IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2024 – Humanitarian and Complementary Pathways
Context
Discretionary Tools
Discretionary tools allow flexibility for deserving and exceptional cases and are viewed as the legislation’s “safety net.”
Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) considerations and public policies provide the Minister with the authority to grant permanent resident status, or an exemption from requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the Act) or the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations), for foreign nationals who would not otherwise qualify in an existing immigration class or program.
An applicant who is not otherwise eligible for permanent residence or is inadmissible can apply for H&C considerations (section 25). Outside Canada, H&C is most used to provide exemptions from provisions of the Act. H&C can also be requested for individuals or used on the Minister’s initiative to grant exemptions or to facilitate permanent residence. H&C cannot, however, be used to overcome the most serious inadmissibilities – Security, Human or International Rights Violations, Organized Criminality (sections 34, 35, 37 of the Act). The Minister has the authority to grant exemptions or permanent residence on H&C grounds or it may be exercised by a delegated officer. Delegated officers consider all factors presented by the applicant and conduct a global assessment (e.g. establishment in Canada, best interests of any child affected by the application, health considerations, factors in the country of origin, among others).
The Minister also has the authority to issue public policies under section 25.2. Public policies cannot amend provisions of the Act or Regulations or create new ones, but rather exempt applicants from provisions or grant permanent resident status outside of a class.
For temporary residence, public policies are often implemented to waive fees, to waive eligibility criteria related to visitor visas, work and study permits, and may also provide exemptions from inadmissibility.
Public policies can grant permanent residence for a specific group of individuals with common eligibility criteria (in Canada), and/or to exempt applicants from some or all of the eligibility criteria of an immigration class or program (mostly overseas), and could also include exemptions from inadmissibility and fee waivers.
Complementary pathways create other ways for refugees and displaced people to find durable solutions, outside of traditional resettlement programs and refugee definitions. These pathways help displaced people move safely to third countries through non-refugee, regular migration programs (i.e. economic programs, student permits, etc.)
Impacts
The H&C and Other (i.e. public policies) category within the Immigration Levels Plan has traditionally accounted for approximately 1.5% of overall admissions. This increased to 2.8% in 2021, 2% in 2022, and 3% in 2023 primarily due to admissions under public policies (e.g. Extended family of former Afghan interpreters, Families of victims of recent air disasters, Hong Kong).
Prior to 2020, less than ten public policies per year were issued. This increased to 26 in 2020, 53 in 2021, 25 in 2022 and approximately 32 in 2023.
This admissions category is oversubscribed as it is challenging to plan immigration levels for emerging priority situations that require a rapid immigration response.
Public policies are often used to facilitate family reunification in special circumstances such as humanitarian situations, act as a stop-gap temporary “fix” to address operational issues, for national interest purposes, to implement pilot or bespoke programs (including complementary pathways), and/or as a bridging mechanism until such time as a regulatory amendment can be effected.
While public policies represent a useful and effective tool, the significant increase in the past few years of public policies contributes to operational pressures, including processing and IT requirements, which often displace admissions under other programs.
Current Program
Humanitarian Pathways
When responding to global events, there are often similarities in that people may be fleeing instability and seeking safety. Immigration responses are tailored to each different context to meet the unique needs of those who require support.
Most recently, public policy authority has been used to facilitate temporary or permanent resident visas to individuals affected by a humanitarian crisis. A common model has been to facilitate individuals with a family connection to Canada if they are related to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident “anchor” who is willing to support the applicants once they arrive in Canada. This family-based anchor model has been used for individuals affected by crises in Afghanistan, Gaza, Sudan and the Americas region.
This anchor model helps ensure clients of these humanitarian responses are supported once they arrive in Canada, as they would otherwise not be covered under programs in the existing Regulations (i.e., they are not members of the family class or refugees). This approach has been adopted for several reasons, including to leverage the means and the will of diaspora communities who are wanting to help, and to ensure that those requiring safety have the supports required to facilitate their integration in Canada.
Complementary Pathways
The public policy authority has also been used by the Department to experiment with the design of complementary pathways. These pathways create additional ways for refugees and displaced persons to find durable solutions outside of traditional resettlement programs. This includes Canada’s Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, designed to help skilled refugees and displaced persons immigrate to Canada through existing economic programs.
Design of a new pathway for refugee and displaced students, the Displaced Scholars Pilot, is also underway. This pathway will facilitate access to study permits and Canada’s education system for refugees and displaced students.
Canada also demonstrates its leadership in complementary pathways as inaugural Chair of the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility (GTF). The GTF is a multi-sectoral, global initiative that advocates for and promotes labour mobility pathways for refugees and displaced people. Membership in the Task Force encompasses governments, private sector/employers as well as non-governmental partners and an advisory panel of refugees with lived experience using a complementary pathway.
Recent Developments
The list of published public policies can be found on the Department’s website. The most recent public policies to facilitate or grant permanent residence in humanitarian situations outside the Refugee program include:
A public policy granting permanent residence for Colombian, Haitian and Venezuelan nationals with family in Canada, which came into effect on November 17, 2023.
A public policy to facilitate permanent residence for foreign nationals affected by the conflict in Sudan, who have family in Canada, was announced on December 29, 2023 and comes into effect on February 27, 2024.
The most recent public policy to facilitate temporary resident visas in humanitarian situations is the temporary public policy to facilitate temporary resident visas for certain extended family affected by the crisis in Gaza, which came into effect on January 9, 2024
Work is underway on a public policy for the Displaced Scholars Pilot, which aims to facilitate study permits for refugee and displaced persons to come to Canada as students.
The Department is currently undertaking a review on the development, implementation and monitoring of public policies to take stock of lessons learned and assess the cumulative impacts of public policies put in place in the last few years.
