Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Marginal note:Regulations

• 14 (1) The regulations may provide for any matter relating to the application of this Division, and may define, for the purposes of this Act, the terms used in this Division.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (2) The regulations may prescribe, and govern any matter relating to, classes of permanent residents or foreign nationals, including the classes referred to in section 12, and may include provisions respecting

  • (a) selection criteria, the weight, if any, to be given to all or some of those criteria, the procedures to be followed in evaluating all or some of those criteria and the circumstances in which an officer may substitute for those criteria their evaluation of the likelihood of a foreign national’s ability to become economically established in Canada;

  • (b) applications for visas and other documents and their issuance or refusal, with respect to foreign nationals and their family members;

  • (c) the number of applications that may be processed or approved in a year, the number of visas and other documents that may be issued in a year, and the measures to be taken when that number is exceeded;

  • (d) conditions that may or must be imposed, varied or cancelled, individually or by class, on permanent residents and foreign nationals;

  • (e) sponsorships;

  • (e.1) undertakings, and penalties for failure to comply with undertakings;

  • (f) deposits or guarantees of the performance of obligations under this Act that are to be given by any person to the Minister;

  • (f.1) the power to inspect, including the power to require documents to be provided for inspection, for the purpose of verifying compliance with undertakings; and

  • (g) any matter for which a recommendation to the Minister or a decision may or must be made by a designated person, institution or organization with respect to a foreign national or sponsor.

• Marginal note:Electronic travel authorization

  (3) For the purposes of subsection 11(1.01), the regulations may include provisions respecting the circumstances in which an application may be made by other means and respecting those other means.

• Marginal note:Biometric information

  (4) The regulations may provide for any matter relating to the application of section 11.1, including

  • (a) the circumstances in which a foreign national is exempt from the requirement to follow the procedures prescribed under that section;

  • (b) the circumstances in which a foreign national is not required to provide certain biometric information; and

  • (c) the processing of the collected biometric information, including creating biometric templates or converting the information into digital biometric formats.

• Marginal note:Applications to be made electronically

  (5) The regulations may require foreign nationals who make an application for a visa or other document under subsection 11(1) and foreign nationals who were issued an invitation under Division 0.1 to apply for permanent residence to make those applications by means of an electronic system and may include provisions respecting that system, respecting the circumstances in which those applications may be made by other means and respecting those other means.