Statelessness and Canada


Canada and International Law

Canada is a signatory to several international instruments that have provisions related to nationality and statelessness. In 1978 Canada ratified the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and is therefore obliged to ensure that Canadian citizenship legislation and policy grants citizenship to those who may otherwise be stateless. Canada is not a signatory to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and has articulated its position based on the following reasons:
  1. Canada believes that the Refugee Convention to a large extent duplicates the 1954 Statelessness Convention and thus there is no need to accede to both;
  2. Canadian law contains all necessary safeguards to cover adequately the situation of stateless persons; 
  3. Canada has concerns that ratification and subsequent inclusion in Canadian legislation of specific provisions governing the status of stateless persons would encourage stateless persons to come to Canada from other countries (the “pull-factor”), and would encourage persons already in Canada to renounce their citizenship.

For a list of international instruments to which Canada is a party, click here. 


Canadian Law

Though Canada is not a signatory to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, stateless persons are protected under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees the fundamental right of everyone to “life, liberty and security of the person, and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice”. In Canada, those who have no nationality and do not fall into any other category of status, such as refugee status or protected person status, remain very vulnerable. Gaps in Canadian legislation in which stateless persons in Canada fall include:

  • Canada's Citizenship Act creates the possibility for statelessness by imposing a limit on the ability of parents to pass on Canadian citizenship to their children. 
  • Canada’s legislation makes no specific provision for the protection of non-refugee stateless persons. 
  • Canadian legislation does not acknowledge the unique situation and vulnerability of stateless persons. 
  • Statelessness, distinct from stateless-refugee status, is not a path to legal status. In other words, a stateless person who is not a refugee cannot be admitted to Canada, because s/he is stateless.
  • ​CIC, IRB and Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) do not collect adequate data on demographic information, and detention, and deportations.
  • Canada does not include non-refugee stateless persons in its resettlement programs. 
  • No provisions are made for stateless persons in the context of removal. For example, there are no provisions that take into consideration “the likely status of a stateless person in the receiving country”. 
  • Statelessness is not recognized as a category eligible for humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) applications.  Stateless applicants must, therefore, meet the normal requirements for being granted H&C consideration, including the ‘establishment’ factor, posing difficulty because of precarious status.
  • There is no government body in Canada responsible for and experienced in determining whether a person is stateless.