Canada Ends Key Permanent Residency Exemption, Details on Affected Groups Emerge

• Canada's immigration department quietly allowed a key refugee family sponsorship policy to expire on Thursday, September 10, 2026
• The temporary policy had helped refugees sponsor children or partners who were not named in their original permanent residency applications
• A department spokesperson confirmed that affected refugees can now pursue exemptions on humanitarian or compassionate grounds instead

Canada has officially ended a temporary policy that allowed certain refugees to sponsor family members who were not listed on their original permanent residency applications, leaving advocates without any explanation for the decision.

The policy, which had been in place for seven years, lapsed on Thursday, September 10, 2026, according to a report from CTV News and The Canadian Press.

Immigration officials made no public announcement ahead of the expiry, and refugee advocates say the immigration minister offered them no reason for the change.

Under Canada's standard immigration rules, a permanent resident is permanently barred from sponsoring any family member they failed to name in their original documentation.

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Refugee advocates and academics had long argued that this created serious hardship for people in exceptional circumstances, such as parents who only discovered their children were still alive after fleeing a conflict zone, or those who had a child born between submitting a permanent residency application and actually arriving in Canada.

The temporary policy was introduced specifically to address those gaps, offering a pathway for eligible refugees to bring their loved ones to Canada without facing a permanent ban.

Canada: What happens next for affected refugees

A spokesperson for the immigration department confirmed that individuals who would previously have benefited from the policy may now apply for an exemption on humanitarian or compassionate grounds.

Critics argue this alternative route is more burdensome and less predictable.

The policy had been extended at least once before, most recently in September 2023.

Internal government records from that time detailed that roughly 2,000 applications had been received under the programme and that officials assessed the arrangement as carrying "minimal risk" to the integrity of Canada's immigration system.

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With the policy now gone and no replacement framework announced, refugee support groups are left uncertain about how to advise families caught in limbo.

Canada announces groups who cannot apply for eTA

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh earlier reported that the Canadian government had published updated directives identifying three categories of travellers who were barred from applying for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA).

Canadian citizens, including dual nationals, were among those prohibited from using the eTA system when flying into Canada.

Permanent residents of Canada and travellers holding a valid Canadian visa also fell under the restriction.

Source: YEN.com.gh