Building the Future of Named Community Sponsorship: Lessons from Canada and a Call to Action for the UK

The morning after the Named Community Sponsorship Summit, the Community Sponsorship Alliance sat down with Nadine Nasir of the Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) Association of Canada alongside Hannah Gregory of Pathways International.

"One of the most energising and clarifying conversations I’ve had in years" - Susannah Baker MBE

Canada has been running what we now call named sponsorship for decades. Their model of private sponsorship is mature, resilient and—crucially—proven. With 143 Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) organisations, Canada has welcomed tens of thousands of people through sponsorship pathways. And it has done so under governments of every political persuasion, continuing to function even when the wider system has come under pressure.

What Canada Teaches Us

The Power of the Intermediary Layer

Canada’s ecosystem functions because of an intermediary layer between government and community. The SAH Association does not deliver sponsorship directly. Instead, it represents the organisations that do—collecting information from the ground, spotting trends, and conveying that intelligence to government officials every two weeks. This creates a virtuous cycles, operational reality shapes policy not the other way around.

This is precisely what we are trying to build in the UK through the Community Sponsorship Alliance: a trusted bridge between policymakers and practitioners.

Named Sponsorship Complements—Not Replaces—Other Routes

In Canada, named sponsorship sits alongside stranger‑matching rather than replacing it. And yet, over 90% of all sponsorship cases are named. In most instances, a person already in Canada knows someone abroad who lacks a durable solution and wants to act. The personal connection is the starting point. But it is the infrastructure—the organisations, the frameworks, the accountability—that makes action possible.

A Diverse Ecosystem Bound by Shared Standards

The organisations leading this work vary enormously:

• diaspora volunteers

• small community groups

• large, well‑staffed national organisations

  
  

What holds them together is a clear framework, shared expectations, and a government that recognises the sector as an essential delivery partner.

Canada Has Had 50 Years. We Have a Running Start.

Canada has spent half a century developing this system. But the UK is not beginning from zero. The Community Sponsorship Alliance—fourteen organisations strong—brings together years of learning, delivery, and on‑the‑ground experience.

Still, if we want to build this properly, we need:

• sustained and strategic investment

• a genuine intermediary function

• and a government willing to share the architecture with the people who deliver on it

Near the end of our discussion, one of our CSA members asked Nadine a question

If naming comes into the UK system, does the UK need an organisation like yours for it to grow?

Nadine’s answer was unequivocal: yes. We knew this. Now we need our government to know it too. The Community Sponsorship Alliance thanks to Nadine Nasir for her openness and generosity—and to Hannah Gregory for co‑facilitating such an insightful conversation.

The CSA and our members are building a list of organisations and individuals who want to stay informed as Named Community Sponsorship develops in the UK. By completing this form, you're agreeing to receive updates on the scheme, including how to get involved, as this work progresses.