Humanitarian and compassionate relief exists for the cases the ordinary rules did not anticipate. Section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act lets the Minister exempt a foreign national from a requirement of the Act, or grant permanent residence, where those considerations justify it, taking into account the best interests of any child directly affected.
That sounds generous, and in the right case it is a meaningful option. It is also widely misunderstood. People in Brampton sometimes hear that having lived here for years, paid taxes, and raised a family is enough to “get papers on H&C.” IRCC describes this relief as an exceptional measure and does not treat it as an alternative immigration stream. Being sympathetic is not enough. The application has to explain, with evidence, why this person’s circumstances justify an exception.
Please read what follows as general information and not as advice on your own file. IRCC updates its forms and guidance from time to time, so check its current instructions before you apply.
What Filing Does Not Do
We will start with the limits, because they catch people by surprise and they affect every other decision.
A pending application gives you no status. Filing does not make you a temporary resident, does not authorize you to work or study, and does not restore a permit that has expired.
A pending application does not stop removal. IRCC’s guide is explicit on this. If you have a removal order and a date to leave, filing does not pause it. A stay under the regulations comes only at a much later stage, when the officer has decided that the humanitarian considerations justify an exemption, which is often called approval in principle. Anyone facing removal needs separate advice right away about the Federal Court and other options.
It is not a second attempt at a refugee claim. Under subsection 25(1.3), the officer cannot consider the factors used to determine refugee protection under sections 96 and 97, such as a personal risk of persecution. The officer must, however, consider elements related to hardship. An application that repeats a failed refugee narrative will usually miss the point. It needs to focus on the hardship flowing from conditions in the country and from your own circumstances.
Approval is not immediate. An application has more than one stage. After approval in principle, you still need to pass medical, criminal, and security checks before becoming a permanent resident.
Who Cannot Use This Route
Section 25 contains firm limits on when an officer may even look at a request. The Minister may not examine a request if you already have one pending, or if you have a refugee claim pending before the Refugee Protection Division or Refugee Appeal Division. The same is true if your refugee claim was found ineligible and you have a pre-removal risk assessment pending.
There is also a 12-month bar. If your refugee claim was rejected, or was withdrawn after substantive evidence was heard, or was abandoned, you generally have to wait 12 months from the last relevant decision before making an H&C request. The bar has two main exceptions, for cases where removal would have an adverse effect on the best interests of a child directly affected, and for cases where you can show that removal would risk your life because your country cannot provide adequate health or medical care. The dates here are technical. A Federal Court application may also affect when the 12 months starts, so have someone check the calculation.
IRCC also directs some people elsewhere. If a spouse or common-law partner in Canada can sponsor you, the sponsorship route may be the correct one to use, and protected persons have their own class. H&C relief cannot override every inadmissibility, either. It is not available for those inadmissible on grounds of security, human or international rights violations, sanctions, or organized criminality. Other inadmissibilities, such as criminal or medical grounds, can be raised, but you need to ask for the exemption specifically and explain why it should be granted.
The Factors an Officer Weighs
There is no fixed checklist, and that freedom is both the strength and the difficulty of H&C. The Supreme Court of Canada addressed the approach in Kanthasamy v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2015 SCC 61, holding that officers must look at the circumstances as a whole and should not treat “unusual and undeserved or disproportionate hardship” as a rigid test. In practice, the following themes appear in many applications.
Establishment in Canada
Establishment refers to the roots you have put down: steady work, a business you run, tax filings, property or a stable lease, community or religious involvement, volunteering, and education. Officers look at how much of this exists and how you came to build it. Someone who has lived in Brampton for 11 years and has a long record of work can present a very different picture from someone with the same 11 years and little to show. A period without status does not automatically sink an application, but it does have to be addressed honestly. The file should explain why you stayed and what you did about your status.
Best Interests of a Child
This is often the most important factor. It applies to any child directly affected, whether or not the child is a Canadian citizen and whether or not the child is yours. An officer must be alert and sensitive to it, and must look at the child’s actual situation. A general statement that children do better in Canada carries little weight. Evidence about this particular child carries much more.
