Humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) consideration, under A25 and A25.1 of the IRPA, provides the flexibility to grant permanent residence status or a permanent resident visa to certain foreign nationals who would otherwise not qualify in any class, in cases in which there are compelling H&C grounds. Applicants may make submissions on any facts affecting their personal circumstances that they believe are relevant to their request for H&C consideration.

What warrants relief will vary depending on the facts and context of the case, but officers making humanitarian and compassionate determinations must substantively consider and weigh all the relevant facts and factors before them (Kanthasamy v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2015 SCC 61; Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 817). Furthermore, individual H&C factors should not be considered in isolation; there must be a global assessment of all the relevant factors.

The standard to be applied is set out in subsection 25(1): whether relief is justified by humanitarian and compassionate considerations relating to the foreign national, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected.

• Balance between discretion and consistency
• Onus on applicant
• Threshold of proof
• Requirement to apply for permanent residence from outside Canada
• Hardship and the H&C assessment
• Inadmissibility
• Best interests of the child
• Former Canadian citizens
• De facto family members
• Ministerial Instructions and H&C
• Dealing with family relationships
• Establishment in Canada: in-Canada applications
• Ability to establish in Canada: overseas applications
• Reconsideration of a negative decision
• Statelessness

You may not apply for H&C consideration if you:

• are a Canadian citizen,
• a permanent resident,
• have submitted an H&C application for which a decision has not been made
• have an outstanding refugee claim,
• became a designated foreign national within the last 5 years.

In addition, you may not apply for H&C consideration if you:

• had a refugee claim that was rejected (including claims that were abandoned) within the last 12 months by either the Refugee Protection Division or the Refugee Appeal Division of the IRB, or
• withdrew a refugee claim within the last 12 months, unless the claim was withdrawn before your hearing at the IRB.