What is a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH)?

A Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) is an organization that has an agreement with the Government of Canada permitting them to resettle refugees through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program. This agreement is a legal agreement between the SAH and the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. When it is signed, the SAH accepts the legal responsibility for all sponsorships it signs directly, as well as those it authorizes its co-sponsors to sign. Every year the SAH is allowed to sponsor a certain number of refugees to Canada through private sponsorship. These are sometimes referred to as the number of “allocations” that it is given from the Canadian government.

As part of their sponsorship agreements, SAHs are allowed to partner with groups or individuals. Ads Up Canada, as an organization, has partnered with MOSAIC (the SAH) as a “Constituent Group”. That means that we are authorized to submit applications under the Sponsorship Agreement. In addition, our settlement team members sign on as co-sponsors, or individuals, who will help to facilitate the sponsorship.

When a SAH signs a Sponsorship Agreement with the Canadian government, they agree to (1) pre-screen all applications to make sure that they meet the eligibility and admissibility criteria for private sponsorship; (2) pre-screen the Constituent Group and co-sponsors to make sure that they have the ability to sponsor the refugee; (3) commit to providing adequate financial and settlement support to the refugee during the duration of their sponsorship; and (4) maintain transparency and accountability to the government with regard to financial and settlement support.