FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CCR Warns UN that Canada is Backsliding on Basic Rights for Refugees: New Report
February 2, 2026 (Montreal/Ottawa) – The Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) has filed a 30‑page shadow report with the UN Human Rights Committee warning that Canada is backsliding on its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in its treatment of refugees and other vulnerable migrants. Canada will be examined by the Committee for its compliance with the Covenant in March 2026.
The CCR report documents serious human rights gaps in four areas: forced returns to the US of people seeking protection as refugees in Canada, proposed legislative changes that will deny refugee hearings to whole categories of people in Bill C‑12 (Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act), an overbroad refugee cessation regime that strips refugees of status, and an immigration detention system that subjects non-citizens to indefinite, arbitrary detention. Across these areas, CCR concludes that refugees and migrants in Canada face heightened risks of refoulement, discrimination, family separation and denial of a fair hearing, contrary to Canada’s obligations under the Covenant.
CCR’s top recommendation—which the Human Rights Committee has flagged as a priority for follow‑up in their review —is that Canada immediately withdraw from the Canada–US Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). The report finds that, given current US law and practice, the STCA exposes people seeking refuge in Canada to chain refoulement, prolonged detention, and grave risks to children and families, making continued designation of the US as “safe” legally untenable.
“Canada likes to present itself as a global human rights leader, and this is what Canadians expect to see upheld, but our report shows an alarming gap between that image and the reality facing refugees and migrants at our borders, in detention and in our communities,” said Gauri Sreenivasan, Co‑Executive Director of the Canadian Council for Refugees. “Ending the Safe Third Country Agreement is an essential step if Canada is serious about protecting basic rights.”
The CCR is also calling on the government to withdraw Bill C‑12 and ensure all refugee claimants have access to an independent hearing and appeal, to end automatic loss of permanent residence through refugee cessation and restore status to those who have lost it, and to overhaul immigration detention by setting a short, non‑derogable time limit on the length of detention with the end goal of replacing detention with community‑based alternatives.
“From a legal perspective, Canada is on a collision course with its obligations under the ICCPR,” said Sharry Aiken, Co‑Chair of the CCR’s Legal Affairs Committee and Professor of Law at Queen’s University. “Continuing to rely on the Safe Third Country Agreement despite clear evidence of chain refoulement in the United States, denying claimants access to a fair process before an independent tribunal under Bill C‑12, and maintaining a cessation regime that can strip long‑settled refugees of status without reassessing current risk, all violate core protections against refoulement, arbitrary detention and access to a fair hearing.”
For a copy of the full 30‑page report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee, please visit this page.
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Media contact:
Gauri Sreenivasan
Co-Executive Director, Canadian Council for Refugees
media@ccrweb.ca
(613)852-0983
Sharry Aiken
Co-Chair, Legal Affairs Committee, Canadian Council for Refugees
aiken@queensu.ca
(416) 529-0379