Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Am I at risk of arrest, detention, or deportation?
- What can I do if I think I am at risk?
- Developing a strategy to deal with CBSA interactions
- Making a safety plan for arrest and detention
- Removal orders
- What are Sanctuary cities or Access without fear policies?
- Appendix A: Key terms and definitions
- Appendix B: Inadmissibility explained
- Appendix C: Undocumented Workers' rights at work
- Appendix D: List of resources
- Appendix E: Benefits and entitlements chart
This guide was created by organizations in Ontario, but the unfair immigration rules discussed here affect people across Canada.
If you live in a different province, we encourage you to connect with a migrant justice organization in your area.
You can find some of them here: Migrant Rights Network
- Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA): CBSA is responsible for border control (entry), immigration enforcement (arrest, detention and removal) and customs. They have powers to arrest and detain people under Immigration laws, but they are not police officers. When in uniform, they may look like police officers (dark blue uniforms, vest, holster and crest or “CBSA/ASFC” written on the jacket), but officers may also operate wearing plain clothes.
- Dependent family member: A “dependent” family member means spouse or common-law partner, an unmarried child under-22 years of age or a child of that child. There are some situations where a child over-22 can be included, but get legal advice as this gets very complicated.
- Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA): An electronic pass allowing people from countries that do not require a visa to travel to Canada by airplane (see note regarding Mexican passport holders above).
- Foreign National: a term that Immigration uses to refer to people who do not have permanent residence or citizenship status in Canada.
- Inadmissible: CBSA has determined that you cannot enter or remain in Canada based on grounds such as medical, financial, criminal, or non-compliance with immigration law. There are other grounds of inadmissibility.
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC): IRCC (or “Immigration”) is a government agency that processes in-Canada applications for temporary and permanent residence status, as well as citizenship applications.
- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB): The IRB is an administrative tribunal with four divisions: the Refugee Protection Division (decides refugee claims and applications by the government to take away refugee status), Refugee Appeal Division (decides refugee appeals), the Immigration Division (conducts admissibility hearings and detention reviews), and the Immigration Appeal Division (decides removal order and sponsorship appeals).
- Legal Aid Ontario: LAO helps people who financially qualify to hire a lawyer to help with some immigration and refugee matters. This includes refugee claims, humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) applications, Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) applications, immigration detention reviews, some Immigration appeals or judicial reviews to Federal Court. LAO does not help with permanent residence applications (except humanitarian and compassionate), check the status of an application, pay immigration fees, renew temporary permits or visas or prepare sponsorship applications (although they may help with appeals).
- Permanent Resident (PR): A person who has been given permanent residence in Canada but is not yet a citizen.
- Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP): A specific type of open work permit issued to some students who graduate from an eligible degree program or field of study that allows them to work in Canada for up to three years after graduation.
- Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA): An application submitted to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to assess the risk to a person in the country they may be deported to. Not everyone may get a PRRA before deportation depending on their immigration history.
- Protected Person: There are two ways of getting status through a refugee claim or Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) in Canada: 1) as a Convention Refugee and 2) as a Person in Need of Protection. The legal tests are different, but both Convention Refugees and Persons in Need of Protection are called “protected persons” in Canada after their claim has been approved.
- Refugee: A person who has fled their country and sought protection in another country (such as Canada).
- Refugee claimant: A person who has made a refugee claim in Canada, but no decision has been made yet (their claim is still in-process).
- Temporary Resident: A person in Canada with a valid permit (visitor, study, work or temporary resident permit (TRP)) – valid means that the permit has not expired, or an application to extend it was made before the expiry date.