Canadian Inadmissibility Law and Remedies

It was a pleasure collaborating with my co-author Aris Daghighian in writing a text on the Canadian Inadmissibility Law and Remedies.

There is no facet of immigration practice more complex and consequential than inadmissibility. The purpose of this text is to assist counsel in navigating the law surrounding restrictions and prohibitions upon entry and the enforcement and removal regime.

The vast majority of those seeking status in Canada are truthful, law abiding, have no improper associations or criminal behaviour, are healthy and will be financially self-sufficient. But there will always be some that are alleged to have committed offences or lied or omitted relevant facts, alleged to have membership or associations that are antithetical to Canadian values, or are simply undesirable on medical grounds or finances. This text seeks to be a complete resource for those that represent that latter, minority group.

An “ordinary” refusal on an immigration application may have little prejudice; one based on an inadmissibility ground may have devastating and long-term consequences. It is essential, therefore, given the consequences of a refusal based on a ground of inadmissibility, that practitioners have a thorough understanding of this area of immigration law.

This text seeks to provide the immigration practitioner a complete resource regarding the stakeholders, legislation, regulation, policy, jurisprudence, principles, and process surrounding inadmissibility. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Criminal inadmissibility
  • Misrepresentation
  • Medical inadmissibly
  • Inadmissibility on grounds of security, human or international rights violations, and organized criminality
  • Conducting admissibility hearings, detention reviews, and appeals before the IRB Responding to procedural fairness letters and s. 44 reports
  • Judicial reviews and stay motions in Federal Court
  • Citizenship prohibitions and revocations

A finding of inadmissibility is not necessarily the end of a dream or journey; the text concludes with an overview of remedies for those that find themselves in immigration jeopardy. This includes separate sections on applications for rehabilitation, temporary residence permits (TRPs), humanitarian and compassionate requests, authorizations to return to Canada (ARCs), as well as requests for ministerial relief.

In addition, the text contains a standalone chapter tailored for criminal defense lawyers that are representing non-citizens facing criminal charges in Canada.

It was our goal to provide a practical resource that would be useful for anyone seeking to understand the law of inadmissibility – lawyers, paralegals, consultants and students. Practice in this area requires the highest level of advocacy and dedication to the best interests of the client. While always challenging, and sometimes dispiriting, helping clients navigate the labyrinth of potential immigration jeopardy is rewarding and necessary to the complete understanding of Canada’s immigration system.