“It’s a really good feeling.” Discover How to Create a Lasting Legacy with a Gift in Your Will.

Returned South Sudanese refugees work alongside local residents at the Can–Coya farming collective, on a 250-acre farm, producing enough food to meet their needs and supply local demands. UNHCR has supported reintegration through peacebuilding, governance and livelihoods programming in Magwi County, South Sudan. © UNHCR/Charlotte Hallqvist.

For many Canadians, supporting charities is an important part of their lives. It’s a way to give thanks — and give back. By donating to causes that are meaningful to you, you make an important contribution to your community and the wider world, helping to make it a safer, fairer place for everyone.

But there’s also the opportunity to make a lasting difference by creating a legacy that reflects what you believe. With a gift in your Will, you can ensure that the work you value continues long into the future, including offering shelter to people who are forced to flee conflict, violence or persecution.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, exists to protect the lives of people around the world who are uprooted at a time of crisis. In an emergency, our teams are on the ground within 72 hours to help provide shelter and other survival essentials.

Remember that supporting UNHCR’s work in your Will has no impact on your finances today — it’s a gift of hope, safety, and protection for tomorrow.

It is important to have an up-to-date Will that reflects your wishes. Many people find it to be more straightforward than they expected to make or change their Will, and there’s plenty of information available. It’s suggested that you discuss your intentions with your loved ones, a financial planner, and a lawyer. They can help you explore different kinds of gifts and ways of reducing the tax on your estate.

By making use of the information and support available, you can explore what you want to achieve with your legacy – providing for your loved ones, while also having a significant impact on the causes that are important to you.

When people are forced to flee their homes out of fear, they may have little or no warning. They just know they are no longer safe, and they need to leave to another part of their own country or cross a border, as a refugee.

Gifts in Wills help make vital humanitarian work to provide shelter, safety, and protection possible. Even a small proportion of your estate could help save lives in years to come when people have lost their homes, livelihoods, and everything they’ve worked for.

Find out more

Donor Ann Atkinson is pictured in her Toronto home on Thursday December 5, 2019.

One of Ann Atkinson’s early memories is seeing black and white newsreels of refugees fleeing Poland and Czechoslovakia in the aftermath of the Second World War.

“I didn’t know what I was seeing until later,” says Ann.

Ann – a long-time resident of Toronto – had a 35-year career in Information Technology before taking a new direction in retirement. She began taking courses at the University of Toronto, including a second bachelor’s degree in French literature. Reflecting back on her eighty years, she considers herself to have been fortunate in so many ways.

“It was my good luck to be born in North America. It’s not that easy to improve your lot in many other places.”  

When Ann decided to leave a planned gift in her Will, she found it to be more straightforward than she expected. It does not affect current finances. It can reduce the tax burden, and it allows you to create a lasting legacy to help people to rebuild shattered lives.

“It’s a really good feeling,” says Ann.

Leaving a gift in your Will is a meaningful way to help provide emergency assistance for refugees and displaced people in years to come.

You can learn more about how we use gifts in Wills at UNHCR here.