Canada Regresses on Asylum Amidst Global Forced Displacement Crisis

We are deeply concerned by Canada’s recent reduction in refugee resettlement slots in the 2025-27 Immigration Levels Plan. 

Right now, over 120 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide, a crisis that will only increase in the foreseeable future. At the same time, we are in the midst of another urgent global issue: the global anti-gender movement. This movement is mobilizing a coalition of populist groups and funders to target sexuality education, discussion on sexual and reproductive rights, and LGBTIQ+ rights. The spectrum of developments ranges from punitive laws against same-sex intimacy to subtler forms of legal regression, such as the erosion of anti-discrimination protections and constraints on freedom of expression, particularly for LGBTIQ+ civil society organizations and human rights defenders.

As an organization dedicated to providing direct support to at-risk LGBTIQ+ persons to access pathways to safety, we have seen the rising human impact on LGBTQI+ persons caught at the intersection of these two global crises. Since 2014, we have received almost 50,000 requests for help from individuals in over 190 countries facing persecution on account of their diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or sex characteristics. Last year alone, we received over 15,000 requests for help.

Canada is reducing spaces for Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSRs), a program which represents citizens organizing financial and settlement support to sponsor individual refugees in Canada. Not only does this go directly against Canadian organizing in support of refugees, it is also a vital resource for LGBTQI+ refugees especially. The majority of the world’s asylum seekers are hosted in countries where LGBTQI+ identities, relationships, association, or expression are criminalized to varying degrees; local integration is not viable for LGBTQI+ asylum seekers in many of these contexts. Many LGBTQI+ asylum seekers face prolonged stays in transit countries where they frequently endure compounded persecution from host governments, civil society, families, and other displaced persons. 

We join the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), the From Borders to Belonging Coalition, and others in urging the government to recommit to resettlement as a vital protection mechanism for those facing severe human rights violations in transit, including many LGBTQI+ asylum seekers. Rather than reversing Canada’s commitment to asylum, addressing the years-long wait times for PSR candidates ought to be the priority, as LGBTQI+ persons are often waiting in countries where their identities are criminalized. Maintaining the levels for Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) is important, and yet more needs to be done to ensure that persecuted LGBTQI+ persons are offered safe resettlement pathways to Canada. 

Amidst a global forced displacement crisis, and the rising tide of legislative and social changes that newly target LGBTIQ+ identities, our community cannot afford to go backwards on accessing their right to refuge. 

Further Resources:

Government of Canada news release on the 2025-27 Immigration Levels Plan