On May 13, 2015, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness introduced Bill C-60, An Act to amend the Criminal Records Act, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the International Transfer of Offenders Act, also known as the Removal of Serious Foreign Criminals Act (“Bill C-60Removal of Serious Foreign Criminals Act”).
Bill C-60 will:
- Make it easier and faster to remove certain foreign nationals and permanent residents who are inadmissible to Canada for serious criminality.
- Make all foreign nationals and certain permanent residents ineligible for a record suspension.
- Allow the Correctional Service of Canada to inform registered victims of crime of the date and destination of criminals released from immigration detention; and
- Make it easier for Canada to transfer criminals without their consent to serve their sentence in their home country.
A more detailed breakdown of the provisions is as follows:
|
Current |
If Bill C-60 Passes |
| There is no distinction between foreign nationals and Canadian citizens in their ability to apply for record suspensions. | A foreign national is ineligible to apply for a record suspension in Canada. |
| There is no distinction between permanent residents and Canadian citizens in their ability to apply for record suspensions. | A permanent resident is ineligible to apply for a record suspension in Canada if the permanent resident has been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament for which a term of imprisonment of more than six months has been imposed. |
| There is no explicit requirement that the Correctional Service of Canada obtain information about a person’s immigration history when they are sentenced. | When a person is sentenced, committed or transferred to penitentiary, the Correctional Service of Canada shall take all reasonable steps to obtain, as soon as is practicable, any relevant information about the person’s Canadian immigration status, including, if applicable, any information regarding their possible removal from Canada. |
| There is no explicit legislative authority for the Commissioner of Corrections, or his/her delegate, may disclose to the Canada Border Services Agency any information under his or her control about an offender that is relevant to the administration of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. | The Commissioner of Corrections, or his/her delegate, may disclose to the Canada Border Services Agency any information under his or her control about an offender that is relevant to the administration of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. |
| At the request of a victim of an offence committed by an offender, the Commissioner of Corrections shall, in respect of an offender who is released under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, disclose to the victim the date on which the offender was released and the destination of the offender on release, if, in the Commissioner’s opinion, the disclosure would not have a negative impact on the safety of the public. | |
| There are no prescribed factors that officers must consider when determining whether to prepare an A44 inadmissibility report. | Officers will be required to consider prescribed factors, if any, when determining whether to prepare an inadmissibility report. |
| There are no prescribed factors in which officers must prepare an A44 inadmissibility report. | There can be prescribed factors in which officers must prepare an A44 inadmissibility report. |
| CBSA does not have to refer an A44 report against a permanent resident to the Immigration Division, and may instead issue the removal order directly, only where the permanent resident has not complied with the residency obligation. | CBSA does not have to refer an A44 report against a permanent resident to the Immigration Division, and may instead issue the removal order directly, only in prescribed circumstances where the permanent resident has not complied with the residency obligation, or where the permanent resident is inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality. |
| There is no system for uncontested removal orders. | In certain circumstances a foreign national who has been referred to the Immigration Division for an admissibility hearing may waive the admissibility hearing.
A foreign national who waives the admissibility hearing is deemed to have consented to being the subject of a removal order.
The Immigration Division must make a decision whether to accept the waiver within 48 hours after the referral. If it accepts, then it must make the applicable removal order without holding an admissibility hearing. |
| A foreign national who is the subject of a danger opinion does not lose protected person status. | A foreign national loses protected person status if CBSA determines that they constitute a danger to the public or that they should not be allowed to remain in Canada on the basis of the nature and severity of acts committed or of danger to the security of Canada. |
| Certain persons in Canada may apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment if they are an offender who is considered for transfer under the International Transfer of Offenders Act, unless they were protected persons who lost their protected persons status. | |
| A person serving a sentence in Canada may not be transferred under a treaty, or an administrative, unless a request is made, in writing, to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. | A person serving a sentence in Canada may not be transferred under a treaty, or an administrative, unless a request is made, in writing, to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, or if the Minister makes the request to the foreign entity. |
| In order to transfer a prisoner to a foreign jurisdiction, the offender must consent. | In order to transfer a prisoner to a foreign jurisdiction, an offender who is a permanent resident or a foreign national, and who is not a protected person, does not need to consent to the transfer if the Government of Canada and the foreign entity have a treaty that provides for this.
In the case of an offender who has been convicted of an offence under Canadian law that is punishable under an Act of Parliament by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than 10 years and who is entitled, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, to make a claim for refugee protection or an application for protection, the offender shall not be transferred before a final determination is made in respect of any such claim or application.
Transferring an offender does not constitute a removal. |