Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)[1] is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, administered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which replaced the Immigration Act, 1976 in 2002 as the primary federal legislation regulating immigration to Canada.[2]

Coming into force on 28 June 2002, the Act would create a high-level framework detailing the goals and guidelines the Canadian government has set with regard to immigration to Canada by foreign residents. The "Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations" (IRPR)[3] specify how provisions of IRPA are to be applied. The Act would also sprout controversy regarding the government's failure to implement a component of the legislation that would have establish a Refugee Appeal Division as part of Canada's immigration system.

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, who oversees agencies such as CBSA, is responsible for administrating the Act as it relates to examinations at ports of entry (POEs); enforcement, including arrests, detentions, removals, and policy establishment; and inadmissibility on the grounds of security, organized criminality, or violation of international rights (incl. human rights). The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, who oversees the IRCC, is responsible for governing the Act overall.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) is an independent administrative tribunal that is responsible for making well-reasoned decisions of immigration and refugee matters, efficiently, fairly, and in accordance with the law.

Constitutionality

In the 2007 case of Charkaoui v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration),[4] Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin held that certain aspects of the scheme contained within the Act for the detention of permanent residents and foreign nationals on the grounds of national security violate s. 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by "allowing the issuance of a certificate of inadmissibility based on secret material without providing for an independent agent at the stage of judicial review to better protect the named person’s interests."[5]

She would conclude that "some of the time limits in the provisions for continuing detention of a foreign national violate ss. 9 and 10(c) [of the Charter] because they are arbitrary."[5] The Government of Canada responded by introducing a revised security certificate regime in the Act that includes the use of special advocates to review a summary of the evidence without being able to share this information with the accused. The bill to amend the Act was passed by Parliament with support from the Conservative and Liberal caucuses and received royal assent in 2008.

See also

• Canadian immigration and refugee law
• Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act
• Temporary foreign worker program in Canada

References

1. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, s. 18
2. Sinha, Jay, and Margaret Young. 2002. "General Matters Relating to the Bill" in Bill C-11: Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (revised). Ottawa: Government of Canada Publications. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
3. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227
4. Charkaoui v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2007 SCC 9, [2007] 1 SCR 350. Retrieved via CanLII on 2020-04-10.
5. Charkaoui v. Canada, para. 3 (CanLii).