IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2023: Humanitarian and Compassionate Considerations and Public Policy

Context

• Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) considerations and public policies are discretionary tools that provide the Minister with the authority to grant permanent resident status, or an exemption from requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or Regulations, for foreign nationals who would not otherwise qualify in an existing immigration class or program.
• These discretionary tools allow flexibility for deserving and exceptional cases and are widely viewed as the legislation’s “safety net”.
• 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.
• The public policy provision (section 25.2) addresses the situation of a group of foreign nationals in similar circumstances whereby the Minister seeks to allow them to enter or remain in Canada when they do not meet the eligibility criteria of an existing immigration class or program, or who may be inadmissible.  

Impacts

• The ‘H&C and other’ category within the Immigration Levels Plan has traditionally accounted for approximately
  1.5%^{Footnote 1} of overall admissions. This increased to 2.8% in 2021 and 2% in 2022, primarily due to admissions under public policies (e.g. Health care workers during the pandemic, 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 and 25 in 2022.
• This admissions category is oversubscribed as it is challenging to plan immigration levels for emerging priority situations that require a rapid immigration response.
• In addition to responding to humanitarian crises, public policies are used to facilitate family reunification in special circumstances, act as a stop-gap temporary “fix” to address operational issues, for national interest purposes, to implement pilot or bespoke programs, 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 could displace admissions under other programs.

Current Program

H&C

• As the Minister, you have the authority to grant exemptions or permanent residence on H&C grounds or it may be exercised by a delegated officer.
• H&C cannot be used to overcome the most serious inadmissibility’s – Security, Human or International Rights Violations, Organized Criminality (sections 34, 35, 37 of the Act).
• 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).

Public Policy

• As Minister, you have the authority to issue public policies under section 25.2. Officers assess eligibility based on the conditions outlined in the public policy. Public policies cannot amend provisions of the Act or Regulations or create new ones.
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• For temporary residence, public policies are implemented for fee waivers, 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.

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:
  • The public policy providing new permanent residence pathways for Hong Kong residents to remove the education requirement of stream B (work experience in Canada). This change was announced on July 11, 2023, and comes into effect on August 15, 2023.
  • A public policy to grant permanent residence for Ukrainians with family in Canada was announced on July 15, 2023 and comes into effect on October 23, 2023.
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• 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.

Upcoming Milestones

• Discretionary tools allow flexibility to address the unique needs of applicants and to allow rapid immigration responses in compelling situations.