Canadian Refugee Procedure/21-23 - Status and Authorization to Enter

IRPA Sections 21-23

Sections 21-23 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act read:

Status and Authorization to Enter

Permanent resident
21 (1) A foreign national becomes a permanent resident if an officer is satisfied that the foreign national has applied for that status, has met the obligations set out in paragraph 20(1)(a) and subsection 20(2) and is not inadmissible.

Protected person
(2) Except in the case of a person described in subsection 112(3) or a person who is a member of a prescribed class of persons, a person whose application for protection has been finally determined by the Board to be a Convention refugee or to be a person in need of protection, or a person whose application for protection has been allowed by the Minister, becomes, subject to any federal-provincial agreement referred to in subsection 9(1), a permanent resident if the officer is satisfied that they have made their application in accordance with the regulations and that they are not inadmissible on any ground referred to in section 34, 35 or 35.1, subsection 36(1) or section 37 or 38.

Pending application — subsection 108(2)
(3) A person in respect of whom the Minister has made an application under subsection 108(2) may not become a permanent resident under subsection (2) while the application is pending.

Temporary resident
22 (1) A foreign national becomes a temporary resident if an officer is satisfied that the foreign national has applied for that status, has met the obligations set out in paragraph 20(1)(b), is not inadmissible and is not the subject of a declaration made under subsection 22.1(1).

Dual intent
(2) An intention by a foreign national to become a permanent resident does not preclude them from becoming a temporary resident if the officer is satisfied that they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay.

Declaration
22.1 (1) The Minister may, on the Minister’s own initiative, declare that a foreign national, other than a foreign national referred to in section 19, may not become a temporary resident if the Minister is of the opinion that it is justified by public policy considerations.

Effective period
(2) A declaration has effect for the period specified by the Minister, which is not to exceed 36 months.

Revocation
(3) The Minister may, at any time, revoke a declaration or shorten its effective period.

Report to Parliament
(4) The report required under section 94 must include the number of declarations made under subsection (1) and set out the public policy considerations that led to the making of the declarations.

Entry to complete examination or hearing
23 An officer may authorize a person to enter Canada for the purpose of further examination or an admissibility hearing under this Part.

23: Entry to complete examination or hearing

Section 23 of the IRPA provides that an officer may authorize a person to enter Canada for the purpose of further examination or an admissibility hearing under this Part. This part that is being referred to is Part 1 of the Act, entitled "Immigration to Canada", which comprises sections 10.01 - 94 of the IRPA. This provision was previously relied upon by CBSA to admit would-be refugee claimants into Canada for a subsequent eligibility screening to determine whether they could make a claim for refugee protection, particularly when there was a significant volume of claims at Roxham Road. See: Canadian Refugee Procedure/History of refugee procedure in Canada#Irregular border crossing controversy. This created a significant backlog of claimants waiting for an eligibility determination. As of August 31, 2023, the eligibility inventory consisted of 13.1K claims pending eligibility at IRCC and 15.2K pending at CBSA for a total of 28.3K claims in the inventory. The overall processing time for eligibility decisions was 136 days.

The use of s. 23 of the IRPA began to be phased down as the CBSA piloted a new refugee processing model called “One Touch” for low risk, eligible claimants in Quebec Region that began in November of 2022. The pilot moved away from adjourning eligibility interviews of refugee claimants to a later date. It replaced that with a model where officers conduct a risk assessment and an interview to determine whether a claimant is low-risk and eligible to be referred to the IRB. Officers who assess a claimant as low-risk and eligible to make a refugee claim will refer the claim to the IRB without the completion of the paper-based application (i.e. IMM0008, Schedule A and Schedule 12). Claimants processed using the One Touch model will be required to complete their refugee claim application using the IRCC portal within 45 days of their claim being found eligible and being referred to the IRB. The pilot was deemed a success and the CBSA rolled the One Touch model out nationally in September 2023.

Claimants must meet the criteria listed below to be considered for the one touch model:

• the claim must be eligible to be referred to the IRB;
• the claimant is only inadmissible for non-compliance with seeking to remain in Canada permanently without a permanent resident visa;
• the claimant must provide a valid email address as the CBSA will be communicating and sharing information with the claimant via email;
• the claimant is not considered vulnerable (e.g. unaccompanied minor, person who is unable to understand the nature of the process, etc.);
• the claimant is not detained or will not be detained; and o the officer has no concerns regarding identity after review of documents provided.