Department of Citizenship and Immigration Act (S.C. 1994, c. 31)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Act.

Establishment

Marginal note:Department established

• 2 (1) There is hereby established a department of the Government of Canada called the Department of Citizenship and Immigration over which the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, appointed by commission under the Great Seal, shall preside.

• Marginal note:Minister

  (2) The Minister holds office during pleasure and has the management and direction of the Department.

Marginal note:Deputy head

3 The Governor in Council may appoint an officer called the Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to hold office during pleasure and to be the deputy head of the Department.

Powers, Duties and Functions of the Minister

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions of Minister

4 The powers, duties and functions of the Minister extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction relating to citizenship and immigration and that are not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada.

Marginal note:Agreements

• 5 (1) The Minister, with the approval of the Governor in Council, may enter into agreements with any province or group of provinces or with any foreign government or international organization, for the purpose of facilitating the formulation, coordination and implementation — including the collection, use and disclosure of information — of policies and programs for which the Minister is responsible.

• Marginal note:Arrangements

  (2) The Minister may enter into arrangements with any province or group of provinces or with any foreign government or international organization, for the purpose of facilitating the formulation, coordination and implementation — including the collection, use and disclosure of information — of policies and programs for which the Minister is responsible.

Marginal note:Agreements

• 5.1 (1) The Minister, with the approval of the Governor in Council, may enter into an agreement with any foreign government for the provision of services in relation to the collection, use and disclosure of biometric information and for the provision of immigration application services and other related services on that government’s behalf for purposes related to the administration and enforcement of their immigration laws.

• Marginal note:Arrangements

  (2) The Minister may enter into an arrangement with any foreign government for the provision of services in relation to the collection, use and disclosure of biometric information and for the provision of immigration application services and other related services on that government’s behalf for purposes related to the administration and enforcement of their immigration laws.

• Marginal note:Amounts received

  (3) The Minister may use the amounts received for the provision of services under an agreement or arrangement — in the fiscal year in which they are received or in the following fiscal year — to offset the expenditures that the Minister incurs for the provision of such services.

Marginal note:Services

5.2 The Minister may provide services to the Canada Border Services Agency.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Marginal note:Definition of personal information

5.3 In sections 5.4 to 5.7,personal information has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Privacy Act.

Marginal note:Disclosure within Department

5.4 Subject to any regulations made under section 5.7, the Minister may, for the purpose of exercising their powers or performing their duties or functions under an Act of Parliament or another lawful authority, disclose within the Department any personal information under the control of the Department.

Marginal note:Disclosure outside Department

• 5.5 (1) Subject to any regulations made under section 5.7, and under a written agreement or arrangement that includes the elements of personal information that may be disclosed, the purpose of disclosure, any limits on secondary use and subsequent transfer of personal information and any other relevant details, the Minister may, for the purpose of the administration or enforcement of an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province or for the purpose of exercising their powers or performing their duties or functions under another lawful authority, disclose to any department, ministry, body, office or agency of the federal government or of a provincial government or to a federal or provincial Crown corporation personal information that is under the control of the Department and that relates to any of the following:

  • (a) the identity of an individual and any changes to their identity;

  • (b) the status of an individual in Canada and any changes to their status;

  • (c) the contents or status of any document issued to an individual by the Minister under a provision for which the Minister is responsible in an Act of Parliament or under another lawful authority, including information relating to the issuance, provision, renewal, restoration, validity, variance, withholding, refusal, termination, cancellation, correction, revocation, recall, suspension, recovery or loss of such a document.

• Marginal note:Prohibition

  (2) It is prohibited for a department, ministry, body, office or agency of a provincial government or a provincial Crown corporation to disclose personal information that it receives under subsection (1) to a foreign entity unless the disclosure is done

  • (a) with the written consent of the Minister; and

  • (b) in a manner that respects Canada’s international obligations in respect of mistreatment, as defined in section 2 of the Avoiding Complicity in Mistreatment by Foreign Entities Act.

Marginal note:Other disclosure authorities

5.6 For greater certainty, nothing in this Act affects any authority to disclose personal information under another Act of Parliament, at common law or under the royal prerogative.

Marginal note:Regulations

5.7 For the purposes of sections 5.4 and 5.5, the Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

• (a) the disclosure of personal information under the control of the Department, including conditions for or limits on disclosure and the specification of purposes for disclosure; and

• (b) the meaning of terms used in those sections.

Transitional Provisions

Marginal note:Employment continued

• 6 (1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the status of an employee who, on the coming into force of this Act, occupied a position, in that portion of the public service of Canada known as the Corporate Management Sector (Citizenship and Immigration) of the Department of the Secretary of State of Canada or in those portions of the public service of Canada described in paragraph (b) of Order in Council P.C. 1993-1901 of November 4, 1993, except that each such employee shall, on the coming into force of this Act, occupy their position in the Department of Citizenship and Immigration under the authority of the deputy head of that Department.

• Marginal note:Definition of "employee"

  (2) In this section, employee has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Appropriations

7 Any amount appropriated, for the fiscal year in which this section comes into force, by an appropriation Act based on the Estimates for that year for defraying the charges and expenses of the public service of Canada within the Department of the Secretary of State of Canada and that, on the day on which this Act comes into force, is unexpended, is deemed, on that day, to be an amount appropriated for defraying the charges and expenses of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions

• 8 (1) Any power, duty or function relating to citizenship or immigration that, immediately before the coming into force of this Act, was vested in or exercisable by any of the persons referred to in subsection (2) under any Act, order, rule or regulation, or any contract, lease, licence or other document, is, on the coming into force of this Act, vested in and exercisable by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, the Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration or the appropriate officer of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Persons

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the persons are the Minister of Employment and Immigration, the Minister of Multiculturalism and Citizenship, the Minister of National Health and Welfare, their respective Deputy Ministers, the Solicitor General of Canada, the Deputy Solicitor General, the Secretary of State of Canada, the Under-Secretary of State, the Chairman of the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission and any officer under their management and direction.

Consequential Amendments

9 to 22 [Amendments]