Regulations Amending the Citizenship Regulations (SOR/2018-264)

Policy effect

Establishes regulatory requirements for written notice, detention, and return procedures when the Minister seizes fraudulent documents under section 23.2 of the Citizenship Act, authorizes disclosure of seized documents to CBSA for IRPA enforcement, and aligns citizenship judge proceedings and revocation provisions by repealing obsolete terrorism revocation hearing rules.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

… is repealed. 3 (1) Subsection 12(1) of the Regulations is repealed. (2) The portion of subsection 12(2) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following: (2) When an applicant appears before a citizenship judge, the judge may permit the applicant to be accompanied by 4 The Regulations are amended by adding the following after section 26.7: Seizure of Documents 27 If the Minister seizes a document under section 23.2 of the Act, the Minister must provide to the person who provided the document written notice of the seizure that includes the grounds for the seizure and that states that the person may provide additional information with respect to the document. 28 The Minister may, for the purpose of the administration and enforcement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, disclose to the Canada Border Services Agency, information with respect to the seized document and may provide the seized document to the Agency. The Agency may keep the seized document for the period necessary to determine whether it appears to be genuine or to have been unlawfully altered. 29 If the Minister determines that the seized document was not fraudulently or improperly obtained … or used, or that its seizure is not necessary to prevent its fraudulent or improper use, the Minister must return the document to the person who provided it. 30 If the Minister determines that the seized document was obtained or used fraudulently or improperly or that the seizure is necessary to prevent its fraudulent or improper use, the document must be detained for as long as is necessary for the administration of the laws of Canada, after which it will be returned to the authority that issued it or disposed of in accordance with the laws of Canada. Coming into Force 5 (1) These Regulations … authority by providing clarity and consistency in establishing the processes to be followed in relation to the seizure and detention of documents believed to be fraudulent. Revocation (hearings) The AACA also repealed provisions in the Citizenship Act that allowed the Minister to revoke an individual’s citizenship if the individual had been convicted of an offence abroad that, if committed in Canada, would constitute a terrorism offence in Canada. Amendments to the Regulations are required to remove this now obsolete ground for revocation from a list of factors on which basis a revocation hearing may … the regulatory amendments is to align the Citizenship Regulations with the changes to the Citizenship Act by repealing the obsolete provision stating that a conviction for a terrorism offence committed outside Canada is a factor in determining whether a revocation hearing should be held. Amendments identified by the SJCSR and technical amendments The third objective of the regulatory amendments is to correct technical errors and inconsistencies identified by the SJCSR and make technical revisions. Description Document seizure provisions The regulatory amendments establish the requirement for … determining whether a hearing is required in connection with a revocation decision. Amendments identified by the SJCSR and technical amendments The amendments address technical errors and inconsistencies identified by the SJCSR as follows: Subsection 12(1) of the Citizenship Regulations, which establishes that a judge may require a citizenship applicant to give evidence under oath, is repealed. This provision does not prescribe a procedure to be followed by citizenship judges in the performance of their duties, and, is therefore, unnecessary. Likewise, this provision is redundant because it reflects an authority to require someone to give evidence under oath that is already established in section 13 of the Canada Evidence Act. The definitions of “foreign service officer” and “agent du service extérieur” in section 2 of the Citizenship Regulations would be amended by changing the terms “nearby country” to “another country” and “pays voisin” to “autre pays” for clarity. This change allows applicants to obtain services from another office, rather than requiring applicants to seek consular services at the closest possible office. In addition, the references to “or a registration” and to “fait …

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Other Canada changes operative in 2018

• 2018-01-11Modification of citizenship revocation decision-maker under Bill C-6
• 2018-01-24Mandatory Refusal to Allow Application Withdrawal During Inadmissibility Reporting (SOR/2018-5)
• 2018-03-10Moratorium on Farm Management Applications under the Federal Self-Employed Persons Class
• 2018-03-27Clarification of End of Examination for Refugee Claimants (SOR/2018-60)
• 2018-03-27Permanent Regulatory Repeal of the Cumulative Duration Rule for Temporary Foreign Workers (SOR/2018-61)
• 2018-04-11Transition of Start-up Business Class into Permanent Regulatory Program (SOR/2018-72)
• 2018-06-01Temporary Public Policy Regarding Excessive Demand on Health and Social Services
• 2018-06-05Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
• 2018-06-26Express Entry ITA Application Submission Window Reduction
• 2018-07-31Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (SOR/2018-128)
• 2018-10-17Alignment of Inadmissibility Grounds with the Cannabis Act (SOR/2018-170)
• 2018-11-02Streamlined Administrative Enforcement of Unenforced Removal Orders Abroad (SOR/2018-232)
• 2018-11-23Work Permit Exemption for Registered Indians (SOR/2018-249)