Section 5 (4) – a stateless person in Canada can submit an application for a Ministerial
discretionary grant of citizenship to alleviate special and unusual hardship6
Section 5 (5) – second generation born abroad children born on or after April 17, 2009, who
would otherwise be stateless, can apply for Canadian citizenship if they are under the age of 23
and have resided in Canada for three of the four years preceding their application.7
Non-refugee stateless persons as well as stateless refugees who are permanent residents can
apply for citizenship providing they fulfil the relevant residency and language requirements
Canada grants citizenship based on principles of jus soli, jus sanguinis, and through naturalisation law,
yet despite Canada’s liberal citizenship policy, those who “have no nationality and are not recognized as
refugees or protected persons, remain very vulnerable”.8 Brouwer (2012) outlines the series of gaps in
Canadian legislation and policy in which stateless persons fall:
Canada’s Citizenship Act creates the possibility for statelessness by imposing a limit on the
ability of parents to pass on Canadian citizenship to their children at the first generation. Second
generation children born abroad can apply for Canadian citizenship through s. 5(5), however,
they are at risk of statelessness if they do not meet the age and residency requirements;
statelessness, distinct from stateless refugees, is not a path to legal status. In other words, a
stateless person who is not a refugee cannot be admitted to Canada, because s/he is stateless
(38);
Canada does not include non-refugee stateless persons in its resettlement programs (51);
Canadian immigration and nationality legislation does not acknowledge “the unique situation
and vulnerability of stateless persons” (37);
no provisions are made for stateless persons in the context of removal. For example, there are
no provisions that take into consideration “the likely status of a stateless person in the receiving
country” (54);
statelessness is not recognized as a category eligible for humanitarian and compassionate (H&C)
applications for status (48). Stateless applicants must, therefore, meet the normal requirements
for being granted H&C consideration, and prove their establishment in Canada, posing difficulty
because of precarious status; and
Statistics Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Citizenship and Immigration
Canada, and Canadian Border Services Agency do not collect adequate data on demographic
information, detention, and deportations.
The realities that stateless persons face in Canada are unlike those faced by any other group. Stateless
persons are ineligible to leave Canada and ineligible to enter any other country. In special
circumstances, if stateless persons are able to leave Canada they have no right of return.9 Stateless
persons are also ineligible to bring their children and spouses to Canada, cannot access health care or
education, have difficulties in obtaining legal and legitimate employment, and are often forced to live in
sub-standard housing. In addition, stateless persons in Canada are often subject to lengthy detention.10
For Brouwer, “If there is one overarching conclusion to be drawn from this review of international and
Canadian law and policy with respect to statelessness, it is that the stateless person remains essentially
6
Citizenship Act, R.S.C, 1985, c. C-29, s. 5(4)
Citizenship Act, R.S.C, 1985, c. C-29, s. 5(5)
8
Brouwer 2012, 9
9
Brouwer 2012, 13
10
Brouwer 2012, 38
7
2