Definitions

Refugees abroad

Convention Refugee Abroad

To be considered in this category, you must satisfy all of the following conditions:

• you must be outside the country of which you are a national or, if you have no nationality, outside the country of habitual residence
• you must have a well-founded fear of persecution because of your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinions
• in light of this fear, you are unable or unwilling to avail yourself of the protection offered by this country or to return to this country
• you must be in a situation where no lasting solution can be found within a reasonable amount of time.

Note: The Government of Canada is responsible for determining if a candidate is a Convention Refugee Abroad.

Person in the Country of Asylum Class

To be considered in this class, you must satisfy all of the following criteria:

• you must be outside Canada and the country of which you are a national or in which you have your habitual residence
• you must have suffered and continue to suffer serious personal consequences incurred as a result of civil war, an armed conflict, or a massive human rights violation in the country of which you are a national or the country of habitual residence
• you must be in a situation where no lasting solution can be found within a reasonable amount of time
• you must the subject of a collective sponsorship.

Note: The Government of Canada is responsible for determining if a candidate belongs to the Country of Asylum Class.

Person in the Source Country Class

To be considered in this class, your country of citizenship or of habitual residence must be included on the source country list. The current list includes the following countries: Colombia, Guatemala, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Sierra Leone and Sudan.

You must:

• sustain serious personal consequences resulting from a civil war or an armed conflict and be in one of the following situations:
  • be or have been detained or imprisoned in this country
  • be subject to or have been subject to some other form of periodic penal control directly as a result of acts which, in Canada, would be deemed a legitimate expression of freedom of thought or as the legitimate exercise of civil rights in respect of union activities or dissidence
  • satisfy the definition of a refugee under the Geneva Convention, notwithstanding the fact that you reside in your country of citizenship or your country of habitual residence
• and you must be in a situation where no lasting solution can be found within a reasonable amount of time.

Note: The Government of Canada is responsible for determining if a candidate belongs to the Source Country Class. List of source countries.

Person covered by section 18 c) iii) of the Regulation respecting the selection of foreign nationals

A person who is the subject of a collective sponsorship is examined in light of this section once it has been established that he or she does not belong to any of the above categories.

To be considered in this respect, you must warrant humanitarian consideration on the ground that your physical safety would be threatened, especially because of the risk of imprisonment, torture or death, if you were unable to come to Québec.

Note: The Gouvernement du Québec is responsible for determining if a candidate is covered by section 18 c) iii) of the Regulation respecting the selection of foreign nationals. The Government of Canada levies fees to process applications selected by Québec in this category.

Refugees in Canada

Convention Refugee

To be considered a Convention Refugee, you must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Immigration and Refugee Board that:

• you are outside the country of which you are a national or, if you have no nationality, outside the country in which you habitually reside
• you have a well-founded fear of persecution because of your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinions
• in light of this fear, you are unable or unwilling to avail yourself of the protection offered by this country or to return to this country.

This status is determined by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).

Person in Need of Protection

To be considered a person in need of protection, you must be covered by the Convention against Torture or be at risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

This status is determined by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) or by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) following a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA). Note that persons in need of protection are granted equal protection by Canada as Convention refugees and have access in Québec to the same government services as Convention refugees.

Dependent child

The biological offspring of either parent, who has not been adopted by any person other than their parent’s spouse or de facto spouse; or the adopted child of either parent.

This child must be :

• he/she is less than 22 years old, and neither married (he/she is single, widowed, or divorced) nor a de facto spouse; or
• he/she is still substantially dependent on the financial support of a parent, and
  • is 22 years of age or older, is studying full-time*, and is neither married nor a de facto spouse; or
  • became a spouse or de facto spouse before the age of 22, and is a full-time student*; or
  • is 22 years of age or older, and has been unable to support himself/herself at least since his/her 22^nd birthday, owing to a physical or mental disability.

This definition also extends to the child of a dependent child.

* In order to be considered a full-time student, the child must be enrolled on a continuous basis in a postsecondary institution that is accredited by the relevant government authorities; must be attending this institution; and must have been actively taking academic, professional, or vocational training courses there on a full-time basis and without interruption at least since his/her 22nd birthday, or since the date on which he/she married or became a de facto spouse.

Spouse

Spouse or de facto spouse

Spouse
A married person of at least 16 years of age who:

• was not , at the time of marriage, the spouse of another person;
• is not the de facto spouse of another person while living apart from his or her spouse for at least one year.

De facto spouse

A person at least 16 years of age of the same or the opposite sex who has:

• been living maritally for at least one year with the sponsor or the principal sponsored person;
• had a marital relationship for at least one year with the sponsor or the principal sponsored person but who may not live with him or her because of persecution or penal control