Table of Contents
1. About the Guide
2. Introduction
Maintaining and regularizing immigration status in Canada
- Appeals and Judicial Reviews
- Refugee and Person in Need of Protection Claims
- Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) Application
- Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) Application
- In-Canada Spousal and Common-Law Partner Sponsorship
- Renewing or restoring a temporary visa or permit
- Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers (OWPVW) Application
- Other ways to maintain status with an open work permit
- Public Policies and Pilots
What is an immigration arrest warrant?
What powers can police, CBSA and security guards have in arrest and detention
Understanding where CBSA may apprehend you
- What happens if CBSA comes to my home?
- What happens if CBSA comes to my shelter?
- What happens if CBSA stops me in a public place (street, shopping mall, park, etc.)?
- What happens if CBSA stops me while I am driving or riding a bike?
- What happens if CBSA stops me while I am a passenger in a car?
- What happens if CBSA stops me on public transit?
- What happens if CBSA comes to my children’s school?
- What happens if CBSA comes to my workplace?
- What are my rights if I am arrested or detained?
- If I am arrested, can CBSA search or take my belongings?
- Can I be released after arrest without being sent to immigration detention?
- What happens if CBSA says I am not going to be released?
- How can I get a lawyer for detention review hearings if I can’t afford one?
- Who can be a bondsperson?
9. Appendix A: Key terms and definitions
11. Appendix C: Undocumented Workers' rights at work
12. Appendix D: List of resources
13. Appendix E: Benefits and entitlements chart
Steps in the removal process and risk of arrest, detention or deportation depend on what your immigration journey has been, and they are not the same for everyone. For example, if you made a refugee claim, then a conditional removal order would have been issued which could become enforceable after your claim is refused (you would already be in the system). If you came to Canada as a visitor and overstayed, and you never applied to Immigration and did not have any interaction with CBSA in the past, then you may not be in the system.
You may be at risk now or in the future for immigration arrest, detention or deportation if:
- Your visitor, study, work or temporary resident permit has expired, and you did not apply to renew it before it expired
- Your visitor, study, work or temporary resident permit was cancelled
- You did not follow the terms and conditions on your visitor, study or work permit
- You did not follow terms and conditions of release from a previous detention
- Your refugee claim or Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) was denied
- Appeals of negative decisions on your immigration applications have been denied
- You received a date to leave Canada, but you did not leave
- You entered Canada without any identification or did not show any documents
- CBSA says you pose a danger to the public (usually because of criminal record)
- You made an application in Canada but then left Canada before it was decided and are trying to return
- You made a refugee claim in Canada, but later withdrew the claim or were found to have abandoned your claim by not taking necessary steps or meeting deadlines
- There is an immigration warrant for your arrest
There are other situations that may lead to a deportation process even if you have protected person or permanent residence status in Canada. For example, if you were granted refugee protection in Canada, but you later returned to the country against which you claimed, CBSA may start proceedings to take away your refugee status (and possibly your permanent residence). This guide does not go into the circumstances of people with protected person or permanent residence status who may be at risk of losing their status. If you are a protected person or permanent resident facing a risk of losing your status due to travel back to your home country, criminal convictions in Canada or not meeting the number of days you had to be physically present in Canada as a permanent resident, please get legal advice.
I am a Mexican citizen – what happens if I came to Canada on an ETA?
In February 2024, the government of Canada made changes to Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) rules for Mexican citizens. Under the new rules, only people who have a valid non-immigrant US Visa or had a valid Canadian visitor visa in the last 10 years (not an ETA) are eligible to fly to Canada with an ETA. Everyone else must get a visitor visa.1
People who were already in Canada with a valid work or study permit did not have their ETAs cancelled. But people applying for a new study or work permit or extending their previous permits will have to fit the new rules. Even if you came to Canada with an ETA (and not a visa), you would be required to maintain your status inside Canada. For example, if you came to visit, the usual visitation period is 6 months (unless your passport was stamped differently) and you must apply to extend your stay within Canada prior to expiry (if you were not going to leave at the end of the six months). All the ETA does is allow you to fly to Canada: you still must convince the officer you are a genuine visitor, student or worker to enter and remain (including on extension applications).
If you are a Mexican citizen currently in Canada and are thinking of leaving and trying to re-enter in the future, get legal advice before you leave about how these rules might impact you.
- Government of Canada, “Changes to electronic travel authorization (eTA) and visitor visa requirements for Mexican citizens”, (Newsroom, 29 February 2024), https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/campaigns/eta-work-visa-mexico.html ↩︎
