Canadian Centre on Statelessness Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 30th Session of the Universal Periodic Review Canada Introduction 1. The Canadian Centre on Statelessness (CCS) and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in relation to statelessness, access to nationality and human rights in Canada. 2. The Canadian Centre on Statelessness1 is a federally incorporated non-profit organisation that seeks action against statelessness through research, advocacy and the fostering of a national community of allies including persons affected by statelessness. Founded in 2014, the Centre's mandate is to affect societal, political and legislative changes as they relate to the protection and status of stateless persons. CCS has particular expertise in researching statelessness in Canada, including on government data collection on stateless persons, and the health and well-being of stateless persons in Canada. 3. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion2 is an independent non-profit organisation committed to an integrated, human rights based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion through a combination of research, education, partnerships and advocacy. Established in August 2014, it is the first and only global centre committed to promoting the human rights of stateless persons and ending statelessness. Over the past two years, the Institute has made over 20 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons, and also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 28th UPR Sessions.3 4. This joint submission focuses on the identification and the human rights protection of stateless persons, the right of every child to acquire a nationality, the protection of stateless persons from arbitrary detention in Canada, and deprivation of nationality. It draws on the combined expertise of the submitting organisations both in Canada and internationally. The Universal Periodic Review of Canada under the First and Second Cycles (2009 and 2013) 5. Canada was subject to the UPR under the First Cycle in 2009 and under the Second Cycle in 2013. No recommendations were issued directly on the issue of statelessness in the First Cycle. In the Second Cycle, Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay recommended that Canada ratify the American Convention on Human 1 For more information about the Canadian Centre on Statelessness, please see the website www.statelessness.ca. For more information about ISI, please see the website http://www.institutesi.org/. 3 For more on the Institute’s UPR advocacy, see http://www.institutesi.org/ourwork/humanrights.php. 2 1