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”.

Canada’s Citizenship Act provides for access to citizenship for a stateless person in the following ways:
 
  • Section 5 (4) – a stateless person in Canada can submit an application for a Ministerial discretionary grant of citizenship to alleviate special and unusual hardship.
  • Section 5 (5) – second generation born abroad children born on or after April 17, 2009, who would otherwise be stateless, can apply for Canadian citizenship if they are under the age of 23 and have resided in Canada for three of the four years preceding their application.
  • Non-refugee stateless persons as well as stateless refugees who are permanent residents can apply for citizenship providing they fulfill the relevant residency and language requirements.

Canada does not have a specific procedure or legal framework for the determination of statelessness. The lack of a stateless determination procedure means that there lacks a ‘stateless person status’ in Canada, leaving stateless persons without a protection measure tailored to their specific needs.     
 
Canada’s Citizenship Act and Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) do not define a stateless person. The IRPA defines a foreign national as “a person who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, and includes a stateless person.” There is also no definition of a stateless person in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), or the Citizenship Regulations.

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. This is referred to as the 'second-generation born abroad children', whereby children born outside of Canada to a Canadian parent who was born or adopted outside Canada are not entitled to Canadian citizenship.
  • 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.
  • Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) and Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) do not collect adequate data on demographic information, detention, and deportations of stateless persons. For our report on this issue see here.
  • 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”.