Removal of DCO stay-of-removal exception
Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations: SOR/2022-113
This regulation amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to remove the provision that prevented nationals of Designated Countries of Origin (DCO) from obtaining an automatic stay of removal when seeking leave and judicial review of a negative Refugee Appeal Division decision. It is a housekeeping change: the DCO list was emptied on 2019-05-17, the regulation was registered and came into force on 2022-05-20, and it was published in the Canada Gazette on 2022-06-08.
- Published
- June 8, 2022
- Department
- Unavailable
- Section
- Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
- Comment deadline
- Unavailable
- Effective date
- May 20, 2022
- Publication part
- Part II
Summary
Summary#
This final regulation changes the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to remove a rule that had stopped people from certain countries (the Designated Countries of Origin (DCO)) getting an automatic pause on their removal while a court reviews a negative refugee appeal decision. The amendment is mainly housekeeping: the DCO list was already emptied on May 17, 2019, and the change was registered (and came into force) on May 20, 2022 and published in the Gazette on June 8, 2022.
What it does#
- Removes the provision in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations that said the automatic stay of removal did not apply if the person was from a DCO when they asked for leave and judicial review.
- In practice, this means people who file for leave and judicial review of a negative decision by the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) can qualify for the automatic stay of removal regardless of previous DCO status.
- The regulation is presented as a housekeeping change. It does not change how the Canada Border Services Agency is currently operating because the DCO list was already cleared in 2019.
Who's affected#
- People who have had refugee claims refused and who ask a court for leave and judicial review of a negative RAD decision.
- Refugee claimants from countries that had been on the DCO list in the past.
- Lawyers, advocates and service organizations who help refugee claimants.
- Canada Border Services Agency operations are not expected to change because the practical effect has already been in place since the DCO list was removed.
Why it matters#
- It restores a procedural safeguard so that more people can remain in Canada while a court reviews their case, instead of being removed immediately.
- The change aligns the regulations with past court decisions and the government’s decision to end the DCO framework.
- The amendment is not expected to create new costs or change day-to-day enforcement, since the underlying DCO framework was already suspended in May 2019.
Key topics
Source: Canada Gazette