Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Miscellaneous Program): SOR/2023-249

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 157, Number 25

Registration
SOR/2023-249 November 24, 2023

IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION ACT

P.C. 2023-1164 November 24, 2023

Whereas, under subsection 5(2)^{footnote a} of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act ^{footnote b}, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has caused a copy of the proposed Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Miscellaneous Program), in the annexed form, to be laid before each House of Parliament;

Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Miscellaneous Program) under subsection 5(1), paragraphs 10.02(a)^{footnote c}, 14(2)(a) and (e)^{footnote d} and 32(d.1)^{footnote e}, section 43, subsection 92(1)^{footnote f}, paragraphs 186.3(1)(a)^{footnote g} and (b)^{footnote g} and subsections 186.3(2)^{footnote g} and (3)^{footnote g} of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act ^{footnote b}.

Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Miscellaneous Program)

Amendments

1 Subsection 9.3(1) of the English version of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations ^{footnote 1} is replaced by the following:

Deemed receipt by the Minister

9.3 (1) Any application, request, claim, document or information sent by a foreign national, an individual or an entity using electronic means is deemed to have been received by the Minister at the time and on the date indicated by the electronic means that is made available or specified by the Minister for that purpose.

2 The portion of section 9.4 of the English version of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Exception — use of other means

9.4 Despite other provisions of these Regulations, the Minister may require a foreign national, an individual or an entity to make an application, request or claim, submit any document or information or provide a signature by any other means made available or specified by the Minister for that purpose if the Minister determines that

3 Subsection 10(2.1) of the Regulations, as enacted by section 1 of the Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2018-128, is renumbered as subsection 10(2.2).

4 The portion of subsection 24(3) of the English version of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Exception

(3) Paragraph 38(1)(c) of the Act does not apply to a foreign national who has been determined to be a member of the family class and is

5 Subsection 80(4) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Work in excess

(4) A period of work experience in one occupation that exceeds 30 hours per week, or simultaneous periods of work experience in more than one full-time occupation, is to be evaluated as a single period of full-time work experience in a single occupation.

6 Paragraph 117(9)(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(a) the foreign national is the sponsor’s conjugal partner and is under 18 years of age;

7 Paragraph 125(1)(a) of the Regulations is repealed.

8 Paragraph (b) of the definition sponsor in section 138 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(b) for the purposes of section 158, a sponsor as defined in section 1 of the Québec Immigration Regulation, CQLR, c. I-0.2.1, r. 3, as amended from time to time. (répondant)

9 Section 158 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Settlement in the Province of Quebec

158 If the foreign national and their family members intend to reside in the province of Quebec, the sponsor must meet the requirements for sponsorship under the Québec Immigration Regulation, CQLR, c. I-0.2.1, r. 3, as amended from time to time. In such a case, the requirements of this Division, other than section 156, do not apply.

10 The French version of the Regulations is amended by replacing “nationaux” with “ressortissants”, with any necessary modifications, in the following provisions:

(a) subparagraph 12.2(1)(c)(ii); and
(b) the marginal note to section 190.

11 The portion of item 23 of Table 1 of Schedule 2 to the English version of the Regulations in column 2 is replaced by the following:
Item	Column 2 Short-form Description
23	Provide a foreign national who becomes infected with or develops any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 with accommodations that have a bedroom and a bathroom that are solely for the use of the foreign national while they isolate themselves

Consequential Amendment to the Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

12 Subsection 5(5) of the Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations ^{footnote 2} is repealed.

Coming into Force

13 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

On January 25, 2006, July 18, 2019, May 3, 2020, and November 3, 2020, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (the Department) received correspondence from the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations (SJCSR) that identified a number of technical issues with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations) and requested that the Regulations be amended to address these issues.

Objective

The objective of the amendments is to address the concerns of the SJCSR and correct minor issues with the Regulations.

Description and rationale

The amendments correct the following eight issues identified by the SJCSR:

The amendments correct a grammatical error in subsection 9.3(1) and section 9.4 by removing the “or” immediately following “foreign national” as it suggests that “foreign national” is a separate class from “an individual or entity using electronic means.”
Amendments introduced to the Regulations in 2019 added a second 10(2.1) entitled “Exception” when there already was a provision 10(2.1) entitled “Clarification.” These amendments correct the duplication by renumbering “Clarification” to 10(2.2).
The amendments address a misalignment between the English and French versions of subsection 24(3) and revise the English to read “a foreign national who has been determined to be a member of the family class” to align with the French version “l’étranger qui a été déclaré appartenir à la catégorie du regroupement familial.”
The amendments clarify the definition of “full-time work” as expressed in subsection 80(4) “Work in excess” by referencing the total number of hours worked in one week in excess of 30 hours in accordance with the definition of “full-time work” in subsection 73(1).
The amendments remove redundancies in the prohibitions related to the sponsorship of spouses under the age of 18 in paragraph 117(9)(a) and repeals paragraph 125(1)(a), and all references to it, as paragraph 5(a) already provides that a foreign national under 18 years of age shall not be considered a spouse or common-law partner.
The amendments clarify the incorporation by reference of the definition of “sponsor” in sections 138 and 158 by replacing the reference to An Act respecting immigration to Québec, R.S.Q., c. I-0.2 with a specific reference to the pertinent regulation, Québec Immigration Regulation, CQLR, c. I-0.2.1, r. 3.
Previously, amendments were made to the French version of the Regulations to replace the term “nationaux” with “ressortissants” in the sense of “a person who is a citizen of a country.” However, at the time, subparagraph 12.2(1)(c)(ii) and the marginal note to section 190 were not updated. These amendments correct this oversight.
The amendments add words omitted in the English version of item 23 of Table 1 in Schedule 2 to align with the French version and the corresponding provision in the Regulations, subparagraph 209.3(1)(a)(xi). Specifically, “becomes infected with or” has been added before “develops and signs of symptoms of COVID-19.”