Bind Criminal-Court Facts for Organized-Crime Inadmissibility

Summary#

This is a proposed change to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations published on June 19, 2021 by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). It would make certain facts already decided in Canadian criminal court cases about organized‑crime activity binding on immigration decision makers, so they do not have to re‑argue those facts in separate immigration hearings.

What it does#

• It is a proposal, not final law. Comments were invited within 30 days of publication (deadline July 19, 2021).
• It would require immigration decision makers to treat findings of fact from Canadian criminal court decisions as conclusive when those findings come from prosecutions for certain organized‑crime offences under the Criminal Code, including sections 467.11, 467.111, 467.12 and 467.13.
• It would also apply to facts accepted by a court at sentencing when those facts were used as an aggravating factor under 718.2(a)(iv) of the Criminal Code (for crimes committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization).
• It would bind decision makers across immigration bodies, including the CBSA, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), and the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).
• It would not import legal conclusions from criminal trials (for example, it would not turn a criminal guilt finding or a legal definition of “criminal organization” into an automatic immigration legal test). It also would not require findings from foreign courts to be treated as binding.
• The proposal is presented as an amendment titled the Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

Who's affected#

• People accused of organized‑crime involvement in Canada who are foreign nationals or permanent residents.
• Lawyers and representatives who handle admissibility hearings for those people.
• Government decision makers who handle inadmissibility cases: CBSA, IRCC, and the IRB.
• The government used case data showing 604 organized‑criminality cases referred to the IRB between 2015 and 2019 (about 120 cases per year). A sampled analysis suggested about 12% of cases could immediately benefit, roughly 14 cases per year.

Why it matters#

• It aims to speed up immigration inadmissibility decisions in organized‑crime cases by avoiding repeated fact‑finding that Canadian criminal courts already conducted.
• The government estimated time savings of about 4 to 8 hours per case, and potential direct cost savings of about $15,817 to $31,644 per year (or $79,085 to $158,220 over five years). The CBSA estimated an existing five‑year cost of $639,895 to appear in person at hearings for those cases.
• Faster decisions could mean quicker denial of entry or removal of people found inadmissible, which is presented as a public safety benefit.
• The proposal does not change who can be found inadmissible. It only changes how previously established criminal‑court facts are treated in immigration proceedings.