Resettlement: Legal references
(REF-OVS-14-1)
This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.
The following refers to legal instruments and information sources that are used to direct the delivery of the resettlement program in Canada.
On this page
- Immigration, Refugee and Protection Act (IRPA) and Immigration, Refugee and Protection Regulations (IRPR)
- Ministerial delegations and officer designations
- Quebec immigration: Agreements and laws
- International conventions and agreements
Immigration, Refugee and Protection Act (IRPA) and Immigration, Refugee and Protection Regulations (IRPR)
The following tables refer to the legal references that provide the authority for carrying out processing steps for the resettlement program.
Identifying applicants for resettlement
Topic | Reference(s) |
---|---|
Private sponsorship |
R140.2 |
Referral organization, government arrangement or agreement |
R140.3 |
Referral resulting from agreement with Government of Canada or arrangement with Minister |
R140.3 (b) or (c) |
Eligibility assessments (refugees for resettlement)
Topic | Reference(s) |
---|---|
Located outside Canada |
R139 (1) (a) |
Submitted application to seek permanent residence in Canada |
R139 (1) (b) and (c) |
No other durable solution |
R139 (1) (d) |
Urgent need for protection |
R138 |
Meets refugee class |
R139 (1) (e) |
Person in need of protection |
A97 |
Convention Refugee Class |
A96 (a) |
Convention Refugee Class – outside each country of nationality or habitual residence |
A96 (b) |
Convention Refugee – exclusion from refugee protection |
A98 |
Country of Asylum Class |
R146 (1) |
Country of Asylum Class – outside all countries of nationality or habitual residence |
R147 (a) |
Sufficient financial support: Approved sponsor, covered by Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) or self-supporting |
R139 (1) (f) |
Able to establish in Canada (unless resettling to Quebec) |
R139 (1) (g) and R139 (2) |
Exempt from ability to establish if vulnerable or in urgent need of protection |
R139 (g) |
Quebec: Confirmation of selection for resettlement in Quebec |
R139 (1) (h) and A20 (2) |
Obligation to be truthful and credible during eligibility assessment |
A16 |
Authority for officer to collect biometrics |
A16 (2) |
Obligation to appear for examination |
|
Redetermination of eligibility |
Admissibility assessments (refugees for resettlement)
Topic | Reference(s) |
---|---|
Danger to public health or danger to public safety |
A38 (1) (a) or (b) |
Exemption from excessive demand – resettlement applicants |
A38 (2) (b) |
Espionage or terrorism |
A34 |
Human or international rights violations |
A35 |
Organized crime |
A37 |
Serious criminality |
A36 (1) |
Exempt from misrepresentation – resettlement applicants |
A40 (1) and R22 |
Non-compliance with the Act |
A41 |
Private sponsor assessments
Topic | Reference(s) |
---|---|
Sponsor eligibility requirements |
A13(1) and R156 (1) |
Sponsor, or representative, resides in community of settlement |
R153 (1) (a) |
Sponsor application includes settlement plan, undertaking and refugee status determination (RSD) |
R153 (1) (b) |
Sponsor has financial capacity and made adequate arrangements |
R154 (1) (a) and (b) |
Sponsor not in default |
R153 (1) (c) |
Quebec: Sponsor requirements |
R158 |
Family member assessments
Topic | Reference(s) |
---|---|
Family member definition |
R1 (3) |
Family members are member of same refugee class |
R140 |
One-year window of opportunity |
R141 (1) |
One-year window application meets selection criteria of province |
R141 (1) (e) |
Lock-in age for dependent child |
R25.1 (1) |
Lock-in age for dependent child selected for Quebec |
R25.1(6) |
Unaccompanied minor |
Final resettlement decision and protection status
Topic | Reference(s) |
---|---|
Humanitarian and compassionate consideration |
A25.1 (1) |
Principle of non-refoulement |
A115 (1) |
Protected person status granted for applicant with temporary resident permit under urgent protection program |
R151.1 (2) (a) |
Conferral of refugee protection (after arrival) |
A95 |
Protected person (after arrival) |
A95 (2) |
Quebec: Issuing permanent residence visa |
R71 |
Receiving permanent residence in Canada (after arrival) |
R72 (1) |
Quebec: Receiving permanent residence in Canada (after arrival) |
R72 (3) |
Ministerial delegations and officer designations
IRCC and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have separate instruments that specify the delegations and designations for carrying out the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Regulations.
Delegated persons are authorized to do anything that may be done by the Minister under the Act or Regulations. Delegations are associated to sections where the word “Minister” is found.
Designated persons are officers in specified positions and areas who are authorized to carry out specific provisions of the Act and Regulations. Designations are associated with sections where the word “officer” is found. IRCC and CBSA may grant designations to their own officers and those in other departments. Only the lowest authorized position is specified, as persons with direct or indirect supervisory responsibilities over the position have the same authority.
For more information, consult Designation of Officers and Delegation of Authority (IL3)
Quebec immigration: Agreements and laws
International conventions and agreements
Refugee
- Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951)
- Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (1967)
- Cartagena Declaration on Refugees (1984)
- Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1950)
- Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
- UN Declaration on Territorial Asylum (1967)
Women
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
- Convention on the Political Rights of Women
- Convention on the Nationality of Married Women
Children
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict
- Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
- C182 - Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999
Torture, slavery and forced labour
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
- Slavery Convention
- Protocol amending the Slavery Convention signed at Geneva on 25 September 1926
- Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery
- C029 - Forced Labour Convention
- C105 - Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (PDF, 15 KB)
- Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Economic, civil and political rights
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- Optional Protocol Relating to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Humanitarian law
- Canadian Human Rights Act
- Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field
- Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea
- Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War
- Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949
- Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of the Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I)
- Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of the Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II)
- Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Organized crime
- United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (came into force on September 29, 2003) and its two protocols:
- Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (came into force on December 25, 2003)
- Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, an additional protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (came into force on January 28, 2004)
Ratification dates for the most important instruments: United Nations Treaty Collection – Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General.
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