Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Marginal note:Humanitarian and compassionate considerations — request of foreign national

• 25 (1) The Minister must, on request of a foreign national in Canada who is inadmissible or who does not meet the requirements of this Act, and may, on request of a foreign national outside Canada, examine the circumstances concerning the foreign national and may grant the foreign national permanent resident status or an exemption from any applicable criteria or obligations of this Act if the Minister is of the opinion that it is justified by humanitarian and compassionate considerations relating to the foreign national, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected.

• Marginal note:Payment of fees

  (1.1) The Minister is seized of a request referred to in subsection (1) only if the applicable fees in respect of that request have been paid.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (1.2) The Minister may not examine the request if the foreign national has already made such a request and the request is pending.

• Marginal note:Non-application of certain factors

  (1.3) In examining the request of a foreign national in Canada, the Minister may not consider the factors that are taken into account in the determination of whether a person is a Convention refugee under section 96 or a person in need of protection under subsection 97(1) but must consider elements related to the hardships that affect the foreign national.

• Marginal note:Provincial criteria

  (2) The Minister may not grant permanent resident status to a foreign national referred to in subsection 9(1) if the foreign national does not meet the province’s selection criteria applicable to that foreign national.