Date:
20121213
Docket:
IMM-8534-11
Citation:
2012 FC 1471
Ottawa, Ontario, December
13, 2012
PRESENT: The Honourable Mr. Justice Zinn
BETWEEN:
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FAISAL NAWAZ
KHAN
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Applicant
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and
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THE MINISTER OF
CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
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Respondent
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REASONS
FOR JUDGMENT AND JUDGMENT
Introduction
[1]
Mr. Khan is a permanent resident of Canada and had been issued a
permanent resident card [PR Card] as proof of his status. PR Cards are time
limited and this application arises out of Mr. Khan’s failed attempt to renew
his now-expired PR Card. The PR Card does not create or maintain one’s status
as a permanent resident – it merely serves as proof of that status. Despite
the fact that Mr. Khan no longer has a valid PR Card, he remains a permanent resident
of Canada.
Background
[2]
Mr. Khan had a PR Card valid for five years ending March 10, 2010. He
submitted the required application form to Citizenship and Immigration Canada [CIC]
to obtain a replacement PR Card.
[3]
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27 [the
Act], sets out a residency requirement for permanent residents. It provides that
a “permanent resident must comply with a residency obligation with respect to
every five-year period:” Subsection 28(1) of the Act. “A permanent resident
complies with the residency obligation with respect to a five-year period if, on
each of a total of at least 730 days in that five-year period they are
physically present in Canada:” Subparagraph 28(2)(a)(i) of the Act. Under this
requirement, a permanent resident can be abroad up to 1095 days in a five-year
period. Subparagraph 56(2)(a)(vii) of the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227 [the Regulations], provides that “an
application for a permanent resident card must be made in Canada and include the periods during the previous five years that the applicant was absent from Canada.” Accordingly, applicants are asked on the PR Card application form to list all
absences from Canada “in the last five years” and, if the total number of days
equals 1095 or more, the applicant must complete other portions of the form focused
on the exceptions set out in section 28 of the Act, none of which are relevant
to the application before the Court.
[4]
Mr. Khan provided an affidavit in this application in which he attests
that he “signed” his application for a new PR Card on April 12, 2010; he does
not specifically say when he filed it with CIC. CIC records confirm that the
renewal application was signed April 12, 2010, but indicate that it was
received by CIC on June 8, 2010. It is not known what caused the delay of eight
weeks (56 days) between the signing and the receipt of the application. Mr.
Khan swears that as at the date he signed his application form, he was absent
from Canada for 1044 days, and was present in Canada 781 days. Therefore, in
the five year period ending April 12, 2010, Mr. Khan met the residency obligation
specified in the Act.
[5]
Also required to be included with an application for a PR Card are
copies of various documents specified in the Regulations. These include the applicant’s
passport, issued travel documents, and various government issued identification
cards: Paragraphs 56(2)(c) and (d) of the Regulations.
[6]
Like all applications for PR Cards, Mr. Khan’s application was processed
by CIC at its Case Processing Centre - Sydney (CPC-S). The Field Operations
Support System [FOSS] notes in the record show the following entry on December
15, 2010, from CPC-S:
15DEC2010 – PR CARD REC’D IN SYDNEY. IMM 194; PPT: PAK828. CLIENT ABSENT 1044 DAYS AS OF 08JUN2010. [emphasis
added]
[7]
It is clear from this entry that the CIC official in Sydney who
processed Mr. Khan's application was satisfied, based on the information
provided in and with the application, that Mr. Khan had been absent for 1044
days as of June 8, 2010, which was the date the application was received by
CIC. The entry also indicates that on that date CPC-S received Mr. Khan’s new
PR Card which was valid to December 24, 2015, and it then forwarded the PR Card
to the CIC office at 25 St. Clair Ave. East in Toronto, Ontario [CIC GTA
Central]. In a letter dated January 12, 2011, Mr. Khan was informed that he
could pick up his new PR Card at CIC GTA Central on February 10, 2011; however,
he was in Pakistan on that date and was unable to do so. The letter also
advised that “if you are unavailable on this date, please visit our office
within 180 days.” Mr. Khan attended at CIC GTA Central on June 28, 2011, well
within that 180 day period.
[8]
The January 12, 2011, form letter provided further information to Mr.
Khan as follows:
According to the Immigration and
Refugee Protection Act, all permanent residents of Canada are subject to a residency assessment at the time of distribution of their
new PR card. An immigration official will review your documents and may
request additional information to determine your eligibility for a PR card.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:
•
This letter;
•
All passports and travel documents (current and expired);
•
Original record of landing, confirmation of permanent residence
(IMM 1000 or IMM 5292) or other Canadian residency/landing documents;
•
Valid photo ID issued by the province or by a federal agency
(e.g. driver’s license, health card);
•
Minors under age 14 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian
with a birth certificate and/or legal guardianship papers;
•
Expired PR card. A new card will not be issued unless your
expired card has been surrendered with your application or is returned and/or
accounted for.
