must take this webinar.

Date: TBD
Time: TBD

This webinar delivered by RSTP for new and experienced sponsors will provide an in-depth look at the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program, including:

• an overview of Canada’s refugee sponsorship and resettlement programs;
• who can sponsor under the PSR program;
• the eligibility and admissibility requirements for refugees being sponsored under the PSR program;
• the importance of refugee status documents and who needs them; and,
• an overview of the application process.

Register for this event here.

Previously recorded events can be accessed here.