Article content continued

But they say their requests have been ignored.

Then-immigration minister Jason Kenney implemented the new rule in October 2012 as part of a broader Conservative government overhaul of Canada’s refugee system.

It only applies to those refugees being sponsored by groups of five or more Canadians, called G5s. It does not apply to so-called sponsorship agreement holders, which are large organizations like churches and community associations that have a long history of privately sponsoring refugees to come to Canada.

Briefing notes obtained by the Citizen say the change was intended to protect against fraud, but also to deal with a large backlog of applications from private sponsors while speeding up applications. “It is anticipated that this regulatory change will reduce G5 submissions by 70 per cent,” reads one memo to Kenney.

Refugee groups are now hoping the Kurdi tragedy, and resulting groundswell of interest in sponsoring Syrian refugees, will prompt the government to finally waive the rule. Otherwise, they warn, all those Canadians clamouring to help will face the same result as Tima Kurdi.

“There are so many Syrian Canadians and non-Syrian Canadians who are interested in coming together and helping,” Vancouver immigration lawyer Fadi Yachoua said. “But this regulation is making it very difficult for people to even begin the process.”

Some organizations expressed concern at the time that the new regulation would have negative implications for refugees. The Canadian Bar Association, for example, warned that refugees already faced significant challenges to get recognized by the UNHCR where there are “massive refugee influxes.”