[emphasis in the
original]
[9]
When Mr. Khan attended at CIC GTA Central on June 28, 2011, to pick up
his new PR Card, the CIC officer examined his former and current passport and
asked him why he had taken so long to pick up his new PR Card. He told her
that he had been in Pakistan for the birth of his daughter. Mr. Khan attests
that the officer then asked him to write down the dates of all of his absences in
the five years preceding that day (June 28, 2011). He did so. The officer
then said that it appeared that he did not meet the residency requirement and
she could not issue the card to him. He protested saying that he thought the
five year period was from the date of the application, not the date when he
picked up the card. The officer told him that it wasn’t her decision and that
a senior officer would be contacting him. The following entry was made
(presumably by the officer at CIC GTA Central) in the FOSS notes on June 29,
2011: “CLIENT ABSENT 1309 DAYS. DID NOT MEET RESIDENCY. SENT TO
INVESTIGATION.”
[10]
Mr. Khan then sought legal advice and his current counsel wrote asking
for an explanation and demanding that the PR Card be issued immediately. CIC
responded as follows:
With regards to the above person’s
application for a Permanent Resident Card, the application was referred to our
office on 29 JUN 2011 as the client was not meeting the residency obligations.
Currently the minimum assessment time
is 1.5 years. Should the client require to travel within the time frame, he
may do so with a valid passport. The client would then require to apply for a
Travel Document at the nearest Canadian Visa Office to facilitate his return to
Canada.
We do not expedite applications once
referred to our office.
[11]
This application for leave and judicial review was commenced on November
23, 2011. Leave was opposed by the respondent claiming that no decision,
within the meaning of section 18.1 of the Federal Courts Act, RSC 1985, c F-7, had been made. This Court granted leave by
Order dated July 31, 2012. It appears that shortly after leave was granted,
CIC took a look at the applicant’s file because an officer called Mr. Khan’s
counsel advising that she wished to continue the processing of Mr. Khan’s PR
Card application. On August 29, 2012, the officer sent a letter to Mr. Khan
via his counsel stating the following:
In order to continue to process your
application for a Permanent Resident Card, a determination is required as to
whether you have complied with the residency obligation, pursuant to section 28
of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
…
Please provide sufficient
documentation to prove that you were physically present in Canada during the period of time under consideration, i.e. 09June 2005 and 08June 2010.
[emphasis in original]
[12]
When contacted, the officer advised that the June 9, 2005 to June 8,
2010 period she sought represented the five year period ending on the date that
CIC received the application for the PR Card and that she was “not interested”
in the five year period immediately prior to the date he attempted to pick up
his card – the period that had been of interest to the officer at CIC GTA
Central.
[13]
The respondent filed an affidavit in this proceeding sworn September 10,
2012, by a CIC employee, Mr. Gillis, “lead analyst” on the Regulations. The
applicant objected to this new evidence. I have considered it only insofar as
the affiant attests to the process at CIC for issuing PR Cards. To the extent
that he purports to interpret the Act and Regulations, it is improper and
inadmissible.
[14]
Mr. Gillis, in his affidavit, cautiously attests that the respondent may
have used an incorrect five-year period earlier:
… [I]t appears that the
application for a permanent resident card may have been directed to the
investigation inventory during the local office review that was conducted June
29, 2011. It is unclear from the notes provided what period of residency was
used to determine why the application was referred to investigation – a process
which in this local office can take 15 months or more. It may have been
referred as the reviewing staff used the date that the Applicant appeared at
the local office as the part of the five year residency period. As an
incorrect residency period may have been used, the application has been
removed from the investigation inventory and has been assigned to an officer
for review. The officer has been advised on the correct residency period that
is under review for the permanent resident card application. [emphasis added]
[15]
At the hearing held on October 29, 2012, counsel for the respondent
admitted that the officer at CIC GTA Central erred in stating that the
five-year period for Mr. Khan’s residency determination ended on that day; it
should have ended on the date the application was received by CIC.
Issues and Standard of Review
[16]
Mr. Khan raises the following issues:
1. Did
the CIC GTA Central representative act unlawfully in refusing to provide Mr.
Khan with his validly issued permanent resident card because the respondent was
functus officio after granting the card?
2. Did
the CIC GTA Central representative otherwise act unlawfully since nothing in
the Act mandates the review of the residency requirement when providing the
card?
[17]
Mr. Khan submits that both issues are reviewable on a standard of
correctness because the first is a matter of jurisdiction and the second is a
matter of law. The respondent makes no submissions as to the appropriate
standard of review.
[18]
I am satisfied that both issues raise jurisdictional questions. Both
issues ask whether the officer acted without jurisdiction in refusing to
provide to or in withholding from Mr. Khan the PR Card and accordingly are true
questions of jurisdiction because they concern “whether [the officer’s]
statutory grant of power [gave] it the authority to decide [that] particular
matter:” Dunsmuir v New Brunswick, 2008 SCC 9, at para 59, and see also Canada
(Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v Khosa, 2009 SCC 12, at para 42.
Analysis
1. Functus Officio
[19]
Mr. Khan submits that his PR Card had been issued by CPC-S and that all
the officer at CIC GTA Central was to do was to hand it over to him after
checking his documents. I do not agree.
