Overseas Applications for Landing: Convention Refugees Seeking Resettlement and Designated Classes

• Author: Donald Galloway
• Pages: 175-180

CHAPTER

9

The

third general class

of

immigrant

is the

humanitarian class, which

includes "Convention

refugees

seeking resettlement"

and

designated

classes. Recent

regulations1

that came into

force

on 1 May

1997 have sub-

stantially

altered

the law

relating

to

this class

by

redefining

the

term "Con-

vention

refugee

seeking resettlement,"

by

identifying

two new

designated

classes,

and by

repealing earlier regulations that identified

and

defined

other designated classes. Members

of the

humanitarian class

are not

required

to

meet

the

selection criteria imposed

on

independent immigrants.

A.

CONVENTION

REFUGEES

SEEKING

RESETTLEMENT

Section 6(1)

of the Act

provides explicitly that

a

Convention

refugee

and all

dependants

may be

granted landing

if she or he

meets,

to the

sat-

isfaction

of an

immigration

officer,

the

selection standards established

by the

Regulations

for the

purpose

of

determining

whether

the

immi-

grant will

be

able

"to

become successfully established

in

Canada." Sec-

tion

7 of the

Regulations identifies

the

criteria

to be

used

by a

visa

officer

to

determine whether

a

Convention

refugee

outside

Canada should

be

1 See

Humanitarian

Designated

Classes

Regulations, 1997,

SOR/97-183,

and

Regulations

Amending

the

Immigration Regulations, 1978,

SOR/97-184.

175

OVERSEAS

APPLICATIONS

CONVENTION

FOR

LANDING:

REFUGEES

SEEKING

RESETTLEMENT

AND

DESIGNATED

CLASSES