February 27, 2026

In Canada, applications for permanent residence on Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) grounds provide an important safeguard within the immigration system. Administered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) under section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the H&C process allows people to apply for permanent residence when their circumstances do not fit within regular immigration programs, but where refusing their permanent residence in Canada would be unfair, harmful, or inhumane.  In other words, the H&C process would allow permanent residency to be granted when it would be simply unacceptable to fair-minded Canadians to refuse an applicant permanent resident status in Canada. 

As a former immigration and refugee lawyer in Vancouver, the H&C category was crucial in allowing my clients to stay in Canada permanently who would have otherwise been forced to leave. An H&C application is usually the last attempt to stay in Canada.  This category exists for exceptional and unique situations. It serves as an exemption for very special cases—allowing decision-makers to look beyond rigid rules and consider the real-life consequences of a decision.  Parliament originally created H&C applications to exist as a vital moral and legal safeguard within Canada’s immigration system. They recognize that laws, while necessary, cannot anticipate every human reality. H&C relief ensures that compassion tempers rigidity—allowing immigration decision-makers to consider family unity, deep community ties in Canada, and the best interests of children when strict compliance with statutory rules would result in injustice.

However, this safeguard is being quietly eroded. Under the federal government’s 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan, the annual number of H&C applications to be processed has been significantly reduced to just over 1,000 per year, despite a backlog approaching 50,000 cases. At this pace, individuals and families seeking humanitarian relief face projected wait times extending half a century—effectively a lifetime!  A system designed to offer compassion cannot fulfill its purpose if relief is delayed beyond reach. 

Erosion of Access to Statutory Relief

When applications remain unread for decades, humanitarian protection becomes theoretical rather than real. Parliament created H&C relief to ensure that people facing hardship would be heard. Processing timelines that stretch across generations nullify that promise.  During prolonged waits, applicants often remain barred from employment and essential health services. They live under constant threat of removal, family separation, and instability—conditions that compound vulnerability rather than alleviate it.

Such delays undermine both the intent and the legal foundation of section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which obligates the Minister to assess humanitarian requests when they are made. A delay so extreme that no decision is rendered within an applicant’s lifetime amounts, in practice, to a denial of relief.

Disproportionate Harm to Children and Vulnerable Individuals

Unfortunately, the burden of these delays does not fall evenly. Children, survivors of violence, and other vulnerable individuals bear the heaviest cost.  Canadian and international legal principles are clear: children must not be made to endure avoidable hardship. The best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in decisions that affect their lives and futures. Section 25 of the IRPA reflects this obligation explicitly.

A projected 50-year wait condemns children to grow up without secure status, reliable healthcare, or consistent access to education. Some may face removal before their applications are ever considered, exposing them to serious harm—or worse.  Imagine a Canadian-born child with a life-threatening medical condition such as cancer whose only caregiver lacks status in Canada and has sought H&C relief. If that parent is deported while waiting for a decision, the child may be forced to leave Canada and lose access to critical medical treatment that is not available in their home country, placing the child’s life at risk.   

Temporary protection programs, such as those created in response to international crises, present similar risks. Families who have worked, paid taxes, and enrolled their children in Canadian schools may still have no pathway to permanent residence other than H&C relief. When that relief is delayed for decades, integration and contribution are met not with security, but with perpetual uncertainty.

Unanticipated Legal Consequences

Delays of this magnitude are not merely unjust—they are legally precarious. Courts have repeatedly found that prolonged administrative inaction can constitute unreasonable delay and abuse of process.  As wait times grow, so too will mandamus applications seeking court-ordered intervention due to unreasonable delay and abuse of process. This pattern mirrors the systemic breakdown addressed by the Supreme Court of Canada in cases involving excessive criminal trial delays, where prolonged inaction was deemed incompatible with the rule of law.  An increase in litigation against the government will strain judicial resources. 

Proposed Recommendations

To restore integrity, compassion, and functionality to the humanitarian framework, the following steps are essential:

1. Remove H&C Applications from the Immigration Levels Plan
   Humanitarian relief should not be constrained by numerical targets that create decades-long backlogs. Excluding H&C applications from the Levels Plan would preserve their intended role as a responsive safeguard.

2. Prioritize Stage 1 Decisions Where Delays Persist
   Where extended processing cannot be avoided, timely first-stage approvals should be prioritized. Granting “approval in principle” allows applicants to work legally and access medical services in Canada while the rest of their application is being processed (stage 2 admissibility checks). 

Canada’s commitment to refugees and immigrants has long been rooted in the belief that compassion strengthens—not weakens—our society. A humanitarian program that cannot deliver decisions within a human lifetime risks betraying that legacy.  I strongly believe that many immigration and refugee lawyers agree that ensuring timely access to H&C relief is not merely an administrative necessity. It is a reaffirmation of Canada’s values: fairness, dignity, and care for those who call this country home. 

Written by Katrina Sriranpong