CANADA'S NEW IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION REGULATIONS FINALIZED

OTTAWA, June 11, 2002 -- The Honourable Denis Coderre, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today tabled his response to the report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration entitled "Building a Nation," and released the regulations that will accompany the new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

"I appreciate this Committee's experience and insight on immigration policies and thank them for their valuable contribution to the regulations that will accompany our new Act," said the Minister. "Their work has been important to me in my reflection on how best to meet Canada's immigration and refugee objectives. I firmly believe that our new Act provides the tools for Canada to better respond to the global challenges of the 21st century."

Highlights of Major Changes

Minister Coderre agrees with many of the Committee's recommendations, which have been taken into account in the regulations or administrative measures. Some of the major changes to the regulations originally proposed are connected to the selection system for skilled workers, including the retroactivity provisions and points for education, training and language.

Other key changes in the regulations relate to the eligibility criteria for business immigrants; the length of sponsorship for dependent children; the treatment of common-law partners; guardianship and simple adoption; the inadmissibility provisions; and applications for visas, permits and cards. Furthermore, the Undocumented Protected Persons in Canada Class has been eliminated.

Extensive Consultations

"In addition to the important contributions of the Standing Committee, these regulations also took into account the views and concerns heard from many other groups and individuals," said Minister Coderre, adding that "this is the result of the government's transparent and open regulation-making process. The end product is one that best reflects today's realities and that will allow us to respond quickly to Canada's changing needs. Canada's immigration program is now poised to play its critical role in our social and economic progress. Both the Act and the Regulations will be in effect on June 28, 2002."

Introduction of Permanent Resident Card

The implementation of the Act on June 28, 2002, will bring with it the introduction of the permanent resident (PR) card that will provide new and existing permanent residents with clear, secure proof of their status. The PR card will automatically be issued to all permanent residents who are new to Canada as of June 28, 2002. Permanent residents already in Canada will be able to apply for the card this fall according to a schedule based on their year of landing. After December 31, 2003, all permanent residents will need the PR card to re-enter Canada after travelling abroad.

New Sponsorship Initiative

A new joint application for the sponsorship of spouses, common-law and conjugal partners, and dependent children will also be launched on June 28. This initiative will greatly facilitate the processing of family class sponsorship and immigrant applications, and reinforce the government's commitment to continuing to make family reunification a key objective of Canada's immigration program.

"Canada's new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the accompanying regulations take a balanced approach. They build on the important contributions immigrants and refugees have made in the past and will continue to make in the future, yet are tough on those who pose a threat to public security," concluded the Minister.

The regulations are now available on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Web site at www.cic.gc.ca and will be published in a special edition of the Canada Gazette on June 14, 2002.

Backgrounders

Citizenship and Immigration Canada conducted extensive consultations on the proposed regulations for the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Close to 1,700 comments were received from the provinces, territories, stakeholders and members of the public. The government also received 76 recommendations for changes to the proposed regulations from the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which held public hearings on the regulations.

The Minister has listened carefully and studied the recommendations received from stakeholders, provinces and territories, Canadians and the Standing Committee, and has responded positively to many of them. The final regulations, to be published in the Canada Gazette on June 14, 2002, reflect many of the comments received. Significant changes have been made to the proposed regulations in the following areas.

Skilled Workers

The majority of the comments received on the proposed regulations addressed provisions related to the selection of skilled workers. Skilled workers workers destined to provinces and territories other than Québec, (Under the 1991 Canada-Québec Accord, Québec sets its own selection criteria.) The members of the skilled workers (federal) class are accepted for entry into Canada depending on the number of points they score out of 100 in the following categories: education, language proficiency, employment experience, age and adaptability. The following changes have been made to the selection grid for skilled workers:

Family Class

A new "conjugal partners" category has been added to the Family Class to accommodate common-law partners who do not meet the one-year cohabitation requirement. The definition of "common-law partner" used in other federal statutes does not work well in the context of immigration and consequently, it has been broadened.

The Fiancé category has been eliminated as the number of applicants under this category has been steadily declining, a trend that is expected to continue.

