Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27)

Marginal note:Family reunification

• 12. (1) A foreign national may be selected as a member of the family class on the basis of their relationship as the spouse, common-law partner, child, parent or other prescribed family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

• Marginal note:Economic immigration

  (2) A foreign national may be selected as a member of the economic class on the basis of their ability to become economically established in Canada.

• Marginal note:Refugees

  (3) A foreign national, inside or outside Canada, may be selected as a person who under this Act is a Convention refugee or as a person in similar circumstances, taking into account Canada’s humanitarian tradition with respect to the displaced and the persecuted.

Marginal note:Right to sponsor family member

• 13. (1) A Canadian citizen or permanent resident may, subject to the regulations, sponsor a foreign national who is a member of the family class.

• Marginal note:Group right to sponsor

  (2) A group of Canadian citizens or permanent residents, a corporation incorporated under a law of Canada or of a province, and an unincorporated organization or association under federal or provincial law, or any combination of them may, subject to the regulations, sponsor a Convention refugee or a person in similar circumstances.

• Marginal note:Obligation

  (3) An undertaking relating to sponsorship is binding on the person who gives it.

• Marginal note:Instructions of Minister

  (4) An officer shall apply the regulations on sponsorship referred to in paragraph 14(2)(e) in accordance with any instructions that the Minister may make.

Marginal note:Regulations

• 14. (1) The regulations may provide for any matter relating to the application of this Division, and may define, for the purposes of this Act, the terms used in this Division.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (2) The regulations may prescribe, and govern any matter relating to, classes of permanent residents or foreign nationals, including the classes referred to in section 12, and may include provisions respecting

  • (a) selection criteria, the weight, if any, to be given to all or some of those criteria, the procedures to be followed in evaluating all or some of those criteria and the circumstances in which an officer may substitute for those criteria their evaluation of the likelihood of a foreign national’s ability to become economically established in Canada;

  • (b) applications for visas and other documents and their issuance or refusal, with respect to foreign nationals and their family members;

  • (c) the number of applications that may be processed or approved in a year, the number of visas and other documents that may be issued in a year, and the measures to be taken when that number is exceeded;

  • (d) conditions that may or must be imposed, varied or cancelled, individually or by class, on permanent residents and foreign nationals;

  • (e) sponsorships, undertakings, and penalties for failure to comply with undertakings;

  • (f) deposits or guarantees of the performance of obligations under this Act that are to be given by any person to the Minister; and

  • (g) any matter for which a recommendation to the Minister or a decision may or must be made by a designated person, institution or organization with respect to a foreign national or sponsor.