Canada directs officers to deny humanitarian exemptions for permanent residence applicants under temporary public policies

Applicants for Canadian permanent residence under temporary public policies who request humanitarian exemptions will have their applications refused, according to new instructions to officers.

On July 22, 2026, Canada’s immigration department published new instructions specifying that immigration officers do not have the authority to exempt applicants from conditions set out in temporary public policies.

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Normally, when a foreign national applies for permanent residence from within Canada, the officer is required to consider request(s) for exemption(s) under humanitarian and compassionate grounds (H&C).

But the direction to consider H&C, set out in subsection A25(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, applies specifically to exemptions from requirements within the Act.

Subsection A25(1) does not authorize immigration officers to consider H&C exemptions from requirements set out in temporary public policies.

An application for permanent residence under a temporary public policy must in all cases satisfy the officer that the applicant meets all the requirements set out in the temporary public policy.

If an applicant requests an H&C exemption to overcome one or more unmet requirements established by a temporary public policy, the officer must refuse the application.

When refused in such cases, “applicants are not entitled to an additional, distinct decision on whether to grant them permanent residence on H&C grounds,” because the “decision is being made on the public policy application,” according to the newly published instructions.

Consequently, a foreign national refused under such circumstances would need to submit an entirely new application for permanent residence under H&C grounds.

The immigration department clarified the rules in newly published instructions to officers titled “Humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) considerations: In-Canada permanent residence (PR) granting public policies where H&C requests were also made.”

For applications that do allow H&C, the officer may grant requested exemption(s) in cases where they are satisfied that the applicant, or an applicant’s dependent child(ren), would face considerable hardship.

Temporary public policies are ad hoc, time-bound directives issued under the executive authority of Canada’s immigration minister, providing specified exceptions to business-as-usual rules for cases that meet the policy’s specified conditions.

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