The length of the sponsorship of children under 22 has been decreased to 10 years or age 25, whichever comes first, for sponsors living in provinces and territories other than Québec. For dependants aged 22 or more, the length of the sponsorship is set at three years. In keeping with Québec's responsibilities for sponsorship undertakings, the Province continues to set the length of undertakings by sponsors who reside in Québec; as before, a set maximum ensures reasonable access to family reunification.

The Guardianship category will come into effect at a later date, when the provinces and territories have proclaimed legislation that will allow them to comply with the provisions of the Act that require them to recognize guardianship. (Once the provision is proclaimed, the Regulations will recognize children in guardianship arrangements as part of the Family Class.)

Simple adoptions have been removed and will be dealt with as adoptions to be finalized in Canada. A simple adoption is an adoption that does not sever the pre-existing legal parent-child relationship.

All the changes to the Family Class support the government's policy intent of easing family reunification.

Business Immigrants

A number of changes have been made to the Business Immigrant category, including changes to the definitions of "investor" and "entrepreneur." An applicant's net worth must be "legally obtained," and immigration officers will be provided with the ability to examine the propriety of the accumulation of net worth.

A requirement for "experience" has been incorporated into the definition of self-employed. Changes to the Investor category will allow applicants to qualify with business or management experience. They will qualify with management experience if they have managed five or more employees (down from 50).

The changes to the Business Immigrant category are designed to address program integrity while recognizing the realities of the business environment. They are also expected to reduce the number of fraudulent applicants.

Refugees

The major change affecting the Refugee Class is the elimination of the Undocumented Protected Persons in Canada (UPPC) category. The UPPC provision called for a three-year delay in landing for people unable to obtain original identity documents from certain countries. This provision was not meeting its objectives. The new Act allows a more strategic use of detention, which is expected to discourage claimants from destroying documents. The Regulations have also been amended to include new rules to allow more immigrants to use alternative documents to establish their identity.

The implementation of the Refugee Appeal Division is being delayed, as previously announced. As a result, the Regulations pertaining to stays of removals have been amended to reflect the delay.

Canada's new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) replaces the Immigration Act, which was approved in 1976. In the 26 years since it was approved, the Immigration Act underwent two major rewrites and was amended more than 30 times. The following are some of the highlights along the path to IRPA.

1996: The review of Canada's immigration and refugee policy begins, with a view to making fundamental policy reforms and introducing new legislation.

1996-98: Consultations with the provinces, territories and all major stakeholders lead to the publication of the government's report, Not Just Numbers, in 1998.

January 1999: Release of the white paper, Building on a Strong Foundation for the 21st Century: New Directions for Immigration and Refugee Policy and Legislation. Consultations on the white paper were held throughout 1999.

April 2000: Tabling of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Bill C-31).

February 2001: IRPA reintroduced as Bill C-11 after the 2000 general election, with changes to address concerns raised by Canadians over Bill C-31.

November 2001: Bill C-11 receives royal assent.

December 2001 and March 2002: Release of proposed regulations under IRPA. Almost 1,700 submissions were received during the public comment period.

March 2002: After the public hearings, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration releases its report on IRPA. Building a Nation: The Regulations under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act contains 76 recommendations for changes and adjustments to the proposed regulations.

June 2002: Final regulations under the Act published in the Canada Gazette, and the government's response to the Standing Committee report is released.

June 28, 2002: The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act comes into force.

Transition to the New Act

The new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act applies to all applications and proceedings that were pending or in progress before June 28, 2002, unless otherwise indicated in the Regulations. All decisions made under the old act continue to be in force under the new act. A valid document issued under the old act remains valid under the new act. Terms and conditions imposed under the old act are considered imposed under the new act.

Ongoing consultations: Consultations with all stakeholders will continue as the new act is implemented, and as further regulatory initiatives under the Act are developed. For example, issues such as encouraging skilled workers to settle in regions of low immigration and supporting minority-language communities will be discussed at a meeting of federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for immigration in the fall of 2002. The recognition of foreign credentials will also be discussed at the meeting.

For further details on the changes made to the proposed regulations under the new act, see the backgrounder entitled Changes to Regulations under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.