Ontario Immigration Law: Permanent Residence Pathways and Refugee Claims

The IRPA Framework

IRPA governs the entry and stay of all foreign nationals in Canada. Its core objectives (s.3) include facilitating the entry of visitors, students, workers, and immigrants; protecting refugees; maintaining the security of Canadians; and promoting the integration of permanent residents.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) administers permanent and temporary residence applications. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) enforces IRPA at ports of entry and within Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) — an independent administrative tribunal — adjudicates refugee claims, inadmissibility hearings, detention reviews, and immigration appeals.

Economic Immigration: Express Entry

Express Entry is Canada's primary system for managing applications for permanent residence in the economic immigration categories. It uses a points-based Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to rank candidates in a pool. IRCC conducts regular draws, inviting the highest-ranked candidates to apply for permanent residence.

Three main Express Entry programs:

Federal Skilled Worker (FSW): For skilled workers with foreign work experience. Points awarded for education, work experience, age, language (IELTS/CELPIP English, TEF/TCF French), arranged employment, and adaptability. Minimum threshold: 67 points on the FSW grid before entering the pool.
Federal Skilled Trades (FST): For workers in eligible skilled trade occupations (NOC codes in training category B). Requires at least two years experience in an eligible trade.
Canadian Experience Class (CEC): For temporary residents with Canadian skilled work experience (1 year in NOC TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3) within the past three years. No minimum education or language score requirement, but strong language profile increases CRS score.

National Occupational Classification (NOC) system: Canada transitioned from the old NOC 2016 system to NOC 2021 in November 2022. The new system uses Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) categories 0-5, replacing the old Skill Level 0/A/B/C/D. Most Express Entry eligible occupations are TEER 0-3.

CRS scores: CRS cut-off scores for FSW/FST/CEC draws have ranged widely — from below 400 in category-based draws to above 500 for all-program draws. IRCC now conducts category-specific draws (French language, healthcare, STEM, trade occupations, agriculture, transport) with lower cut-off scores than all-program draws.

Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program allows Ontario to nominate candidates for permanent residence based on Ontario's economic needs. OINP streams:

Employer Job Offer stream: Requires a permanent job offer in an eligible NOC occupation. Three sub-streams: Foreign Worker, International Student, In-Demand Skills. Different wage, experience, and language requirements per sub-stream.
Human Capital Priorities stream: OINP searches the Express Entry pool for candidates meeting Ontario's criteria and sends Notifications of Interest (NOIs). Candidates with a NOI can apply to OINP; if nominated, receive 600 CRS points ensuring an ITA on the next Express Entry draw.
French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream: For French-speaking candidates in the Express Entry pool, outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
Entrepreneur stream: For entrepreneurs intending to start or purchase a business in Ontario. Performance agreement required; performance milestones must be met within two years.

Family Sponsorship

Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor eligible family members for permanent residence under IRPA s.12(1) and the family class.

Eligible relationships: Spouses and common-law partners (cohabiting 12+ months), conjugal partners (12+ months relationship, cohabitation impossible), dependent children (under 22 and not married/common-law; or older if financially dependent due to physical/mental condition), parents and grandparents, and other relatives in exceptional circumstances.
Undertaking: Sponsors must sign an undertaking committing to financially support the sponsored person. Duration: 3 years for spouses/partners/children 22+; 10 years or until age 25 for children under 22; 20 years for parents/grandparents.
Spousal sponsorship (outland vs inland): Outland sponsorships are processed through IRCC overseas — the sponsored spouse remains abroad. Inland (in-Canada) sponsorships allow the spouse to remain in Canada on an open work permit while the PR application is processed; the couple must be cohabiting. Inland is faster but available only to those lawfully in Canada.
Bars to sponsorship: Sponsors cannot sponsor if they have been convicted of a prescribed sexual or violent offence against a family member, are in default of a previous undertaking, are receiving social assistance (exception for parents/grandparents), are undischarged bankrupt, or are incarcerated.

Refugee Claims at the IRB

Canada's refugee system is governed by IRPA Division 1 (ss.95-110) and the Convention Refugee Determination Division (RPD) of the IRB:

Protected person categories:

Convention refugee (IRPA s.96): A person with a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The persecution must be by the state or an agent the state cannot or will not protect against.
Person in need of protection (IRPA s.97): A person whose removal would subject them to a danger of torture, risk to life, or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment, where the risk is not faced generally by others in that country.

Claiming process: Claims are made at a port of entry or inland at an IRCC office. The claimant submits a Basis of Claim (BOC) form — a detailed narrative of their personal story and grounds for protection. The RPD schedules a hearing within 45-60 days. The claimant may be represented by counsel; IRCC designates a Refugee Protection Officer (RPO) who may question the claimant but is not an adversary in most claims.

Designated Foreign Nationals (DFN) and Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA): Irregular border crossers who cross at unofficial ports of entry from the United States are subject to the STCA between Canada and the US. The STCA was amended in 2023 to apply across the entire land border (not just official ports of entry) — meaning irregular crossers from the US are generally ineligible to make refugee claims in Canada. Exceptions: unaccompanied minors, persons with Canadian family members, and persons facing the death penalty.

Appeal: Rejected claimants may appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) within 15 days of receiving the RPD decision. RAD applies a correctness standard to questions of law and a reasonableness standard to questions of fact (post-Vavilovinfluence). Pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) is available after a 12-month bar following a RAD rejection.

Inadmissibility and Removal

Foreign nationals and permanent residents may be inadmissible to Canada under IRPA s.34-42 on grounds including:

Security — terrorism, espionage, subversion
Human or international rights violations — war crimes, crimes against humanity
Serious criminality — convicted of an offence punishable by at least 10 years (PR) or sentenced to 6+ months
Criminality (foreign nationals) — convicted of an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be an indictable offence
Organized criminality
Health grounds — excessive demand on social services
Financial reasons — inability to support self
Misrepresentation (s.40)

Admissibility hearings at the IRB: CBSA refers cases to the Immigration Division (ID) for admissibility hearings. The ID determines inadmissibility on a balance of probabilities. If found inadmissible, a removal order is issued. Types: departure order (60 days to leave, voluntary departure), exclusion order (1 year bar), deportation order (must obtain written authorization to return).

Summary

Ontario immigration lawyers must be fluent in the full range of IRPA pathways — from Express Entry and provincial nominee programs to family sponsorship, refugee claims, and enforcement proceedings. The STCA amendment, the NOC 2021 transition, and IRCC's shift to category-based Express Entry draws have all changed the landscape significantly since 2022. Maintaining detailed case notes and tracking IRCC processing times and draw cut-offs is essential for effective client advice.

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