Apply for refugee status from within Canada, find out how to come to Canada as a refugee, sponsor a refugee or find refugee services in Canada.
How Canada’s refugee system works
Refugees are people who have fled their countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution. They are not able to return home. They have seen or experienced many horrors.
A refugee is different from an immigrant. An immigrant is a person who chooses to settle permanently in another country. Refugees are forced to flee.
Canadian refugee protection programs
The Canadian refugee system has two main parts:
- the Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program, for people who need protection from outside Canada and
- the In-Canada Asylum Program for people making refugee protection claims from within Canada
Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program
Refugees who come to Canada have left their homes, and in many cases they have had to live in refugee camps for many years. When they arrive in Canada, they have to start their lives over again.