Judicial System Flashcards
What is the IRB (Immigration & Refugee Board of Canada) and how many divisions?
Very similar to a court, but it is less formal. IRB is only focused on immigration and refugee matters. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada consists of four divisions.
The Immigration Division (ID),
The Immigration Appeal Division (IAD),
The Refugee Protection Division (RPD), and
The Refugee Appeal Division (RAD).
What is the Immigration Division (ID) and what does what two significant matters does it deal with?
The ID deals with two significant matters: Admissibility to Canada and Detention Reviews
Admissibility to Canada –The Immigration Division (ID) of the IRB holds admissibility hearings. The people who attend such hearings are usually referred to the ID by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers.
Detention Review Hearings – The CBSA detains foreign nationals and permanent residents in certain circumstances under provisions of the IRPA.
The Immigration Division holds hearings within the first 48 hours of detention, then after seven days, and then every 30 days to decide whether the individual needs to remain in custody or be released. Sometimes a bail bondsperson approaches the ID and posts a bond to encourage the Division to remove the affected person under certain conditions.
What is the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) and what kind of hearings does it hold?
Appeals to the ID decisions – If the ID deems a person inadmissible to Canada, they may have the option to appeal the decision to the IAD under subsections 63(2) and 63(3) of the IRPA.
Appeals to the Sponsorship Applications Refusals – If a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident sponsors a family member and an Immigration Officer refuses the application, they usually have the right to appeal the decision to the IAD under subsection 63(1) of the IRPA.
Appeals to termination of the Permanent Residency – If an immigration officer decides a Permanent Resident has lost their permanent residency because they do not meet their residency obligations, the affected person may appeal this decision to the IAD under subsections 63(3) or 63(4) of the IRPA.
Appeals to visa or removal orders – If a holder of a permanent residency visa or a protected person receives a removal order, they may appeal the decision to the IAD under subsection 63(2) of the IRPA.
Appeals by the Minister – The Minister of Public Safety or the Minister of the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada may appeal the decisions of the ID to the IAD.
Please note that under subsection 64(1) of the IRPA, there is no right to appeal for inadmissibility due to security, violating human or international rights, serious criminality or organized criminality. Also, subsection 64(3) of the IRPA prevents appeals to inadmissibility due to misrepresentation except for spouses and common-law partners in sponsorship applications.
The Refugee Protection Division (RPD)
The RPD holds hearings for those who file for refugee protection under sections 96 and 97 of the IRPA.
The hearings are limited to people who file for asylum either inside Canada or while entering Canada. Those who file for refugee status outside Canada will be dealt with by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) directly.
The Refugee Appeal Division (RAD)
The RAD takes care of the appeals to the decisions made by the RPD under subsection 171 of the IRPA.
Both the refugee claimant and the Minister may file for the appeal. The RAD usually does not hold oral hearings but reviews written submissions of both parties, and a panel of three members decides whether to allow or dismiss the appeal.
Federal Court of Canada (FC)
Not every adverse decision by the immigration authorities gives you the right to appeal the decision.
Some examples of not-being-able-to-appeal situations include the following:
Economic immigration applications include the Express Entry, the Federal Self-employed class, the Provincial Nominee Programs, and the Start-up Visa.
Temporary Resident Visa or Permit applications
Authorization to Return to Canada (ARC) applications
Rehabilitation applications
Work Permit or Study Permit applications
Permanent residency applications as caregivers or under the Humanitarian and Compassionate Considerations (H&C)
If an immigration officer refuses any of these applications or if your appeal to the IAD or the RAD is dismissed, you may have the opportunity to file for Judicial Review (JR) under section 72 of the IRPA.
The Federal Court of Canada holds Judicial Review hearings. If they allow the JR, the matter will go back to the immigration authorities or the IRB for a second review. Sometimes JR hearings are because the processing has taken a long time.
Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) and the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC)
May also deal with some immigration hearings.
Citizenship judges take care of the citizenship applications, and they may call the applicants for interviews, but the process is not a court-like process. While the citizenship judges are independent of the immigration authorities, they are not considered judicial officers.
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Federal departments and agencies that have a role in immigration services
Immigration laws are mainly enforced by 2 federal government departments:
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) - is responsible for Canadian immigration and citizenship.
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) - Responsible for border services (port-of-entry services), customs and enforcement of some immigration laws in Canada. For example, CBSA officers work at borders and ports of entry, and handle arrests, detentions and removals.
