Noori Family of four (4): Father (Mohammad Dawood Noori), Mother (Shukria Shirzad), Daughter (Asra Noori), Daughter (Kawsar Noori), Afghan refugees living in Islamabad Pakistan.

This family was a single father with two young daughters. At the time of the sponsorship submission, April 12, 2023, the mother was missing and was not accompanying the family to Canada. In the time between when their sponsorship forms were submitted and when they were approved to come to Canada, the mother, Shukria, was found and joined the family. The sponsorship was approved and the family arrived in February 2024.

In February of the 2025, BRBC’s responsibility for this family ended. The family is now settled and well established with the Afghan community in Ottawa.

Janat  Family  of  four  (4),  Father  (Belal  Janat),  Mother  (Iman Mohamad Chhada), Daughter (Maria Janat (9)), Daughter (Sara Janat (7)), Syrian refugees living in Qatar.

The sponsorship of the Janat family was submitted December 5, 2020 before there was any obligation for sponsors to submit 12-months funding to their SAH. Approved by IRCC June 21, 2023. The family was asked to come in for an interview July 11, 2023. They had the interview and were approved to come to Canada. They arrived in Ottawa on April 3, 2024. Belal is completely financially solvent and has arranged to keep his job in Qatar after he arrived in Canada. He will not require any financial assistance from BRBC. Ian Smiley helped them find a single-family home for rent in the Bayshore area and they are happy and doing well.

In March 2025 after 12 months, BRBC’s responsibility for this family ended. At this time, the family wanted to move to Barrhaven. Ian helped them find a home there and to move there. They are now happily living in a rowhouse apartment in a Barrhaven. Both Belal and Iman are working, and their two girls are doing well in school. Also in the 12-month period, they welcomed a new baby girl, namely Lelia, into their family.

Faihaa Mazloum, Single Woman (33), Syrian refugee living in Turkey.

The sponsorship of Faihaa is cosponsored by Samar Al Hasan (cousin) and Maha El-Jammal (friend) and was submitted February 12, 2022. It was approved by IRCC February 7, 2023. Faihaa arrived in Ottawa May 8, 2024. While she was waiting to come to Canada, Faihaa met a man in Vancouver on a dating site and they agreed to get together when she arrived in Canada. Ian Smiley arranged with CBOQ for her to move to Vancouver immediately upon her arrival in Ottawa. She is now happily living in Vancouver.

BRBC’s responsibility to Faihaa ended in April 2025, and she is living happily in Vancouver.

Hamidullah Rahimi, Single Man (26), Afghan refugee living in Tehran Iran.

The sponsorship of Hamidullah was submitted September 1, 2023. Hamidullah is Sakina and Zainab Attaie’s step nephew (i.e. the son of their older sister’s second husband). He was a special warfare operator with the Afghan Army and worked alongside NATO forces to expunge the Taliban insurgents. When NATO pulled out of Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan, Hamidullah had to be evacuated immediately from Afghanistan since he became a prime target for execution by the Taliban. He took refuge in Tehran Iran. His sponsorship was approved by IRCC February 14, 2024. Shortly after being approved by IRCC, he encountered some problem with his visa to stay in Iran, so Ian Smiley helped arrange a visa for him to go to Pakistan to await his authority to travel to Canada. Hamidullah arrived in Ottawa on October 30, 2024. When he arrived, he stayed with Sakina and Zainab and found a job within a few weeks. He is now considering joining the Canadian Army.

In September 2025, BRBC’s responsibility for Hamidullah ended. He has not yet joined the Canadian Army, but Ian has given him the required recruiting contacts to do so. He’s still working and doing well and living with his two step aunts, Sakina and Zainab.

Rasouli Extended Family of five (5), Father (Noor Ahmad Moahhed), Mother (Maryam Rama Rasouli), Son (Mohammad Yasin Moahhed (17)), Grandmother (Sherin Rasouli), Aunt (Zainab Rasouli), Afghan refugees living in Islamabad Pakistan.

