IRCC reorganizes H&C guidance and clarifies applicant evidence duties

What IRCC changed on August 27

IRCC reorganized its program-delivery instructions for permanent-residence requests based on humanitarian and compassionate considerations. It created separate pages for the initial assessment and referral procedures, revised six existing pages and consolidated three older pages into the new initial-assessment instructions.

This is an operational clarification, not a new immigration pathway, a change to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or an automatic exemption. H&C remains a discretionary, case-by-case request assessed on the evidence in the file.

Intake restrictions remain important

A person in Canada may submit a stand-alone H&C permanent-residence application or request an exemption within an eligible permanent-residence class. A person outside Canada cannot submit a stand-alone H&C application; the written H&C request must accompany an application for a permanent resident visa under an available class.

IRCC's instructions continue to restrict concurrent H&C requests and applications made while certain refugee claims, appeals or pre-removal risk assessments are pending. The 12-month bar after a negative, withdrawn or abandoned refugee claim also remains, subject to limited exceptions involving life-threatening lack of health care or the adverse effect on a child under 18. Evidence is required to support an exception.

H&C cannot exempt a person from inadmissibility under sections 34, 35, 35.1 or 37 of the Act, and it cannot override invitation provisions governed by ministerial instructions.

The applicant must identify the factors and prove them

The new initial-assessment page states that the applicant is responsible for clearly identifying the hardship and every humanitarian factor they want considered, and for submitting supporting evidence. An officer is not required to find or request missing factors on the applicant's behalf.

For ordinary findings of fact, the standard is the balance of probabilities. After reviewing the individual elements, the officer must assess the request globally and weigh the relevant factors together rather than treating any one factor as decisive.

Children, discrimination and medical hardship

The best interests of every child directly affected by the decision must be considered. IRCC also clarifies that evidence of discrimination against a group can be relevant even when the applicant cannot prove they were personally targeted, provided the evidence connects to their circumstances.

A medical-hardship argument should include evidence from a treating professional and reliable information about care in the country concerned. If an officer relies on external evidence that the applicant could not reasonably know, procedural fairness requires disclosure and an opportunity to respond.

What applicants and representatives should do

• Confirm that the H&C request is legally receivable before paying fees or filing.
• Identify each humanitarian factor explicitly and connect every document to that factor.
• Address the best interests of each directly affected child with child-specific evidence.
• Document any requested exception to a refugee-claim bar and do not assume H&C automatically stops removal.
• Treat the updated instructions as processing guidance, not as a promise that an exemption or permanent residence will be granted.