Health-care workers permanent residence pathway: COVID-19 program delivery – Admissibility

The applicant and their family members must meet admissibility requirements related to

• criminality
• security
• health
• finances

Certain exemptions are provided in the public policy for those who have inadmissibilities related to their entry into Canada and their refugee claim.

Inadmissibilities should be considered at the stage at which they are known by the decision maker.

On this page

• Determining admissibility
• Inadmissible family members

Determining admissibility

Once the delegated officer has determined that a principal applicant is eligible under one of the public policies and their application has been approved in principle, the principal applicant and their family members, whether accompanying or not, must

• complete medical examinations if required
• pass criminal and security checks by IRCC

The processing office will request a police certificate for the applicants’ current country of residence and for every country where they have lived for 6 months or more since they were 18 years old. Officers may also make a determination on criminal inadmissibility with other reliable documents when a police certificate is not available. See Police certificates for immigration and citizenship for more information.

To receive final approval under one of the public policies, the applicant and their family members must not be inadmissible other than for having

• failed to comply with conditions related to their temporary stay including
  • having overstayed a
    • visa
    • visitor record
    • work permit
    • student permit
  • having worked or studied without being authorized to do so under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) (as long as it was solely as a result of losing work authorization when a removal order against them became enforceable)
• entered Canada without the required visa or other document required under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR)
• entered Canada without a valid passport or travel document

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the National Security Screening Division of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) perform security screening and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) conducts screening for criminal records on behalf of IRCC. The IRCC office handling the clearances will request security screening from partners using the Global Case Management System (GCMS). Security screening results are valid for 48 months. If the results expire, the office must submit a new request for screening to partners through GCMS.

If, upon review, an applicant has passed eligibility but appears to be inadmissible under section A34, A35 or A37, decision makers are to request a comprehensive screening from partner agencies in GCMS. If the screening activity returns concerns, decision makers should transfer the application to the Centre of Expertise in Security Cases (CESC) at the Humanitarian Migration Office in Montreal for assessment. The CESC will render the final decision on the admissibility assessment.

Inadmissible principal applicants

After an application has been reviewed, if the officer believes that the principal applicant is inadmissible for reasons other than the reasons exempted under the public policy, the officer should

• outline their concerns to the applicant in a procedural fairness letter
• provide an opportunity for the applicant to submit additional information about the possible inadmissibility in order to address these concerns

If no additional information is provided by the deadline, or if the additional information does not change the inadmissibility assessment, the officer may refuse the application. See Making a final decision.

Inadmissible family members

In-Canada family members of the principal applicant eligible for permanent residence under this public policy will be granted the same admissibility exemptions. Family members are defined as persons who meet the definition of a “family member” in subsection R1(3) as assessed by a delegated officer.

After an application has been reviewed, if the officer believes that a family member (in Canada or overseas) of the principal applicant is inadmissible, the officer should

• outline their concerns to the applicant in a procedural fairness letter
• provide an opportunity for the applicant to submit additional information about the possible inadmissibility to address these concerns

If no additional information is provided by the deadline, or if the additional information does not change the inadmissibility assessment, the officer may refuse the application. See Making a final decision.