Canadian Council for Refugees / Conseil canadien pour les réfugiés
Registration:
39
of
52
(2016-07-28
to
2017-01-03)
Grant, Contribution or Other Financial Benefit
- Settlement services - advocate for access to effective settlement services funded by government for newcomers to Canada.
Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution
- Protection of trafficked persons - advocating for change of Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to guarantee temporary and permanent protection for trafficked persons
- The Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, with respect to the 2015 amendment allowing provinces to impose minimum residency requirements on newly arrived refugee claimants.
Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution, Policies or Program
- CBSA complaint mechanism - calling for an independent effective complaint and accountability mechanism for CBSA.
- Removals of permanent residents on the basis of criminal inadmissibility, particularly in the wake of amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act made in 2013. CCR's concern relates to lack of due consideration of humanitarian and compassionate factors in making removals, particularly of long-term residents.
Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution, Policies or Program, Regulation
- Issues relating to the Citizenship Act and associated regulations, notably regarding age requirements for language and knowledge test, length of residence required for applicants and loss of citizenship for dual citizens. Also barriers and delays in access to citizenship, including including as a result of changes to regulations effective November 2012 respecting proof of language competency (SOR/2012-178). The CCR opposed these changes prior to implementation and is now raising with CIC the impacts of the new documentary requirements on applicants.
Policies or Program
- CBSA policies relating to children and to violence against women - calling for CBSA to adopt comprehensive policies to ensure respect of the best interests of the child and sensitivity to issues of violence against women in all areas, including investigations, issuance of removal orders, detention and deportation.
- Cessation - following changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in 2012 loss of refugee status through cessation results (in some cases) in loss of permanent residence. Raising concerns (with CBSA, CIC and IRB) about current practices regarding cessation applications and the impacts on long-term residents.
- Conditional permanent residence period for sponsored spouses and partners who have been in a relationship of two years or less with their sponsors, in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations since October 2012. The CCR continues to the monitor impacts of this change and is raising concerns about access to the exemption for victims of domestic violence.
- Monitor Immigration and Refugee Board policies, particular with respect to detention reviews and refugee determinations, and advocate for policies that respect the rights of non-citizens appearing before the IRB.
- Refugee claim process - ensuring access to the refugee claim process for all who want to make a claim and the fair and timely determination of refugee claims
- Refugee resettlement - obtain effective, fair and timely resettlement for a greater number of refugees, including through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. Selection should be based on protection needs of refugees.
- Regularization of persons without status - promoting measures to allow persons in Canada without status to obtain permanent residence.
- Removals to situations of risk - calling for suspension of removals to countries of generalized risk and policies ensuring individuals at risk have removal deferred.
- Statelessness - advocate for immigration and citizenship policies that reduce statelessness, and for Canada to sign the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons.
Policies or Program, Regulation
- Temporary Foreign Workers - protection of individual rights. The CCR is concerned about the rights of temporary foreign workers and the impact on Canadian society of the program which has expanded greatly in recent years.
- US-Canada safe third country agreement - oppose denial of access to refugee determination in Canada on the basis of the Safe Third Country Agreement
Regulation
- Family reunification - oppose changes to definition of dependent children and to parent/grandparent sponsorship, pre-published in Canada Gazette, Part I, May 18, 2013. Also achieve effective and timely family reunification in Canada through the immigration program, through elimination or reduction of barriers such as slow processing times, DNA testing, Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulation 117(9)(d)
- Source Country Class - calling for the reinstatement of a reformed Source Country Class providing for the resettlement to Canada from their country of origin of people at risk.