Useful evidence might include school reports and a letter from a teacher, medical or therapy records, proof of a child’s language abilities, information about schooling and health care available in the other country, and letters from people who know the child well. For a child at a Brampton school who needs ongoing speech therapy, for example, a report from the therapist explaining what would be lost if that therapy stopped says far more than a parent’s general worry.
Health
Serious medical or mental health issues can matter, especially if the treatment you need is not available or accessible in your home country. A diagnosis should come from a qualified professional, and the report should explain treatment, prognosis, and what would happen if care stopped. Then you need to connect it with evidence about the medical system in the country of return.
Family Ties and Family Violence
Separation from a spouse, children, aging parents, or siblings is a common consideration. Who depends on you, financially or for care, and how would they cope? IRCC’s guide also identifies family violence as a relevant factor. A person who stayed in an abusive relationship, or lost status because of an abusive sponsor, should raise this clearly and may wish to include reports from a shelter, counsellor, doctor, or Peel Regional Police if they exist. Absence of police reports is not fatal, since many survivors never called the police.
Conditions in the Home Country
General country information is often relevant to hardship, such as discrimination against a group you belong to, lack of access to housing or work, or the circumstances faced by women without family support. Evidence should come from credible sources and connect to you personally.
Building the Application
The formal application is made up of forms, fees, identity documents, and supporting evidence, but its heart is the written submission. This is where your circumstances are explained. A good submission does a few things well:
- It says exactly what exemption is requested. IRCC specifically warns that you have to identify the requirements you need relief from and explain why.
- It tells the story in order, including the uncomfortable parts such as overstays, unauthorized work, or a failed refugee claim.
- It ties every assertion to a document. If you say you supported a local food bank, attach the letter from the food bank.
- It explains why going home to apply in the normal way would create hardship. The guide notes that cost and inconvenience alone are not enough.
Letters of support tend to be more useful when they are specific. A letter from an employer that gives your start date, your job, your hours, and how your absence would affect the business does more than one saying you are hard-working. Keep all your documents as well-organized as possible and translate anything not in English or French.
IRCC’s fee list shows a processing fee for the principal applicant and accompanying spouse, a smaller fee for each dependent child, and a right of permanent residence fee that applies to some applicants. Check the current list at the time of filing. An application filed without the processing fee can be returned.
Honesty deserves a particular mention. It is tempting to leave out a past refusal, a period of unauthorized work, or a charge that was withdrawn. Those facts are often already in government records. If they surface and you did not mention them, you risk a credibility problem and a possible misrepresentation finding, and that is far harder to explain than the original fact.
While You Wait
These applications can take a long time, and the wait is hard when your whole life is uncertain. Keep your evidence up to date. If your job changes, a child’s diagnosis changes, or a parent’s health declines, send an update. Officers decide on the record before them, and stale evidence can cost you. Tell IRCC if your address changes and answer any request by the date given.
If you still hold valid temporary status, do not assume that the H&C application protects it. Keep applying to extend on time. If your status has lapsed, get advice on whether restoration or other measures are available before the deadline passes.
If the Application Is Refused
A refused H&C decision can be challenged by asking the Federal Court for leave and judicial review, and because the decision was made in Canada, the deadline is only 15 days. IRCC’s officer decision notes do not currently cover H&C applications, so you may need to ask for the reasons right away. Judicial review does not reweigh the whole case. It looks at whether the decision was reasonable and fair. You may also be able to file a fresh application with stronger or changed evidence, although that does not protect you from removal.
Deciding Whether H&C Is Right for You
H&C can take a good deal of time, it carries real cost, and a filing with thin evidence can leave a negative decision on your immigration record. It makes sense to ask first whether a better route exists, such as spousal sponsorship, restoration, or a temporary residence solution. A lawyer can review your history against the rules on our immigration law page and tell you candidly where your application appears strong and where it appears weak. No one can honestly promise you a result in a discretionary process. What you can do is make sure the person deciding your case has your full circumstances in front of them.