Strategic Outcomes and Program Alignment Architecture (in effect April 1, 2013)

Program 2.1 – Family and Discretionary Immigration

Program Description
CIC’s Family and Discretionary programs support the Government of Canada’s social goals for immigration.  The Program objectives are to reunite family members and to allow for the processing of exceptional cases. Family Class provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act enable Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada to apply to sponsor eligible members of the family class, including spouses and partners, dependent children, and parents and grandparents. Discretionary provisions in the legislation are used in cases where there are humanitarian and compassionate considerations or for public policy reasons. These discretionary provisions provide the flexibility to approve exceptional and deserving cases not anticipated in the legislation and to support the Government of Canada in its humanitarian response to world events and crises. The selection and processing involve the issuance of a permanent resident visa or granting of permanent residence to qualified applicants, as well as the refusal of unqualified applicants.

Family Class Immigrants

Family reunification remains a key objective of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. In order to facilitate the reunification of families, Canadian citizens and permanent residents may sponsor close relatives to become permanent residents. Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are 18 years of age or older may qualify as sponsors. In order to ensure that sponsored relatives are adequately supported and do not need to rely on social assistance, sponsors must meet certain criteria and are responsible for financially supporting their relatives for a period of three to 10 years, depending on the age of the sponsored relative and their relationship to the sponsor.

More information on the Family Class

Permanent Resident Status on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds or Public Policy considerations

In exceptional circumstances where there are strong humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) considerations, or for public policy reasons, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act gives CIC the authority to grant permanent resident status to individuals and families who would not otherwise qualify in any category. The purpose of these discretionary provisions is to provide the flexibility to approve deserving cases not anticipated in the legislation. H&C is a discretionary provision that is decided on a case by case basis, and is normally triggered by a foreign national making an application. A public policy may be issued by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada to facilitate processing of a number of individuals with shared circumstances, all of whom must meet specific eligibility criteria. For example, following an announcement in October 2009, the Government of Canada implemented special immigration measures via a public policy for certain local staff supporting the Canadian military mission in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is expected that approximately 550 Afghan nationals will immigrate to Canada under these measures. In December 2010, the Government of Canada also announced special immigration measures via public policy for a number of Tibetans living in the Arunachal Pradesh state of India. Under this program, up to 1000 Tibetans will come to Canada over the next five years.