Enforcement measures are necessary to protect Canadian society from people who may pose a threat to public health, safety, order or national security. They may be applied to anyone who:
- Is not a Canadian citizen or a registered Indian under the Indian Act
- Has breached any part of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), Canada’s immigration law.
- Enforcement activities can take place:
- Outside of Canada
- At ports of entry to Canada
- Inside Canada
Major Categories and Classes of Immigration
1.) Economic:
includes immigrants who have been selected for their ability to contribute to Canada’s economy through their ability to meet labour market needs, to own and manage or to build a business, to make a substantial investment, to create their own employment or to meet specific provincial or territorial labour market needs.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) offers an electronic system called Express Entry to manage applications for permanent residence under certain economic programs.
a. Skilled Worker Class
The Federal Skilled Trades Program is for people who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified and having work experience in a specific skilled trade. The Federal Skilled Worker Program applicants are eligible as permanent residents based on their ability to settle in Canada and take part in the economy. The skilled worker category includes workers and people who have occupational skills, education, and experience that are considered desirable in the Canadian labour market.
b. Canadian Experience Class
The Canadian Experience Class category is for immigrants who are already in Canada, and who currently have temporary status but want to apply for permanent residency. Immigrants who have lived in Canada for some time, including temporary foreign workers or foreign students, and who have good English and/or French language abilities, who are skilled workers, and have adjusted to living in Canada, may qualify to become a permanent resident under the Canadian Experience Class.
c. Business Class
Business categories such as Entrepreneurs, Self-Employed immigrants and Investors are for immigrants who have the funds, skills and experience necessary to do business while in Canada.
2.) Family Class:
includes immigrants who were sponsored by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and were granted permanent resident status on the basis of their relationship either as the spouse, partner, parent, grand-parent, child or other relative of this sponsor. The terms “family class” or “family reunification” are sometime used to refer to this category.
3.) Refugee
includes immigrants who were granted permanent resident status on the basis of a well-founded fear of returning to their home country. This category includes persons who had a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in particular social group or for political opinion (Geneva Convention refugees) as well as persons who had been seriously and personally affected by civil war or armed conflict, or have suffered a massive violation of human rights. Some refugees were in Canada when they applied for refugee protection for themselves and their family members (either with them in Canada or abroad). Others were abroad and were referred for resettlement to Canada by the United Nations Refugee Agency, another designated referral organization or private sponsors.
4.) Other Immigrant
includes immigrants who were granted permanent resident status under a program that does not fall in neither the economic immigrants, the immigrants sponsored by family or the refugee categories.
5.) Humanitarian and Compassionate
Compassionate applicants are those who may not normally be eligible to become permanent residents of Canada but may be able to apply on humanitarian or compassionate grounds. These are exceptional cases assessed on a case-by-case basis. Some of the common factors considered include:
- settlement in Canada,
- family ties,
- best interest of children, and
- consequences of not granting the request.
What is the North American Free Trade Agreement?
NAFTA is a free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada, that came into effect on January 1, 1994.
NAFTA was built on the success of the earlier Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) that came into effect in 1989 and complements World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements by making deeper commitments in some key areas.
With the coming into force of NAFTA, the world’s largest free trade area was formed. The agreement has helped grow the size of and increase the standard of living for the middle class in all three countries.
Under NAFTA, tariffs on all covered goods traded between Canada and Mexico were eliminated in 2008. Tariffs on covered goods traded between Canada and the United States became duty free on January 1, 1998, in accordance with the CUSFTA which was carried forward under NAFTA.
Since 1994, NAFTA has generated economic growth and rising standards of living for the middle class of all three member countries. By strengthening the rules and procedures governing trade and investment throughout the continent, NAFTA has proven to be a solid foundation for building Canada’s future prosperity.
NAFTA has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on the Canadian economy. It has opened up new export opportunities, acted as a stimulus to build internationally competitive businesses, and helped attract significant foreign investment.
GATS: General Agreement on Trade in Services
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is the first multilateral agreement covering trade in services. It was negotiated during the last round of multilateral trade negotiations, called the Uruguay Round, and came into force in 1995. The GATS provides a framework of rules governing services trade, establishes a mechanism for countries to make commitments to liberalize trade in services and provides a mechanism for resolving disputes between countries.
has two primary objectives:
- ) to ensure that all signatories are treated equitably when accessing foreign markets; and
- ) to promote progressive liberalization of trade in services (over time, eliminating trade barriers to enable further participation in one another’s markets).
