Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27)

Marginal note:Fees — compliance regime

• 89.2 (1) The regulations may

  • (a) govern fees to be paid in respect of the compliance regime that applies to employers in relation to their employment of foreign nationals whose authorizations to work in Canada do not require an assessment provided by the Department of Employment and Social Development; and

  • (b) govern cases in which the fees referred to in paragraph (a) are waived.

  • (c) and (d) [Repealed, 2015, c. 36, s. 173]

• Marginal note:Service Fees Act

  (2) The Service Fees Act does not apply to fees referred to in paragraph (1)(a).

Social Insurance Numbers

Marginal note:Minister directs special numbers to be issued

90 The Minister may direct the Canada Employment Insurance Commission to assign to persons, other than Canadian citizens or permanent residents, Social Insurance Numbers identifying those persons as persons who may be required under this Act to obtain authorization to work in Canada.

Representation or Advice

Marginal note:Representation or advice for consideration

• 91 (1) Subject to this section, no person shall knowingly, directly or indirectly, represent or advise a person for consideration — or offer to do so — in connection with the submission of an expression of interest under subsection 10.1(3) or a proceeding or application under this Act.

• Marginal note:Persons who may represent or advise

  (2) A person does not contravene subsection (1) if they are

  • (a) a lawyer who is a member in good standing of a law society of a province or a notary who is a member in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec;

  • (b) any other member in good standing of a law society of a province or the Chambre des notaires du Québec, including a paralegal; or

  • (c) a member in good standing of the College, as defined in section 2 of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act.

• Marginal note:Students-at-law

  (3) A student-at-law does not contravene subsection (1) by offering or providing representation or advice to a person if the student-at-law is acting under the supervision of a person mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) who is representing or advising the person — or offering to do so — in connection with the submission of an expression of interest under subsection 10.1(3) or a proceeding or application under this Act.

• Marginal note:Agreement or arrangement with Her Majesty

  (4) An entity, including a person acting on its behalf, that offers or provides services to assist persons in connection with the submission of an expression of interest under subsection 10.1(3) or an application under this Act, including for a permanent or temporary resident visa, travel documents or a work or study permit, does not contravene subsection (1) if it is acting in accordance with an agreement or arrangement between that entity and Her Majesty in right of Canada that authorizes it to provide those services.

• (5) [Repealed, 2019, c. 29, s. 296]

• (5.1) [Repealed, 2019, c. 29, s. 296]

• (6) [Repealed, 2019, c. 29, s. 296]

• (7) [Repealed, 2019, c. 29, s. 296]

• Marginal note:Québec Immigration Act

  (7.1) For greater certainty, the Québec Immigration Act, CQLR, c. I-0.2.1, applies to, among other persons, every person who, in Quebec, represents or advises a person for consideration — or offers to do so — in connection with a proceeding or application under this Act and is a member of the College, as defined in section 2 of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act.

• (8) [Repealed, 2019, c. 29, s. 296]

• Marginal note:Penalties

  (9) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable

  • (a) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of not more than $200,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or to both; or

  • (b) on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $40,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both.

• Marginal note:Meaning of proceeding

  (10) For greater certainty, in this section, proceeding does not include a proceeding before a superior court.

Marginal note:Regulations

• 91.1 (1) The regulations may

  • (a) establish a system of administrative penalties and consequences — including of administrative monetary penalties — applicable to the violations designated in regulations made under paragraph (b) and set the amounts of those administrative monetary penalties;

  • (b) designate as a violation the contravention — including a contravention committed outside Canada — of any specified provision of this Act or of the regulations by any person who, directly or indirectly, represents or advises a person for consideration — or offers to do so — in connection with the submission of an expression of interest under subsection 10.1(3) or a proceeding or application under this Act;

  • (c) prohibit acts in relation to the activity of representing or advising — or offering to do so — described in paragraph (b); and

  • (d) provide for the power to inspect — including the power to require documents to be provided by individuals and entities for inspection — for the purpose of verifying compliance with the provisions specified in regulations made under paragraph (b).

• Marginal note:Right to request review

  (2) Any regulation made under paragraph (1)(a) must provide that a person who is the subject of a notice of violation has the right to request, from a person appointed under subsection (3), a review of the notice or of the penalty imposed.

• Marginal note:Appointment — order

  (3) The Governor in Council may, by order, appoint one or more Canadian citizens or permanent residents to conduct reviews in respect of notices of violation issued, or penalties imposed, under a regulation made under paragraph (1)(a) and to perform any other function conferred on them by a regulation made under that paragraph.

• Marginal note:Tenure

  (4) A person appointed by order under subsection (3) holds office during good behaviour for a term that the Governor in Council may specify, by order, but may be removed for cause by the Governor in Council at any time.

