Humanitarian & Compassionate Grounds
What are humanitarian and compassionate grounds? In essence, any foreign national who is inadmissible or who does not meet the requirements of the Act or Regulations may make a written request for consideration under A25(1).
You must clearly demonstrate that you would experience unusual and undeserved or disproportionate hardship if you were required to leave Canada. The cost and inconvenience of applying outside Canada is not considered a hardship. You must ensure that all circumstances you wish to have considered are identified and included in your application. You must also include any documents which you believe will support your statements. You are responsible for providing evidence in support of any statement you make on your application under humanitarian grounds. When reviewing your application, if applicable, the best interests of a child directly affected by the decision made on your application will also be taken into consideration. If you wish to have the best interest of a child considered, you must provide specific information and documents on how the child or children would be affected. Please note that the interests of a child do not outweigh all other factors in a case. The best interests of a child are only one of many important factors that will be considered when making a decision.
Concurrent humanitarian applications are not permitted. This means that you cannot submit a new H&C application if you already have one outstanding.
THE ASSESSMENT OF HARDSHIP
Applicants may base their requests for humanitarian consideration on any number of factors including, but not limited to:
- establishment in Canada;
- ties to Canada;
- the best interests of any children affected by their application;
- factors in their country of origin (this includes but is not limited to: Medical inadequacies, discrimination that does not amount to persecution, harassment or other hardships that are not described in A96 and A97);
- health considerations;
- family violence considerations;
- consequences of the separation of relatives;
- inability to leave Canada has led to establishment; and/or
- any other relevant factor they wish to have considered not related to A96 and A97.
With respect of the best interests of the child, below are some of the factors that applicants may raise:
- the age of the child;
- the level of dependency between the child and the H&C applicant or the child and their sponsor;
- the degree of the child‘s establishment in Canada;
- the child‘s links to the country in relation to which the H&C assessment is being considered;
- the conditions of that country and the potential impact on the child;
- medical issues or special needs the child may have;
- the impact to the child‘s education; and
- matters related to the child‘s gender.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding humanitarian factors or exemptions from requirements of the Immigration Act. If you would like to know whether you could be eligible to immigrate to Canada, we invite you to complete our online assessment questionnaire: On-line Assessment Questionnaire
Last updated: 16.03.2016
