EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Canada has not acceded to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (“1954 Convention”). The decision not to accede to the 1954 Convention is based, in part, on Canada’s belief that its legal framework provides sufficient protection for the rights of stateless persons and that accession is redundant and unnecessary. This report undertakes a systemic and independent assessment of Canada’s position that the Canadian legal framework is in compliance with the 1954 Convention. In particular this report assesses Canada’s constitutional law, legislation, regulations, policies, jurisprudence and common law principles relating to the federal government, and the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. In cases where the Canadian legal framework appears to be incompatible with the 1954 Convention, the report examines Canada’s international human rights obligations in order to determine whether Canada is required under other international human rights instruments to meet or exceed the minimum standard of treatment in the 1954 Convention. The report does not examine every article or every conceivable legal matter relevant to a stateless person’s rights under the 1954 Convention. Instead, it focuses on the most significant articles that protect the legal and socio-economic rights of stateless persons. Considering the extent of the legal framework that could be assessed for this report, and the near infinite legal scenarios that could be analyzed with respect to stateless persons in Canada, this report serves more as an introductory assessment of the Canadian legal framework. The report finds that much of Canada’s legal framework is compatible with the rights articulated in the 1954 Convention. However, notable gaps are present and in some instances Canada has obligations under international human rights law to address such gaps. Specifically, there are gaps in Canada’s legal framework with respect to the definition of stateless persons (Article 1); social housing (Article 21); public education (Article 22); healthcare and social assistance (Article 23); social security (Article 24); identity papers (Article 27); travel documents (Article 28); expulsion (Article 31); and naturalization (Article 32). With respect to some of these articles and the identified gaps, Canada has well-established human rights obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which require Canada to either meet or surpass the standard of treatment for stateless persons under the 1954 Convention. Recommendations for addressing these gaps include reforms that would make the Canadian legal framework more inclusive to the legal challenges that stateless persons may experience in accessing social housing, free public education, social programs, travel documents, and pathways to citizenship. Where there are no clear international human rights obligations that apply to gaps in the Canadian legal framework, recommendations attempt to facilitate the protection of stateless person’s rights and assist in crafting appropriate policy options. Such recommendations include establishing a statelessness determination procedure and recognition of a “stateless persons status” similar to “protected person” status. Several recommendations also call for additional information from government departments and request that further research be conducted in 1 1