Changes to the humanitarian and compassionate and temporary resident permit provisions

At Royal Assent, several changes to the humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) and temporary resident permit (TRP) provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act came into effect.

Effective immediately,

• a person cannot have two H&C applications pending at the same time;
• H&C decision makers may not consider the risks that are assessed within the refugee protection process, i.e. risk of persecution based on grounds set out in the Refugee Convention or risk of torture, to life or of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment, but must continue to consider elements related to the hardships that affect the foreign national
• failed asylum claimants whose final decisions were rendered within the last 12 months are immediately subject to the bar on requests for TRPs for 12 months from the date that their claim was rejected (or deemed to be abandoned or withdrawn). However, requests for TRPs submitted prior to June 29, 2010 will be “grandfathered” and assessed per the previous legislation.

The new measures also confirm in legislation the existing policy that an H&C application is not considered complete until the appropriate fees have been paid. As well, the new legislation separates out the public policy provision from the H&C provision.

Frequently asked questions

• Will my existing H&C application be affected by these changes?
• Will H&C decisions still consider factors related to risk in a country of origin?
• Why was the public policy provision removed from the H&C provisions?