Refugee Ministries

Our diocese of New Westminster has a formal agreement with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to enable Constituent Groups to sponsor refugees under the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. We've been authorizing sponsorships since the 1980s. Sponsorship groups must be connected to the diocese and take full responsibility for settlement aspects for at least one year. This includes financial support (often with other partners), but more importantly assistance with resourcing services, learning English, and finding new community. Through the Diocesan Refugee Unit, parishes have the means to bring over 40 people a year into a new life here in the Lower Mainland.

Formal sponsorship is not the only way to help.  Through our international agency, the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund, Anglicans also assist displaced persons to access both immediate supplies and assistance to find a new home. And here in New Westminster, our parish hosts the work of the Pacific Immigrant Resource Society, which assists women who have recently arrived in Canada to make connections for themselves and their families.  

This Sunday we celebrate the ways we can reach out to hold hands together to make a stronger and more loving community.  You are invited to donate to the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund, the Diocesan Refugee Resettlement Fund,  or a charity of your choice. To donate online to the PWRDF, you can click on the button HERE