The sponsorship of this family was submitted September 20, 2023, and is cosponsored by Castlemaine Uniting Church in Castlemaine Victoria Australia and is funded by Cybec Foundation in Australia, who had transferred $58,000 to BRBC for this sponsorship. It was approved by IRCC January 8, 2024. The family was interviewed January 12th 2024 and approved to come to Canada. The family arrived in Ottawa June 6, 2024. When they arrived, Ian Smiley arrange a townhouse apartment in Acorra Village, where they had lived until November 2025. In December 2025, they moved to two separate high-rise apartments also in Acorra Village. The Mother Sherin, and Ruth one of her daughters moved to one apartment, and the family Noor, Maryam, and Yassin moved to another apartment with the other of Sherin’s daughters, Zainab.

Noor is working construction, Maryam is working as a Personal Support Worker (PSW), Zainab has joined the Canadian Air Force, Yassin is in Grade 12 and is doing well and is looking forward to going to university in the Fall of 2026. The mother Sherin is quite sick and is on Ontario Disability (ODSP).

In May 2025, BRBC’s responsibility to this family ended.

Rahima (Ruth) Rasouli, Single Woman (37), Afghan refugee sponsored by Gilmour Memorial Baptist Church in Peterborough, ON.

Ruth arrived in Peterborough September 4, 2024 with an allocation of $23,700 supplied by that church. Ruth is the sister of Zainab and Maryam Rasouli and when she found out the rest of her family was living nearby (i.e. Ottawa), she came for a visit and decided she wanted to move to Ottawa and live with them. Ian Smiley arranged with Gilmour Memorial Baptist Church to approve the relocation and to have the remainder of the funds transferred to BRBC. She moved to Ottawa in October 2024, where she has been living happily with the rest of her family. She is now working doing online translation.

In August 2025, BRBC’s responsibility to Ruth ended.

Ruguma Gapapa, Single Man (38), Congolese refugee living in Nairobi Kenya.

The sponsorship of Ruguma was submitted October 14, 2021. He was cosponsored by his step brother Amani Nilos Luhambire. His sponsorship was approved by IRCC November 8, 2023. He was interviewed by the Canadian visa office in Nairobi November 23, 2023 and was approved for permanent residence in Canada. Ruguma arrived in Ottawa December 5, 2024. He’s been happily living with his cosponsor ever since. He is now working as a clerk at the Metro Warehouse.

As for November 2025, BRBC’s responsibility for Ruguma ended.

rwa Almesiati, Single Man (21), Syrian refugee living in Lebanon.

The sponsorship of Orwa was submitted December 21, 2022. He was cosponsored by his friend Etienne Boivin Roy. His sponsorship was approved by IRCC February 15, 2023. There were some complications and the Visa office in Beirut requested additional information and forms to be completed. These were supplied and at the time of writing, he was waiting for his interview with the Canadian visa office in Beirut.

Almsiati Family of Four (4), Father (Bashar Almsiati), Mother (Shams Jammal), Son (Odai Almsiati (17)), Daughter (Jawa Almsiati (13)), Syrian refugees living in Lebanon.

The sponsorship of the Almsiati family was submitted August 7, 2022, and is cosponsored by Said lameraouy, a friend of the family. It was approved by IRCC May 25, 2023. There were requests as late as October 2025 asking for additional information and at the time of writing, the family was waiting for approval from the Canadian visa office in Beirut to come to Canada.

Rahmani Family of Four (4), Father (Sanaullah Rahmani), Mother (Suhra Qaderi), Son (Hamza Rahmani (4)), Grandmother (Sara Mehraeen (62)), Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

The sponsorship of the Rahmani family was submitted October 30, 2024, and is cosponsored by Farida Rahmani, the sister of Sanaullah. It was approved by IRCC December 12, 2024. For some reason we don’t have a record of when they were called for an interview with the Canadian Visa Office in Islamabad, but at some time in 2025 they were called and shortly after that interview they were approved to come to Canada. Their file has been moved to the IOM and at the time of writing they are awaiting their travel papers and instructions to come to Canada.

