Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) is Canada’s primary immigration and refugee legislation, enacted in 2001 to replace the Immigration Act 1976. IRPA establishes the legal framework for the selection, admission, and removal of foreign nationals and permanent residents. The Act governs all major immigration streams: economic immigration (Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canadian Experience Class, Provincial Nominee Programs, Quebec-selected immigrants, Start-up Visa), family reunification (sponsorship of spouses, children, parents, and grandparents), and refugee protection (Convention refugees, persons in need of protection). The Act also addresses inadmissibility (health, criminal, security, misrepresentation), detention, removal orders, and appeals. IRPA is administered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Legal area: Immigration and citizenship law governs the admission, stay, and removal of foreign nationals and the acquisition and loss of Canadian citizenship.
Year enacted: 2001
Full text: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/
Key Provisions
- Section 3: Objectives of the Act (economic prosperity, family reunification, refugee protection)
- Section 12: Selection of economic immigrants (skilled workers, business immigrants)
- Section 13: Family reunification (sponsorship obligations)
- Section 95: Refugee protection (Convention refugees, persons in need of protection)
- Section 36: Inadmissibility on criminal grounds
- Section 44: Report on inadmissibility
- Section 72: Judicial review (leave required from Federal Court)
- Section 112: Pre-removal risk assessment
Significance
IRPA governs the admission of over 400,000 new permanent residents annually, making Canada one of the highest per-capita immigration destinations in the world. The Act’s economic immigration streams, including the Express Entry system (introduced 2015), prioritize skilled workers. The Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) adjudicates over 50,000 refugee claims annually. IRPA was significantly amended by Bill C-31 (2012) and Bill C-97 (2019), which tightened refugee determination and expanded detention review powers.