Thank you very much for that question.
In the five provinces we work with, we have provincial staff in each one of those provinces who work hard to build connections in the community with our constituents, the people who are our natural constituents in terms of the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches. We have a strong relationship with them in all the things we do, so I think we build on that.
In communities such as Kitchener-Waterloo, we do have a high profile there. When things happen, people turn to us and ask what they can do. I think people come to us based on our reputation.
In particular, in Ontario we had one person before September working on refugee resettlement. I think we have about four staff working on that now and spreading out over the entire province. In the other provinces as well, we've had to add staff.
It's this direct connection with the community, I think, that's important: making sure that we're there to troubleshoot as problems come up and making sure that we satisfy our commitment as a sponsorship agreement holder to ensure that this settlement goes well in these 12 months that we are involved in.
But the commitment goes beyond that, usually, because relationships are built. That is really one of the strengths of the private sponsorship program. It's not just about resettling refugees, about bringing people from there to here. It's about building a community, a community that can go on beyond this.
I was at an event here in Ottawa-Gatineau on Sunday to remember the Nansen medal that the people of Canada received 30 years ago. That was an important event. It was celebrating the Indochinese, the Southeast Asians, coming here. We see that community now as a very important part of Canada and being one that is involved in refugee settlement at this point. I think that's what this is really about. It's about building a future Canada.