April 14, 2026
The Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, PC, M.P.
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety
Re: Family members of Protected Persons in Canada
Dear Ministers,
We are writing to express our concern about a recent pattern of attempts to remove from Canada the family members of Protected Persons. We would also like to propose solutions for the broader problem of the lack of status for these family members who are waiting for processing of their permanent residence applications.
The CCR has been made aware of a number of cases in Quebec where the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has moved ahead with the removal of family members of Protected Persons. We know you are familiar with at least some of these cases, as there has been media coverage of the case of a man and his young son facing deportation to India, despite the fact their wife and mother is a Protected Person (in this case, a stay was granted) and we understand that, Minister Diab, you issued a TRP to a Mexican woman just hours before she was set to be deported to Mexico, accompanied by her Canadian child, separating them from their husband and father, a Protected Person.
Other situations where the CBSA in Quebec is moving forward with removal include:
- The common-law partner of a Protected Person – they have two young children. He faces removal to Mexico.
- A young adult daughter who was born in the US and thus a US citizen. She arrived as a minor with her mother, who has since been accepted as a Protected Person – now that she is over 18 years, she faces deportation to the US and separation from her mother. (This situation is likely to be quite common, as children born in the US will generally not be found to be Protected Persons).
- A family is facing separation down the middle – the mother and daughter were accepted as Protected Persons, while the father and son were not and are now being processed for removal.
We understand that there is no legal bar to removal of a person on the basis that the person is a family member of a Protected Person and included in the Protected Person’s application for permanent residence. Nevertheless, it is only recently that we have seen removals in these situations, leading us to conclude that there has been a CBSA policy or at least guidance to officers not to proceed with removal in these situations. We are therefore requesting clarification on the policy or guidance that applies nationally and the reasons for the change in practice (which appears so far to be limited to Quebec).
Separating refugee families is inhumane, destructive to families, conflicts with the objectives of the law and violates Canada’s human rights obligations to families, especially those with children. According to article 3(2)(f) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, one of its objectives is “to support the self-sufficiency and the social and economic well-being of refugees by facilitating reunification with their family members in Canada.” Canada has legal obligations to protect the family under both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (according to the latter, Canada recognizes that the “widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family, which is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, particularly for its establishment and while it is responsible for the care and education of dependent children”). Canada’s obligations towards children are more fully spelled out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires your government to make the best interests of the child a primary consideration in any decisions taken concerning them (article 3) and to ensure that a child is not separated from their parents against their will (article 9).
Removing family members of Protected Persons is also extraordinarily inefficient. Those who are deported will be added to the inventory of 57,000 family members overseas (according to current figures posted online by IRCC). Since the overwhelming majority of Protected Person permanent residence applications are accepted, we can expect that the family members will end up back in Canada – but with unnecessary expenditures by CBSA (for the removals process) and by IRCC (for overseas processing of applications), not to mention the costs to the families. And following reunion in Canada, we can also foresee costs to various levels of government, for example due to impacts on mental and physical health, family breakdowns resulting from the unnecessary prolonged separation, and educational delays for children and young adults.
We therefore call on CBSA to immediately adopt a policy of not removing anyone who is a family member of a Protected Person and is included on their permanent residence application, and to give a reasonable opportunity for the Protected Person to submit the application, where that has not yet been done.
The situation also calls for new measures by IRCC. Currently, family members of Protected Persons have no status in Canada while waiting for permanent residence. Even if the CBSA does not attempt to deport them, they cannot get on with their lives. They may not have access to a work or study permit, and must pay if they do, and pay foreign student fees for higher education. They are not entitled to a travel document. Access to health care is variable. Their situation is particularly intolerable because of the excruciatingly long delays for permanent residence – applicants in Quebec applying today face a wait of more than 9 years!
The lack of status for family members adds directly to the pressures on the refugee determination system. There are many claims pending before the Immigration and Refugee Board as well as applications for Pre-Removal Risk Assessments pending with IRCC from family members of Protected Persons, because it is the only way for many of them to have some status in Canada and associated rights (such as access to health care, and the possibility of the benefits of Protected Person status). A significant number of claims could be removed from the backlog by the simple and effective measure of providing status to family members of Protected Persons – a welcome relief for the refugee system, at a time when addressing the backlog of claims is a high priority.
We therefore recommend that consideration be given to creating a derivate status for family members of refugee claimants and Protected Persons. This would provide family members with some status in Canada, protection from deportation and access to essential rights and services (such work permits and health care). It would lead to substantial savings to the government as family members would no longer need to pursue claims when they are not themselves at risk (for example, children born in the US).
In the meantime, we urge you to issue TRPs systematically to family members of Protected Persons included in their permanent residence application.
CCR would welcome an opportunity to discuss our proposals further in a meeting with you and your staff and we are happy to provide any other information as needed.
Sincerely,
Asma Faizi
President