Section 74(d) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides that an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal may be made only if, in rendering judgment, the Federal Court certifies that a serious question of general importance is involved and states the question. Certified questions have traditionally resolved divergent jurisprudence at the Federal Court, and have typically provided certainty on how immigration law is to be interpreted. However, as a result of recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions, this is changing. In Agraira v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), the Supreme Court of Canada applied the reasonableness standard to answer the following certified question: When determining a ss. 34(2) application, must the Minister of Public Safety consider any specific factors in assessing whether a foreign national’s presence in Canada would be contrary to the national interest? The decision to not provide a definite answer caused some confusion at the Federal Court of Appeal, which declared in Kanthasamy v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2014 FCA 113, that: A decision made under the Act is subject to judicial review only if leave is granted by the Federal Court (subsection 72(1) of the Act). The Federal Court’s decision on the judicial review cannot be appealed unless the Federal … Read More
Overview of PRRA Changes
The purpose of this blog post is to provide an overview of the changes to Pre-Removal Risk Assessments (“PRRAs“) resulting from Bill C-31 which are now in effect. A PRRA is a paper application in which individuals can submit that they would be at risk of persecution, risk to life, or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if returned to their countries of origin. For most applicants, a positive determination results in the granting of refugee protection and the opportunity to apply for permanent residence as a protected person. Bill C-31, the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act, introduced several restrictions on the ability of people to apply for PRRA. One Year Bar A person may not apply for a PRRA if less than 12 months have passed since the Immigration and Refugee Board (“IRB“) rejected their refugee claim, or determined the claim to be abandoned or withdrawn. A person may also no longer apply for a PRRA if less than 12 months have passed since Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) rejected the individuals previous PRRA application, or determined it to be withdrawn or abandoned. The above bars apply retroactively to PRRAs currently being processed. Applicants from certain countries are exempted … Read More
CBSA Memorandums of Understanding
Many people are curious as to what information various police and government departments share with the Canada Border Services Agency. Embedded below are the following documents: Memorandum of Understanding Between the Abbotsford Police Department and the Canada Border Services Agency Pacific Region Enforcement Centre Letter of Agreement for Immigration Detentions between the Canada Border Services Agency and BC Corrections Memorandum of Understanding between the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service and the Canada Border Services Agency Pacific Region Enforcement Centre, including letter from Neil Dubord, Chief Officer, Transit Police dated 26 February 2015 terminating the MOU Memorandum of Understanding Between the Royal Canadian Mountain Police “E” Division and the Canada Border Services Agency Pacific Region Enforcement Centre Memorandum of Understanding Between the Vancouver Police Department and the Canada Border Services Agency Pacific Region Enforcement Centre
The 2016 Liberal Immigration Numbers
On March 8, 2016, John McCallum, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) tabled the 2015 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration (the “2015 IRCC Report”) It states that in 2016 Canada will welcome between 280,000 and 305,000 immigrants, with a target of 300,000. While this target if fulfilled would be Canada’s highest annual immigration number in over a century, not all immigration categories are being increased. The 2015 IRCC Report reveals that 2016 will be a good year for the spouses and common-law partners of Canadians. It also suggests that it will be a frustrating one for economic migrants, especially international graduates seeking to transition to permanent residency. Before proceeding, it is important to note that while IRCC in the 2015 IRCC Report released a detailed breakdown of immigration statistics to Canada in 2014, it did not publish data for 2015. As such, as of writing it is only possible to compare what the Liberal Government of Canada (the “Liberals”) is planning in 2016 with what the previous Conservative Government of Canada (the “Conservatives”) achieved in 2014, and what it planned in 2015. Economic Immigration Programs In 2016, Canada will accept between 54,000 to 58,400 immigrants in … Read More
Abolish PR Cards and Implement a Residency Obligation Amnesty
Permanent residents of Canada are currently required to possess a Permanent Resident Card, commonly referred to as a “PR Card,” in order to board commercial transport to Canada. Processing times for new PR Cards currently exceed 100 days, and the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) Twitter account recently advised permanent residents seeking to renew their PR Cards to apply 9 months in advance of travel in order to avoid trip disruptions. Permanent residents are often left stranded abroad, or find themselves stuck in Canada unable to travel internationally, for months. The situation is untenable, and it is time for the Government of Canada to eliminate PR Cards, let permanent residents travel to Canada using the new Electronic Travel Authorization system, and implement a “residency obligation amnesty” until the government develops a better system to track entries and exits to and from Canada. This will focus on the impact of PR Card processing delays to those travelling by air to Canada, as this is where the issue is most pronounced. However, it is important to note that the PR Card requirement applies to all commercial transport to Canada, including air, boat, rail, and bus. The Residency Obligation When someone immigrates … Read More
