r. 157 Joint assistance sponsorship

(1)If an officer determines that special needs exist in respect of a member of a class prescribed by Division 1, the Department shall endeavour to identify a sponsor in order to make the financial assistance of the Government of Canada available for the purpose of sponsorship. A sponsor identified by the Department is exempt from the financial requirements of paragraph 154(1)(a).

Definition of special needs

(2)In this section, special needs means that a person has greater need of settlement assistance than other applicants for protection abroad owing to personal circumstances, including

• (a)a large number of family members;
• (b)trauma resulting from violence or torture;
• (c)medical disabilities; and
• (d)the effects of systemic discrimination.