The Quebec Refugees program fully endorses the principle of international solidarity as well as the objectives of the international conventions providing for the protection of refugees in Quebec.

Humanitarian immigration occupies a particularly important place in Québec.

Resettlement in Québec is a solution offered to approximately 2,000 individual refugees each year.

Sponsored refugees are welcomed and given financial support by a group or an organization that has agreed to take charge of them by signing a collective sponsorship undertaking.

Quebec Refugees – Abroad

Convention Refugee Abroad

To be considered in this category, you must satisfy all of the following conditions:

• you must be outside the country of which you are a national or, if you have no nationality, outside the country of habitual residence
• you must have a well-founded fear of persecution because of your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinions
• in light of this fear, you are unable or unwilling to avail yourself of the protection offered by this country or to return to this country
• you must be in a situation where no lasting solution can be found within a reasonable amount of time.

Note: The Government of Canada is responsible for determining if a candidate is a Convention Refugee Abroad (Geneva Convention).

Person in the Country of Asylum Class

To be considered in this class, you must satisfy all of the following criteria:

• you must be outside Canada and the country of which you are a national or in which you have your habitual residence
• you must have suffered and continue to suffer serious personal consequences incurred as a result of civil war, an armed conflict, or a massive human rights violation in the country of which you are a national or the country of habitual residence
• you must be in a situation where no lasting solution can be found within a reasonable amount of time
• you must the subject of a collective sponsorship.

Note: The Government of Canada is responsible for determining if a candidate belongs to the Country of Asylum Class.

Quebec Refugees – In Canada

Convention Refugee

To be considered a Convention Refugee, you must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Immigration and Refugee Board that:

• you are outside the country of which you are a national or, if you have no nationality, outside the country in which you habitually reside
• you have a well-founded fear of persecution because of your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinions
• in light of this fear, you are unable or unwilling to avail yourself of the protection offered by this country or to return to this country.

This status is determined by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB).

Person in Need of Protection

To be considered a person in need of protection, you must be covered by the Convention against Torture or be at risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

This status is determined by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) or by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) following a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA). Note that persons in need of protection are granted equal protection by Canada as Convention refugees and have access in Québec to the same government services as Convention refugees.

Please Contact Us for more information on these programs.