Section 44 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states: Preparation of report 44 (1) An officer who is of the opinion that a permanent resident or a foreign national who is in Canada is inadmissible may prepare a report setting out the relevant facts, which report shall be transmitted to the Minister. Referral or removal order (2) If the Minister is of the opinion that the report is well-founded, the Minister may refer the report to the Immigration Division for an admissibility hearing, except in the case of a permanent resident who is inadmissible solely on the grounds that they have failed to comply with the residency obligation under section 28 and except, in the circumstances prescribed by the regulations, in the case of a foreign national. In those cases, the Minister may make a removal order. Conditions (3) An officer or the Immigration Division may impose any conditions, including the payment of a deposit or the posting of a guarantee for compliance with the conditions, that the officer or the Division considers necessary on a permanent resident or a foreign national who is the subject of a report, an admissibility hearing or, being in Canada, a removal order. Conditions — … Read More
Immigration Consequences of a Conviction and Sentence in Canada
A person who has been found to be inadmissible to Canada on the grounds of serious criminality may not appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division.
Restrictions on H&C
Section 25 of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides that applicants can seek humanitarian & compassionate relief from the harsh application of other portions of Canadian immigration legislation. When the IRPA was created s. 25 was short two paragraphs, and read: 25. (1) The Minister shall, upon request of a foreign national who is inadmissible or who does not meet the requirements of this Act, and may, on the Minister’s own initiative, examine the circumstances concerning the foreign national and may grant the foreign national permanent resident status or an exemption from any applicable criteria or obligation of this Act if the Minister is of the opinion that it is justified by humanitarian and compassionate considerations relating to them, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected, or by public policy considerations. Provincial criteria (2) The Minister may not grant permanent resident status to a foreign national referred to in subsection 9(1) if the foreign national does not meet the province’s selection criteria applicable to that foreign national. In 2020, s. 25 is much longer, and reads: 25 (1) Subject to subsection (1.2), the Minister must, on request of a foreign national in Canada who applies for permanent … Read More
Juveinile Offenders and Canadian Immigration
Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act, SC 2002, c 1 defines a young offender as being someone who is 12 years of age or older, but under 18. Convictions under the Youth Criminal Justice Act Section 36 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act regulates when a foreign national or permanent resident can be inadmissible for criminality. Section 36(3)(e)provides that: (e) inadmissibility under subsections (1) and (2) may not be based on an offence (i) designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act, (ii) for which the permanent resident or foreign national is found guilty under the Young Offenders Act, chapter Y-1 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, or (iii) for which the permanent resident or foreign national received a youth sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. It is important to note that unlike in some jurisdictions, juvenile offenders in Canada are not transferred to adult court. Instead, the Youth Criminal Justice Act established a process whereby the youth court first determines whether or not the young person is guilty of the offence and then, under certain circumstances, the youth court may impose an adult sentence. If a youth in Canada receives an adult sentence, then they can be inadmissible to Canada … Read More
What is a Conviction
Sections 36(1)(a) and (b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states: 36 (1) A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality for (a) having been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years, or of an offence under an Act of Parliament for which a term of imprisonment of more than six months has been imposed; (b) having been convicted of an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years; Sections 36(2)(a) and (b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states: (2) A foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of criminality for (a) having been convicted in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by way of indictment, or of two offences under any Act of Parliament not arising out of a single occurrence; (b) having been convicted outside Canada of an offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament, or of two offences not arising out … Read More
Deemed Rehabilitation
An individual who is criminally inadmissible to Canada may be deemed rehabilitated depending on the crime that was committed, the amount of time that has passed since the crime was committed, the maximum term of punishment for the crime and whether the person committed one or more crimes. Regulation 18(2)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations states: Rehabilitation 18 (1) For the purposes of paragraph 36(3)(c) of the Act, the class of persons deemed to have been rehabilitated is a prescribed class. Members of the class (2) The following persons are members of the class of persons deemed to have been rehabilitated: (a) persons who have been convicted outside Canada of no more than one offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament, if all of the following conditions apply, namely, (i) the offence is punishable in Canada by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than 10 years, (ii) at least 10 years have elapsed since the day after the completion of the imposed sentence, (iii) the person has not been convicted in Canada of an indictable offence under an Act of Parliament, (iv) the person has not been convicted in … Read More
IRCC’s Risk Assessment Unit
People reading Global Case Management System notes may come across the acronyms RAU or RAO. RAO stands for Risk Assessment Officer. RAU stands for Risk Assessment Unit. The following is a summary of a PDF obtained through ATIP about IRCC’s Risk Assessment Units. In 2016, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) established a Regional Assessment Office model to establish Risk Assessment Units in a third of IRCC’s overseas visa office. As of August 2021, there are 19 Risk Assessment Officers overseas who are supported by locally engaged staff. Risk Assessment Officers are responsible for: anti-fraud; document verification; security reviews; strengthening the integrity of overseas program delivery; risk and intelligence reporting; and operational partner liaison. The goal of IRCC’s risk assessment functions are: support delivery of the IRCC mandate to manage Canada’s migration programs for the social and economic benefit of Canada by ensuring that all persons who apply for migration to Canada, whether for temporary purposes or permanently, are both eligible to do so and admissible, and meet all the criteria in the category under which they have applied; to help IRCC to maintain public confidence in Canada’s immigration system, which includes the continuum of immigration, refugee, citizenship, settlement and … Read More
Staying Removal at the IAD
People issued removal orders often want to know how long they can stay in Canada before they have to leave, and if there is a chance to defer removal.
The IMM5707 and the Definition of Accompanying
The IMM57-5 asks applicants to delcare whether any family members will accompany them to Canada. There has been confusion over what “accompany” means that two recent Federal Court of Canada decisions have addressed. In Adepoju v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 438, a husband and wife independently submitted study permit applications. In each application they did not include each other as dependents and checked “no” to whether the spouse would accompany the other to Canada. In response to a procedural fairness letter, they wrote: 4. My spouse and I applied for a study permit simultaneously and we indicated in our family information form that each of us will be accompanied to Canada by our spouse. We also indicated in our individual letters of explanation for our study permit that our spouse will stay back in Nigeria to serve as home ties. 5. The fact in our application is true and it is possible to be implemented as there is no law that says that a study permit holder must travel to Canada. Our intention was that either of us that gets approved for the study permit will travel for studies while the other person will stay in Nigeria to … Read More
Determining Equivalency – Whether a Criminal Offence Will Make You Inadmissible to Canada
An individual who has been convicted of offense outside of Canada needs to determine what the equivalent offense would be in Canada.