Hospitality House Refugee Ministry
Hospitality House Refugee Ministry is a non-profit organization, and has for many years been one of Winnipeg's leading sponsor of refugees.
Thousands have been sponsored under Canada's Private Sponsorship of Refugees program from appalling refugee circumstances, into new hope and productive lives in Canada.
They continue to come into Winnipeg, and while families look after many, others must look to the support of Hospitality House for their first year here.
Several parishes, foundations and individual donors have generously supported the work over the years, but the needs continue to be great, because the refugees keep arriving.
History
Hospitality House Refugee Ministry Inc. continues the work begun by the Roman Catholic Order, Our Lady of the Missions in the late 1980's. Sister Aileen Gleason, the work's prime developer, initiated thousands of refugee sponsorships until retiring from Hospitality House in 2002. She continued her involvement with refugees and her Order from her new placement in Nairobi, Kenya. She also opened the Hospitality Reception House in 1992 where refugees are received and welcomed.
After Sister Aileen's retirement the work was continued by Sister Margaret Purdie until her retirement in 2006.
Tom Denton who has worked with refugees for many years as Executive Director of Winnipeg's International Centre, an immigrant settlement agency, accepted to serve as coordinator of HHRM in 2006.
The Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program
Canada is unique in that it allows groups or individuals to resettle refugees in Canada under its government’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program. Canada as well as fifteen other countries resettles refugees under government auspices and through collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. But only Canada also allows the rescue and resettlement of refugees under private auspices. This often puts a great deal of pressure on Canadian sponsoring groups as refugees approach them from overseas, seeking sponsorship to Canada as the only apparent option for their rescue out of appalling circumstances. The Canadian Government’s immigration web site is a good source of information about the PSR program: Canadian Government Website
Canadian policy currently allows over 3700 refugees to enter Canada each year under the PSR program. Because of the reality that sponsored refugees are carefully screened by Canada to ensure they meet criteria, many more refugee applicants are processed than admitted, and the actual number of “PSRs” landed in Canada each year is now approximating 3,500.
Canadian sponsoring groups through their collective representative, the Canadian Council for Refugees, have pleaded for many years for an increase in the annual “target” or quota of admitted refugees. More recently they have specifically asked that the number be increased to the 7,300 – 7,500 range, which is the commendable number of refugees the Government of Canada brings in each year under its own auspices [Government Assisted Refugees].
There are eighty Canadian groups that have agreements with Canada’s Federal Government permitting them to sponsor refugees under the PSR program. They are known as Sponsorship Agreement Holders, or “SAHs”. The majority of these are faith groups. Many of these have sub-groups (often individual parishes), known as “Constituent Groups” through which the actual work of sponsoring and resettling is done. The Anglican Diocese of Rupert’s Land, headquartered in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is one of these SAHs. Hospitality House Refugee Ministry is a Constituent Group of the Anglican diocese and sponsors under its authority.