Thank you for the question.
Actually, in IRPA there is this excellent category called the source country class, which means that Canada recognizes that in some countries, the refugees, even within their own country, qualify as refugees as internally displaced persons. Unfortunately, I have to tell you that the source country clause doesn't work.
Immigration Canada didn't change the list of the source countries. At my last visit in west Africa in October, I realized that, for instance, in Sierra Leone, which is a source country on the list, the average acceptance rate is 0% right now. That shows basically the Canadian average.
It's not only the sponsorship agreement holders. The “group of five” and the community sponsors also submit a big number of sponsorships. They read this public document that shows that Sierra Leone is on the source country list.
They are allowed to sponsor a refugee who is in a refugee-like situation within his own country—that is, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, Congo, Zaire, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Colombia. Unfortunately, while they haven't changed the schedule since 2002, in the last five years this category doesn't work. Why? It is important, number one, because these are the only countries where Parliament did allow the refugees still to access directly the Canadian visa post for protection. In other countries, since IRPA, the refugee is not allowed to ask for international protection and resettlement, only in these countries. In these countries, though, it doesn't work. That means the system doesn't work and it needs to change.
Finally, on the IDPs, the internally displaced persons, lately UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, announced in October that they want to take it within their mandate. It's a similar mentality that not only international refugees should be protected but also IDPs. I think it would be excellent if Canada could follow that. Never mind where that country is. If a person is in a refugee-like situation within his or her own country, they should qualify for resettlement.