Part 36(3)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Safety Act offers the legislative foundation for rehablitation purposes. It states that:
36(3)(c) the issues referred to in paragraphs (1)(b) and (c) and (2)(b) and (c) don’t represent inadmissibility in respect of a everlasting resident or overseas nationwide who, after the prescribed interval, satisfies the Minister that they’ve been rehabilitated or who’s a member of a prescribed class that’s deemed to have been rehabilitated.
IRCC Rehabilitation Information
The next PDF is IRCC’s United States Criminality Evaluation Information.
IRCCNYGuide
As nicely, right here is an inner IRCC New York memo which offers context on the variety of rehabilitation purposes that they obtain.
IRCC NY Report
The place To Submit
IRCC’s choice is that rehabilitation purposes be submitted separate from everlasting or momentary residence purposes.
Statistics
A-2025-15722
Jurisprudence
In Hadad v. Canada (The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism), 2011 FC 1503, the Federal Court docket affirmed a number of vital ideas of rehabilitation purposes, together with that:
- The Minister ought to take into accounts the distinctive information of every explicit case and take into account whether or not the general scenario warrants a discovering that the person has been rehabilitated;
- rehabilitation is ahead trying; and
- an officer commits a reviewable error in the event that they an excessive amount of significance to the truth that an applicant has previous prison exercise versus the probability that the applicant could be concerned in future or illegal exercise.
Equally, in Fazekas v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2023 FC 666, Justice Norris famous that it was unreasonable for a visa officer to state that an applicant had not established that they had been unlikely to reoffend with none rationalization if the proof signifies in any other case.
Truong v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 602 offers an instance of a refused rehablitation software. There, the International Case Administration System notes, which Madam Justice Furlanetto discovered affordable, acknowledged:
….He has 5 convictions which render him criminally inadmissible per 36(2)(b) In his response to Q. 16, he states that as a younger grownup he made many errors however has since realized the error of his approach. He has offered transient descriptions of the occasions which result in the costs/convictions, a recurring them[e] is that he was within the fallacious place on the fallacious time. He has established a sample of prison behaviour, with quite a few offences and damaging contact with the regulation. He has submitted 3 private references – from his roommate, sister-in-law and his brother. Sadly not one of the references point out any detailed information of his a number of convictions however refer basically to his previous errors or as his brother says “he has made many errors prior to now” however that his final offence was greater than 5 years in the past and he has distanced himself from people who weren’t good for him. He has submitted a 2017 US Tax return exhibiting enterprise revenue of $49,522 from self-employment, he states on the shape that he’s a nail technician. He has not submitted any paperwork to point out any counselling, remedy or different rehabilitation. Having reviewed the Rehabilitation software, there may be inadequate documentation to be glad that the applicant is rehabilitated and won’t reoffend.
It ought to be famous that pursuant to the Federal Court docket determination in Veizaj v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2016 FC 120 an officer doesn’t have to contemplate whether or not an applicant is rehabilitated if the applicant doesn’t ask for rehabilitation and pay the required charges.
Self-Serving Letters
In Pjetrushi v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2026 FC 673, Justice McHaffie held that it was unreasonable for a visa officer to reject the worth of character reference letters as being “self-serving,” within the sense that it comes from individuals within the end result of a continuing, corresponding to relations, and/or that it helps the applicant.
