Vol. 149, No. 5 — March 11, 2015

Registration

SOR/2015-46 February 20, 2015

IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION ACT

Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

P.C. 2015-205 February 19, 2015

Whereas, pursuant to subsection 5(2) (see footnote a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (see footnote b), the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has caused a copy of the proposed Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, substantially in the annexed form, to be laid before each House of Parliament;

Therefore, His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, pursuant to subsection 5(1), section 26 (see footnote c), paragraph 32(f), subsection 102(1) and section 150 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (see footnote d), makes the annexed Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS REGULATIONS AMENDING THE IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION REGULATIONS

AMENDMENT

1. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (see footnote 1) are amended by replacing “Minister of Foreign Affairs” with “Minister” in the following provisions:

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

The Passport Canada program is now with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). However, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations) have not yet been modified to reflect the new responsibilities of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration with regard to passport services. The Regulations must be modified to remove reference to the “Minister of the Foreign Affairs” and have it replaced with “Minister” (of CIC).

Background

Following the announcement of the government machinery change, two orders in council transferred responsibility for Passport Canada from the “Minister of Foreign Affairs” to the “Minister” of CIC, with domestic service delivery being provided by Employment and Social Development Canada and overseas service delivery remaining with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. This change came into effect on July 2, 2013.

Objectives

These amendments are intended to align the Regulations with the orders in council that transferred the authority previously granted to Passport Canada to the Minister of CIC.

Description

The amendments will replace “Minister of Foreign Affairs” in all instances with “Minister,” which will refer to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. This referral back to the Minister of CIC is based on section 2 of the Regulations, which provides that “Minister” means the Minister referred to in section 4 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), which states, “. . . the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is responsible for the administration of this Act”.

There are five instances where this change will be made:

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply, as these are technical amendments to the Regulations and will not add to the administrative burden on businesses.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply, as these are technical amendments to the Regulations and will not have an impact on small businesses.

Consultation

The amendments to the Regulations are administrative in nature, do not impose new restrictions or regulatory burdens on individuals or businesses and will have no impact on Canadians. Therefore, no consultations were conducted.

Rationale

These amendments are purely technical and are required in order to align the Regulations with the decision to transfer responsibility for Passport Canada to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which came into effect through two orders in council on July 2, 2013.

There is no impact on stakeholders, nor costs or financial benefits associated with these amendments.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The amendments are technical and do not require implementation, enforcement or service standards.

Contact

Michelle Maragh
Manager
Passport Operational Coordination
365 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1
Telephone: 613-437-7386