Material Incorporated in Regulations

Marginal note:Incorporated material

• 92 (1) A regulation may incorporate by reference the following material:

  • (a) material produced by a person or body other than the Governor in Council;

  • (b) material referred to in paragraph (a) that has been subsequently adapted or edited in order to facilitate its incorporation for the purposes of the regulation;

  • (c) material that has been developed jointly with another government or government agency for the purpose of harmonizing the regulation with other laws; and

  • (d) material that is technical or explanatory in nature, such as specifications, classifications, illustrations or graphs, as well as examples that may assist in the application of the regulation.

• Marginal note:Incorporated material — instructions

  (1.1) An instruction given by the Minister or the Minister of Employment and Social Development under this Act may incorporate by reference any material, regardless of its source.

• Marginal note:Amended from time to time

  (2) Material may be incorporated by reference on a specified date or as amended from time to time.

• Marginal note:Incorporated material is not a regulation

  (3) For greater certainty, material that is incorporated by reference in a regulation made under this Act is not a regulation for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act.

Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

93 Instructions given by the Minister or the Minister of Employment and Social Development under this Act and guidelines issued by the Chairperson under paragraph 159(1)(h) are not statutory instruments for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act.

Report to Parliament

Marginal note:Annual report to Parliament

• 94 (1) The Minister must, on or before November 1 of each year or, if a House of Parliament is not then sitting, within the next 30 days on which that House is sitting after that date, table in each House of Parliament a report on the operation of this Act in the preceding calendar year.

• Marginal note:Contents of report

  (2) The report shall include a description of

  • (a) the instructions given under section 87.3 and other activities and initiatives taken concerning the selection of foreign nationals, including measures taken in cooperation with the provinces;

  • (a.1) any instructions given under paragraph 10.3(1)(h.2) that establish a category of eligible foreign nationals, the economic goal sought to be supported in establishing the category and the number of foreign nationals invited to make an application for permanent residence in respect of the category;

  • (b) in respect of Canada, the number of foreign nationals who became permanent residents, and the number projected to become permanent residents in the following year;

  • (b.1) in respect of Canada, the linguistic profile of foreign nationals who became permanent residents;

  • (c) in respect of each province that has entered into a federal-provincial agreement described in subsection 9(1), the number, for each class listed in the agreement, of persons that became permanent residents and that the province projects will become permanent residents there in the following year;

  • (d) the number of temporary resident permits issued under section 24, categorized according to grounds of inadmissibility, if any;

  • (e) the number of persons granted permanent resident status under each of subsections 25(1), 25.1(1) and 25.2(1);

  • (e.1) any instructions given under subsection 30(1.2), (1.41) or (1.43) during the year in question and the date of their publication; and

  • (f) a gender-based analysis of the impact of this Act.

PART 2Refugee Protection

DIVISION 1Refugee Protection, Convention Refugees and Persons in Need of Protection

Marginal note:Conferral of refugee protection

• 95 (1) Refugee protection is conferred on a person when

  • (a) the person has been determined to be a Convention refugee or a person in similar circumstances under a visa application and becomes a permanent resident under the visa or a temporary resident under a temporary resident permit for protection reasons;

  • (b) the Board determines the person to be a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection; or

  • (c) except in the case of a person described in subsection 112(3), the Minister allows an application for protection.

• Marginal note:Protected person

  (2) A protected person is a person on whom refugee protection is conferred under subsection (1), and whose claim or application has not subsequently been deemed to be rejected under subsection 108(3), 109(3) or 114(4).

Marginal note:Convention refugee

96 A Convention refugee is a person who, by reason of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion,

• (a) is outside each of their countries of nationality and is unable or, by reason of that fear, unwilling to avail themself of the protection of each of those countries; or

• (b) not having a country of nationality, is outside the country of their former habitual residence and is unable or, by reason of that fear, unwilling to return to that country.

Marginal note:Person in need of protection

• 97 (1) A person in need of protection is a person in Canada whose removal to their country or countries of nationality or, if they do not have a country of nationality, their country of former habitual residence, would subject them personally

  • (a) to a danger, believed on substantial grounds to exist, of torture within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention Against Torture; or

  • (b) to a risk to their life or to a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if

    • (i) the person is unable or, because of that risk, unwilling to avail themself of the protection of that country,

    • (ii) the risk would be faced by the person in every part of that country and is not faced generally by other individuals in or from that country,

    • (iii) the risk is not inherent or incidental to lawful sanctions, unless imposed in disregard of accepted international standards, and

    • (iv) the risk is not caused by the inability of that country to provide adequate health or medical care.

• Marginal note:Person in need of protection

  (2) A person in Canada who is a member of a class of persons prescribed by the regulations as being in need of protection is also a person in need of protection.

Marginal note:Exclusion — Refugee Convention

98 A person referred to in section E or F of Article 1 of the Refugee Convention is not a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection.

Marginal note:Requirement to report

• 98.1 (1) A designated foreign national on whom refugee protection is conferred under paragraph 95(1)(b) or (c) must report to an officer in accordance with the regulations.

• Marginal note:Obligation when reporting

  (2) A designated foreign national who is required to report to an officer must answer truthfully all questions put to him or her and must provide any information and documents that the officer requests.