Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

Marginal note:Member of the source country class

• 148 (1) A foreign national is a member of the source country class if they have been determined by an officer to be in need of resettlement because

  • (a) they are residing in their country of nationality or habitual residence and that country is a source country within the meaning of subsection (2) at the time their permanent resident visa application is made as well as at the time a visa is issued; and

  • (b) they

    • (i) are being seriously and personally affected by civil war or armed conflict in that country,

    • (ii) have been or are being detained or imprisoned with or without charges, or subjected to some other form of penal control, as a direct result of an act committed outside Canada that would, in Canada, be a legitimate expression of freedom of thought or a legitimate exercise of civil rights pertaining to dissent or trade union activity, or

    • (iii) by reason of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, are unable or, by reason of such fear, unwilling to avail themself of the protection of any of their countries of nationality or habitual residence.

• Marginal note:Source country

  (2) A source country is a country

  • (a) where persons are in refugee-like situations as a result of civil war or armed conflict or because their fundamental human rights are not respected;

  • (b) where an officer works or makes routine working visits and is able to process visa applications without endangering their own safety, the safety of applicants or the safety of Canadian embassy staff;

  • (c) where circumstances warrant humanitarian intervention by the Department in order to implement the overall humanitarian strategies of the Government of Canada, that intervention being in keeping with the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and

  • (d) that is set out in Schedule 2.