Removal from Canada
Author | Sasha Baglay/Martin Jones |
Pages | 408-442 |
408
CHAPTER 12
REMOVAL FROM
CANADA
A. INTRODUCTION
Similar to immigration arrest and detention, removal can be applied
only to foreign nationals and permanent residents. It is used as a tool
to protect Canada’s security and the Canadian public from dangerous
persons and to expel those who are no longer entitled to stay in Can-
ada. Foreign nationals can be removed once their authorization to be
in Canada expires or is cancelled due to inadmissibility. Permanent
residents may also be subject to removal on specified grounds of in-
admissibility (e.g., non-compliance with the residency obligation or
serious criminality). These grounds are used as a basis to first strip
the permanent resident of his status and then subject him to removal.
Convention refugees and persons in need of protection are shielded
from removal by the principle of non-refoulement, whether or not they
became permanent residents.1 Unsuccessful refugee claimants do not
enjoy such protection, so can be removed once refugee determination
and any available recourse against a negative decision are completed.2
For removal to occur, the following basic conditions must be satis-
fied. First, the government must have the legal authority to remove
1 Immigration and Ref ugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27, s 115 [IRPA].
2 Not all applicant s enjoy automatic stay of removal upon applicat ion for judicial
review. Thus, they can b e removed prior to completion of judicial rev iew, unless
they obtain a cou rt-ordered stay. Please see Section D, below in t his chapter,
and Chapter 10 for furt her discussion.
Removal from Can ada409
the individual, something that is normally accomplished through the
issuance of a removal order. Second, removal must comply with the
general obligations of non-refoulement of refugees and the prohibition
of refoulement to torture as well as various other statutory, regulatory,
or court-ordered stays of removal that may be in place. However, due
the Status of Refugees as well as the Supreme Court decision in Suresh
v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)3(see Chapter 2,
Sections C(1) and F(3)), it is possible to initiate removal of protected
persons. Further, if application for cessation of refugee protection is
granted (see Chapter 4), a protected person loses both protected per son
status and permanent residence (if acquired), becomes inadmissible
to Canada, and can be subject to removal. Third, the person facing
removal must have a right to enter a destination country, or a country
that agrees to accept him. Fourth, a person who is subject to removal
must be in possess ion of the documents required for travel (specifica lly,
those required for admission to the destination country). Given that
states are usually willing to admit only their own nationals or perma-
nent residents, arranging for the removal of stateless persons can be
particularly difficult.
This chapter will discuss each of the core aspects of the removal
process in the sequence outlined above: the various categories of re-
moval orders; stays of removal; pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA);
and the making of removal arrangements. This discussion is mainly
relevant to cases of rejected claimants, although it also outlines prin-
ciples that are generally applicable to removal of other non-citizens.
B. REMOVAL ORDERS
When a person makes a refugee cla im in Canada, she is issued a “condi-
tional” removal order. The mere fact of making a refugee claim does not
result in the removal order. Rather, collateral facts related to or aris-
ing from the mak ing of a refugee claim are most commonly the basis of
the inadmissibility allegations. These grounds include the inability of
the claimant to financially support himself while in Canada4 and non-
compliance with the requirement of the Immigration and Ref ugee Protec-
tion Act that, as an ind ividual seeking to remain indefinitely in Canada,
4 IRPA, above note 1, s 39.
REFUGEE L AW410
he should be in possession of a passport and an immigrant visa.5 In a
few cases, removal orders based on other grounds, such as criminality,
will also b e sought against refugee claimants (see Appendix D, Table 10,
for a breakdown of all removals by ground).
The removal order is “conditional” on the outcome of the refugee
claim: where a claim is successful the removal order is deemed void
upon the individual acquiring permanent residence.6 On the other
hand, where a refugee claimant is unsuccessful, the removal order will
come into force on the latest of the following days:
1) the day the claim is determined to be ineligible for a refugee
hearing under s ection 101(1)(e) of the IRPA (claimant came from
a safe third country);
2) in a case other than that set out in pa ragraph (a), seven days after
the claim is determined to be ineligible for a refugee hearing be-
fore the Refugee Protection Div ision (RPD);
3) if a claim is rejected by the RPD, upon expiry of the prescribed
time limit for an appe al to the Refugee Appeal Divis ion (RAD) or,
if the appeal is m ade, fifteen days after the R AD rejects the claim;
4) fifteen days after the notification that the claim is declared with-
drawn or abandoned; or
5) fifteen days af ter proceedings are termin ated as a result of notice
under section 104(1)(c) of the IRPA (notice that a claim is ineli-
gible for reasons of misrepresentation or withholding material
facts or if it is a repeat claim).7
Most rejected refugee claimants fall under the fifteen-day time limit
outlined in the IRPA, section 49(2)(c). For claimants who have the right
to appeal to the RAD, the delay in the conditional removal order comi ng
into effect allows for the filing of an appeal and subsequently, if the ap-
peal is rejected, for filing a judicial review application of that rejection.
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations establish a fifteen-
day time limit for filing of a RAD appeal and give another fifteen days
to perfect that appeal.8 The wording of the legislation does not make it
clear whether the removal order under section 49(2)(c) is stayed for the
fifteen days for filing the appe al or for the cumulative thir ty-day period
to file and perfect the appeal. As some authorities note, the section is
5 Ibid, ss 20 and 41(a); Immigration and Refugee ProtectionRegulations, SOR/20 02-227,
ss 6 and 50 [Regulations].
6 IRPA, above note 1, s 51.
7 Ibid, s 49(2).
8 Regulations, above note 5, s 159.91(1).
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