Table of Contents
Executive Summary............................................................................................................................. 5
Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 7
Impact of statelessness................................................................................................................. 12
Citizenship and Statelessness: The Issues ...................................................................................... 15
The definition of a “statelessness person”................................................................................15
The International Legal Regime ..................................................................................................... 19
The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons ................................................ 20
71 States Parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.........................22
The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.....................................................................23
42 States Parties to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness......................................24
The continuing regulatory gap: de facto stateless who are not refugees.............................................24
International Human Rights Instruments .................................................................................... 26
Statelessness in Canadian Law and Practice ................................................................................. 31
Avoiding statelessness ................................................................................................................. 33
The Citizenship Act...............................................................................................................................33
“Lost Canadians” ...............................................................................................................................35
Recommendations.........................................................................................................................37
Protecting the stateless ................................................................................................................ 37
In-Canada programs ...........................................................................................................................38
Refugee protection ...............................................................................................................................38
Recommendations.........................................................................................................................46
Permanent residence ...........................................................................................................................47
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................49
Naturalization .....................................................................................................................................49
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................50
Overseas programs .............................................................................................................................51
Refugee resettlement ...........................................................................................................................51
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................51
Immigration..........................................................................................................................................52
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................52
Travel Documents ....................................................................................................................... 52
Detention and Removal ............................................................................................................... 53
Recommendations.........................................................................................................................57
Data Collection on Stateless Persons ........................................................................................... 57
Refugee determination data.................................................................................................................58
Resettlement data ................................................................................................................................60
Data on Humanitarian or Compassionate (H&C) landing applications ............................................60
Detention data .....................................................................................................................................61
Data on Removals ...............................................................................................................................62
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................62