Refugee

Ministry in the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa - 2019

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me
(Matthew 25:35)
Over the past 12 months, in cooperation with our Constituent Groups and Co-sponsors, the Diocese of Ottawa has
landed 242 refugees from Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Guatemala,
Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Liberia, Myanmar, the Palestinian Authority, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
This is a record number of landings, more than double the 118 in 2017/18, 102 in 2016/17 and even surpassing by a
large margin the 189 landings at the peak of the Syrian resettlement operation in 2015/16. We should all be very
proud of what the Diocese has done, and we should give thanks to God that we have been able to give new lives to
hundreds of world’s most vulnerable people. If only we could do more…
However, landing the newcomer is not the end of the Diocese’s engagement in the sponsorship; it is just a
milestone on the newcomer’s path to Canadian citizenship. Although our Constituent Groups and Co-sponsors are
responsible for day-to-day support of the newcomers, the Refugee Ministry Office staff are heavily engaged with
the settlement of the newcomers. We are constantly responding to questions from sponsors about health,
education, housing, language training and all the myriad things that go into settlement. There have been crises and
sponsorship breakdowns that have required painful interventions. The Diocese holds the funds for many of the
newcomer families and the Refugee Ministry manages dozens of disbursement schedules for start-up and monthly
income support payments. As well, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has started auditing
sponsorships to ensure that sponsors are complying with their sponsorship agreement and undertaking.
Sponsorship Agreement Holders who are found to be non-compliant are being suspended. This has required the
Refugee Ministry Office to implement a more detailed monitoring program for our Constituent Groups and Co-
sponsors.
The Refugee Ministry is also going through a major transition. Since 2015, Don Smith has been a full-time
volunteer. He advised the Bishop in the summer of 2018 that he would be retiring in June 2020. Joyce Couvrette,
the other full-time member of the Refugee Ministry Office, will likely retire in June 2021. The Bishop convened a
Refugee Ministry Development Task Force, comprised of Mark Whittall, Peggy Lister and Ron Brophy to make
recommendations to Diocesan Council concerning the future of the Ministry. The Task Force submitted its
recommendations to Council in September. The new Refugee Ministry would be organized as follows:

• A volunteer Refugee Ministry Board, responsible for policy and decision-making, advocacy and networking,
outreach, oversight, fundraising, risk management, communications and volunteer recruitment
• A part-time (one day a week) Director, responsible for oversight, leadership and operations
• Two full-time paid case workers, responsible for selection, applications, advice and support of sponsoring
groups, and IRCC compliance
• Volunteers responsible for police records checks, information gathering, follow-up/enquiries, and
administrative tasks

A non-Refugee Ministry staff person would be responsible for handling walk-ins and unsolicited enquiries.

The Task Force prepared a budget for the Refugee Ministry and submitted it to Diocesan Council in September. The
first case worker is to be hired in January 2020 in order for this person to be trained and up-to-speed by the time
Don leaves in June 2020.
In closing, please keep our Refugee Ministry in your prayers, praying for its workers, for our sponsors, without whom
the Ministry would not exist, for newcomers who have resettled here but are fearful for the safety of those left
behind—but mostly for the refugees themselves. And for peace.
Respectfully submitted,
Don Smith, Volunteer
Joyce Couvrette, Refugee Ministry Office