Foreign nationals convicted of serious criminality may be permitted to delay a formal hearing determining whether they must leave Canada if they have appealed their convictions, under fresh policy guidelines drawn up by the head of the immigration tribunal that makes such decisions.
Guidelines issued by Immigration and Refugee Board chairperson Manon Brassard, coming into force on June 1, broaden the criteria for considering whether convicted foreign criminals can delay formal proceedings on “admissibility” to Canada, which would precede deportation.
The Conservatives have seized on the revised policy guidelines, arguing they would make it easier for foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes to remain in Canada and delay their removal.
The party’s immigration critic, Michelle Rempel Garner, has pushed for tougher rules on deporting foreign criminals, including to prevent judges from considering a convicted offender’s immigration status, or the impact of deportation, during sentencing.
She said in an e-mail that allowing criminals to avoid deportation is “a massive problem that could now become worse because of these changes.”
“Instead of changing IRB guidance that could open the door to more delays which would allow non-citizens convicted of serious crimes in Canada to stay here, the Liberals should support one law for all and deport when the law requires them to do so,” she wrote.
Ms. Rempel Garner said Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab “should clearly direct the IRB to enforce consequences already set out in the law to deport non-citizens convicted of serious crimes in Canada.”
Conservative Party immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons in Ottawa on March 23.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Under Canadian law, foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes, including involvement in organized crime, face deportation. Those defined as serious criminals include people convicted of offences punishable by a prison term of at least 10 years.
In 2025, 934 foreign nationals were deported from Canada after being deemed inadmissible because of criminality, with another 260 deported in the first quarter of this year, according to Canada Border Services Agency figures.
As well, 132 were deported last year after being deemed inadmissible to Canada for transborder criminality, with another 21 deported in the first quarter of 2026. There were 98 foreign nationals deemed inadmissible to Canada and deported last year because of involvement in organized crime, with 18 more so far this year.
Before the CBSA can take action to deport a foreign national convicted of a serious crime, a formal admissibility hearing must be held by the Immigration Division of the quasi-judicial Immigration and Refugee Board to determine whether they may remain in the country. The Minister of Public Safety is represented at such hearings by an official.
Current guidance issued by the IRB chairperson on whether to allow rescheduling of admissibility hearings says the IRB’s Immigration Division should only accept applications for such changes “in exceptional circumstances.”
It adds that a pending appeal on a criminal conviction or a pending application for ministerial relief from admissibility “is not generally a sufficient reason” for such an application to be granted.
The new policy guidelines say decision-makers are expected to consider several factors when weighing requests to change the timing of an admissibility hearing “pending an appeal of a conviction on criminal charges.”
These include “whether the appeal has been filed and the likelihood it will be concluded in a timely manner.”
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They will also be expected to consider whether “the outcome of the appeal may render the [Immigration Division] proceeding unnecessary,” as well as “the prejudice to the parties.” They should also take into account whether allowing a change of date would “unreasonably delay the proceeding.”
Lawyer James Yousif, a former adjudicator at the IRB and former director of policy at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, believes the new guidelines could incentivize foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes to appeal their convictions in the hope of delaying hearings on possible deportation.
“Canadian law says that if a foreign national or permanent resident is convicted of a sufficiently serious crime, they have to leave Canada. That is the will of Parliament, as expressed in the laws of Canada,” he said in an e-mail. “Who does the IRB think it is, to undermine Canadian law by implementing a policy that will suspend the inadmissibility hearings which are a necessary step in the deportation of serious criminals from Canada?”
He argued Ottawa should rethink its decision to delegate powers to the IRB to make public policy.
“The power to develop immigration, removals, admissibility, detention and asylum policy must belong to the Ministers of Immigration and Public Safety, not an unaccountable, independent agency,” he wrote.
The IRB said in a statement that the revised guideline clarifies how its members respond to applications to reschedule a proceeding.
“It supports fairness, efficiency, transparency and consistency by setting out, in plain language, the factors members consider when deciding to accept or reject these requests.”
“The Division already hears and decides applications to adjourn admissibility hearings from parties on the basis that the outcome of an appeal would be directly relevant to the determination of a person’s inadmissibility to Canada,” it added. “This provision has been added in the new Chairperson’s guideline to promote consistent consideration of such applications, in line with current Federal Court jurisprudence, which Board members are required to follow.”
It also said that if the CBSA believes the person making such an application poses a danger to the public, it can arrest and detain them.
The CBSA and IRCC declined to comment.