Public Policy Facilitating Immigration of Certain Sponsored Foreign Nationals Excluded under Paragraph 117(9)(d) or 125(1)(d)

Policy effect

Establishes a pilot project via public policy exempting certain vulnerable foreign nationals (resettled refugees, protected persons, and sponsored family members) from the lifetime sponsorship bar under IRPR paragraphs 117(9)(d) and 125(1)(d) when a non-accompanying family member was not declared or examined. Phase scope: Initial 2-year pilot project starting September 9, 2019

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

… officials have all relevant information to make a decision on a permanent residence application and can ensure that these family members would not make the principal applicant ineligible or inadmissible. In the *Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations* (the Regulations), the consequence for failing to have a non-accompanying family member examined is a lifetime bar on being able to sponsor that family member, as per paragraphs 117(9)(d) and 125(1)(d) of the Regulations. These regulations were put in place to encourage full disclosure by immigration applicants, to enhance the overall integrity of Family Class immigration, and to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians. Stakeholders and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration have expressed concerns related to the disproportionate impact of the lifetime bar, particularly on children. In order to address these concerns, the Department implemented a pilot project via a public policy on September 9, 2019. A subsequent public policy was issued in September 2021 for two years due to the unprecedented circumstances and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The public policy will expire on September … the immigration into Canada of certain foreign nationals applying in the Family Class or the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada class and whose sponsor applied for, and obtained permanent resident status as a Convention refugee or a person in similar circumstances, as a protected person or who were sponsored as a spouse, a common-law partner, a conjugal partner or a dependent child. These foreign nationals, if they comply with the below specified conditions, will be exempted from paragraph 117(9)(d) or 125(1)(d) of the Regulations. These foreign nationals are the most vulnerable populations … the sponsorship of family members who, based on their relationship to their sponsor, would have made that person ineligible to immigrate to Canada in the program under which they applied. As such, I hereby establish that, pursuant to my authority under section 25.2 of the Act, there are public policy considerations that justify continuation of the granting of an exemption from the application of paragraph 117(9)(d) or 125(1)(d) of the Regulations to foreign nationals who meet the conditions (eligibility requirements) listed below. ## Conditions (Eligibility Requirements) Based on public policy considerations, delegated officers may grant an exemption from the requirements of the provisions of the Regulations listed below to a foreign national who meets all of the following conditions (eligibility requirements): - The foreign national has applied as a spouse or a common-law partner in the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada class or as a spouse, a common-law partner, a conjugal partner or a dependent child in the Family Class; - The foreign national has a sponsor who applied for and was granted permanent residence status: 1. As a Convention refugee or a person in similar circumstances; or, 2. After having been determined to be a protected person; or, 3. As a sponsored spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependent child as a member of the Family Class; or, 4. As a sponsored spouse or common-law partner as a member of the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class. - The foreign national, if declared and examined at the time their sponsor immigrated to Canada, would not have made their sponsor ineligible for the permanent residence in one of the above-mentioned the class in which the sponsor applied for and was granted permanent residence. ## Requirements …

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Other Canada changes operative in 2019

• 2019-03-04Interim Pathway for Caregivers Public Policy
• 2019-03-28Order Extending the Decision-Making Role of Citizenship Judges (SOR/2019-82)
• 2019-05-10Order Repealing Designated Countries of Origin Orders Under the IRPA
• 2019-06-03Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Electronic Administration) (SOR/2019-174)
• 2019-06-10Direct Removal Orders for Human/International Rights Violations (SOR/2019-200)
• 2019-06-17Clarification of Health Inadmissibility Excessive Demand Exemptions for Family Members
• 2019-06-17Mandatory Consideration of the Best Interests of the Child in Immigration Detention (SOR/2019-213)
• 2019-06-18Home Support Worker permanent-residence pilot opened
• 2019-06-21Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1
• 2019-07-08Public Policy to Reinstate an Interim Pathway for Caregivers
• 2019-09-01Rural and Northern Community Immigration pilot class created