Facing Deportation from Canada: What Are Your Options?

Types of Removal Orders in Canada

In Canada, there are three types of removal orders, each with different consequences and appeal rights:

• Departure order: You must leave Canada within 30 days. If you leave within 30 days and confirm your departure, you may return to Canada if you later obtain authorization.
• Exclusion order: You must leave Canada and are barred from returning for one year (or five years for misrepresentation). To return before the bar expires, you need special authorization.
• Deportation order: You must leave Canada and cannot return without written authorization from IRCC.

Can You Appeal a Removal Order?

Some persons have a right of appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD):

• Canadian permanent residents ordered removed based on criminality (for convictions with sentences of less than 2 years)
• Canadian permanent residents who fail to comply with their residency obligation

Persons sentenced to 2 or more years in prison on a serious criminality conviction do not have an IAD appeal right.

Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA)

Shortly before removal, you may apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) — an assessment of whether you would face persecution, torture, or cruel and unusual treatment if removed to your country of origin.

Humanitarian and Compassionate (H and C) Application

Even without formal appeal rights, individuals facing removal may apply for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The decision-maker considers establishment in Canada, family ties, the best interests of children, and the hardship of returning to the home country.