Refugee Claimants and Fake Documents
A challenge that arises in many refugee claims where a claimant has used fraudulent documents to travel to Canada is the balancing of the need to determine a claimant’s identity with jurisprudence that cautions against drawing negative credibility findings from the use of false documents where refugee claimants have little choice but to to use false documents to leave their country. In Gulamsakhi v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2015 FC 105, for example, the Federal Court stated that: … this Court has repeatedly cautioned against drawing negative conclusions based on the use of smugglers and forged documents to escape violence and persecution. Travelling on false documents or destroying travel documents is of very limited value as a determination of the claimant’s credibility. This is partly because it is not uncommon for a person fleeing persecution to follow the instructions of the person(s) organizing their escape. Another, and perhaps the most frequently cited case on this principle, is Rasheed v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2004 FC 587, where the Federal Court stated that: Where a claimant travels on false documents, destroys travel documents or lies about them upon arrival following an agent’s instructions, it has been held to be … Read More
Environmental Overview – Rome
The following is a summary of the Environmental Overview of the immigration functions at the Canadian Embassy in Rome (the “Environmental Overview”). The Environmental Overview was prepared as part of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada 2015-2016 planning exercise. Environment The Canadian Embassy in Rome (“CIC Rome”) provides visa services to residents of Albania, Greece, Italy, Malta, San Marino, and the State of the Holy See. Economic turbulence in Greece resulted in an increased interest in Canada from Greek nationals. The economic crisis in Greece and Malta, as well as, the political and economic crisis in Italy continue to affect our programs. We continue to receive an increasing number of inquiries related to both our TR and PR programs. We receive approximately 2000 emails per month from persons inquiring about our programs. Our VACs indicate that they too have not only seen an increase in the number of walk-in inquiries on TR programs but also on PR programs. Clients are all referred to the CIC website. Modernization Since arriving this summer, new IPM has made several changes to better leverage GCMS and improve processing times across all lines of business. Backlogs and long processing times have been eliminated and Rome is back to well within all CIC published processing standards. … Read More
Environmental Overview – Port of Spain
The following is the Environmental Overview of the immigration functions at the Canadian High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka (the “Environmental Overview”). The Environmental Overview was prepared as part of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada 2015-2016 planning exercise.
Supreme Court Issues Decision in Kanthasamy
On December 10, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its most significant immigration judgment in almost twenty years. Its decision in Kanthasamy v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) will likely result in visa officers assessing applications for Canadian permanent residence on humanitarian & compassionate grounds in a much more holistic and equitable manner than previously. H&C Applications People who would not normally be eligible to become permanent residents in Canada may apply to immigrate on humanitarian & compassionate (“H&C”) grounds. A typical H&C applicant is someone who does not meet the requirements of any of Canada’s economic or family reunification programs. As well, applicants who do qualify for more traditional immigration programs, but who are inadmissible to Canada, may also request (with narrow exceptions) that their inadmissibility be waived for H&C reasons. When visa officers review H&C applications, they analyze several factors, including the person’s establishment in Canada, their family ties to Canada, the best interests of any children involved, and what could happen to the applicants if their H&C applications are not granted. Prior to Kanthasamy, the criterion for an H&C application was whether applicants would suffer “unusual and undeserved or disproportionate hardship” if their applications were refused. Indeed, … Read More
Chris Alexander – The Good, The Bad, and the Barbaric
On November 4, 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed John McCallum as the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship. He replaced Chris Alexander, who had been the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration since July 15, 2013. Mr. Alexander was one of 60 Conservative Party of Canada Members of Parliament who lost their seats in the October 19, 2015, federal election. Had the Canadian public on election night not replaced CPC with the Liberal Party of Canada as government, or had Chris Alexander at least even won his own seat, it would have perhaps been difficult to summarize Mr. Alexander’s tenure as the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. However, at least one of the causes of the Conservative defeat was the Canadian public’s rejection of a party that increasingly encouraged what can only be described as intolerance and callousness. Both of these descriptions will likely be remembered as the defining features of Mr. Alexander’s term as Minister. It is difficult to write this because I do not know how much influence Chris Alexander actually had within his own department. It was often speculated by immigration policy observers that Mr. Alexander was running CIC under the subtle direction of his predecessor, Jason … Read More