In the meantime, on May 7, 2025 they welcomed a baby boy namely Taha Rahmani into their family. However, the baby was born with a medical problem. He has a triangular skull shape, from a condition called metopic craniosynostosis. He urgently requires surgery to repair this problem but they have no access to this surgery in Pakistan. Ian Smiley submitted a Priority Request to IRCC, which was formally approved. We are waiting for the IOM to expedite their travel to Canada so Taha can get the medical treatment he needs before it’s too late. After no word from IRCC or the Visa 0ffice in two (2) months, Ian issued an enquiry with IRCC through the IRCC Web Portal in February 2026. At the time of writing, we are waiting for a response from that.

Ghafari Family of Four (4), Father (Mahboobullah Ghafari), Mother (Madina Akbari), Son (Abdul Karim Ghafari (7)), Daughter (Aisha Ghafari (4)), Daughter (Behtreen Ghafari (3)) Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

The sponsorship of the Ghafari family was submitted December 30, 2022, and is cosponsored by Safiullah Rahmani, the cousin of Madina. The family was interviewed January 11, 2024 and was subsequently approved for immigration to Canada. Following the approval, it was discovered that Mahboobullah had lied. He had said he had never been arrested or detained, but it turned out that he was in the middle of being tried for a murder he committed in 2019. He has since been convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, their sponsorship was cancelled. Following this decision, his wife contacted Ian Smiley and asked if she and her young children could still be sponsored since they were innocent and had nothing to do with the murder committed by Mahboobullah. Ian investigated this and discovered that the recourse is to issue a Supplementary Information Humanitarian and Compassionate Considerations form to IRCC explaining the situation. This was prepared and sent into IRCC September 14, 2024. It’s a tenable story that although the father has been convicted of murder that his wife and young children should continue to be approved to come to Canada. To date, we have not heard back from IRCC on this, so Ian Smiley contacted his local member of Parliament, namely Anita Vandenbeld, to have this followed up. There was never a satisfactory follow-up on this matter, and IRCC never responded to the Humanitarian and Compassionate Consideration request. Following that, under the advice of CBOQ Ian submitted a request to IRCC through the IRCC Web Portal in February 2026 requesting this to be addressed. At the time of writing, we are waiting for IRCC’s response.

Aziza Ataie & Family of Five (5), Mother (Aziza Ataie), Father (Eid Mohammad Ataie), Daughter (Mahya Ataie (3)), Daughter (Yalda Ataie (8)), Daughter (Najla Ataie (6)) Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

The sponsorship of the Ataie family was submitted November 11, 2024, and is cosponsored by Zainab Attaie, the sister of Aziza. It was approved by IRCC December 20, 2024. At the time of writing, the family was waiting for the Canadian Visa Office in Islamabad to call them for their interview.

Salihi Family of Four (4), Father (Mohammad Aslam Salihi), Mother (Arifa Salihi), Son (Mohammad Reza Salihi (6)), Son (Meysam (1)) Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

The sponsorship of the Salihi family was submitted October 28, 2024, and is cosponsored by Mohammad Akbar Salehi, the father of Mohammad Aslam. It was approved by IRCC December 19th 2024. At the time of writing, the family was waiting for the Canadian Visa Office in Islamabad to call them for their interview.

Masho Gebremeskel Gidiom & Family of Five (5), Mother (Masho Gebremeskel Gidiom), Son (Haptemariam Gebremichael Redaei (7)), Son (Hermela Gebremichael Redaei (6)), Cousin (Azeb Gebremeskel Gidiom (24)), Cousin (Ytbarek Surafel Abraha (36)) Ethiopian refugees living in Uganda.

The sponsorship of the Gidiom family was submitted October 28th 2025. It was approved 4 Dec 2025. It is not cosponsored but is being funded to the tune of $61,000 CAD by the Ethiopian Community of Chicago, which was transferred to CBOQ in September 2025. At the time of writing, the family was waiting for the Canadian Visa Office in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to call them for their interview.

Fisseha Gebremeskel & Family of Four (4), Father (Fisseha Gebremeskel), Mother (Helen Tekle Gebretensay), Son (Eyuel Fisseha Gebremeskel (5)), Daughter (Evana Fisseha Gebremeskel (1)) Ethiopian refugees living in Sudan.

The PSR spaces for the Gebremeskel family will be allocated in 2026, at which time the sponsorship will be submitted to IRCC. It is not cosponsored but is being funded by the Ethiopian Community of Chicago.