[20]
This submission turns on when a PR Card is issued and by whom. I agree
with the respondent that the PR Card had been processed by CPC-S but that
it had not yet been issued to Mr. Khan. The issuing of a PR Card requires the
transmitting to or delivery of the card to the applicant. That did not happen
at CPC-S; it was to happen at CIC GTA Central when Mr. Khan arrived to take
possession of his new card. Accordingly, I reject the submission that the
officer at CIC GTA Central was functus. This is not to suggest that there
were no limitations on the officer’s obligation to hand over the PR Card to Mr.
Khan.
2. Limitations on Issuing a PR
Card
[21]
Mr. Khan submits that, pursuant to subsection 59(1) of the Regulations,
the officer was legally obliged to issue the PR Card to him. He suggests that
there was nothing else the officer could do. The respondent submits that prior
to issuing the PR Card, the officer had to ensure that Mr. Khan met the
residency obligation. In my view, neither is correct. Mr. Khan's submission
is not accepted because the officer must be satisfied that the conditions set
out in subsection 59(1) of the Regulations have been met before issuing the PR
Card. The respondent’s submission is incorrect because it confuses the
issuance of a PR Card with proving that the residency obligation in the Act has
been met.
Why the applicant's
submission is in error
[22]
Subsection 59(1) of the Regulations provides:
59. (1) An officer shall, on application, issue a new
permanent resident card if
(a) the applicant has not lost permanent resident status
under subsection 46(1) of the Act;
(b) the applicant has not been convicted under section 123
or 126 of the Act for an offence related to the misuse of a permanent
resident card, unless a pardon has been granted and has not ceased to have
effect or been revoked under the Criminal Records Act;
(c) the applicant complies with the requirements of
sections 56 and 57 and subsection 58(4); and
(d) the applicant returns their last permanent resident
card, unless the card has been lost, stolen or destroyed, in which case the
applicant must produce all relevant evidence in accordance with subsection
16(1) of the Act.
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59. (1) L’agent délivre, sur demande, une
nouvelle carte de résident permanent si les conditions suivantes sont réunies
:
a) le demandeur n’a pas perdu son statut de
résident permanent aux termes du paragraphe 46(1) de la Loi;
b) sauf réhabilitation — à l’exception des
cas de révocation ou de nullité — en vertu de la Loi sur le casier
judiciaire, le demandeur n’a pas été condamné sous le régime des articles 123
ou 126 de la Loi pour une infraction liée à l’utilisation frauduleuse d’une
carte de résident permanent;
c) le demandeur satisfait aux exigences
prévues aux articles 56 et 57 et au paragraphe 58(4);
d) le demandeur rend sa dernière carte de
résident permanent, à moins qu’il ne l’ait perdue ou qu’elle n’ait été volée
ou détruite, auquel cas il doit donner tous éléments de preuve pertinents
conformément au paragraphe 16(1) de la Loi.
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[23]
This provision stipulates that prior to being entitled to have a PR Card
issued, an applicant must meet the requirements set out in paragraph 59(1)(a) (i.e.
he has not lost his permanent resident status under subsection 46(1) of the
Act), and the requirements of paragraph 59(1)(c) (i.e. he has provided the
documents and information required with his application set out in sections 56
and 57 and subsection 58(4) of the Regulations).
Paragraph 59(1)(a)
of the Regulations – Lost Permanent Resident Status
[24]
The requirement in paragraph 59(1)(a) of the Regulations is met if “the
applicant has not lost permanent resident status under subsection 46(1) of the
Act.” That subsection provides as follows:
46. (1) A person loses permanent resident status
(a) when they become a Canadian citizen;
(b) on a final determination of a decision made outside of
Canada that they have failed to comply with the residency obligation under
section 28;
(c) when a removal order made against them comes into
force; or
(d) on a final determination under section 109 to vacate a
decision to allow their claim for refugee protection or a final determination
under subsection 114(3) to vacate a decision to allow their application for
protection.
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46. (1) Emportent perte du statut de
résident permanent les faits suivants :
a) l’obtention de la citoyenneté canadienne;
b) la confirmation en dernier ressort du
constat, hors du Canada, de manquement à l’obligation de résidence;
c) la prise d’effet de la mesure de renvoi;
d) l’annulation en dernier ressort de la
décision ayant accueilli la demande d’asile ou celle d’accorder la demande de
protection.
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[25]
Mr. Khan did not become a Canadian citizen and he has not made any claim
for protection. Therefore, the only questions remaining are whether Mr. Khan
“lost permanent resident status” as a result of “a final determination of a
decision made outside of Canada that [he has] failed to comply with the
residency obligation under section 28 [emphasis added]” or had a removal order
made against him. These provisions reflect the two ways that a permanent
resident may be stripped of his status: (1) by actions taken when he is outside
Canada, and (2) by actions taken when he is in Canada.
[26]
Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v Sidhu,
2011 FC 1056, is an illustration of the first situation, in which a permanent
resident outside Canada was determined by a visa officer in India that he had failed to comply with the residency obligation in section 28 of the Act.
That decision was appealed to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) of the
Immigration and Refugee Board pursuant to subsection 63(4) of the Act. Shaath
v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2009 FC 731, is an
illustration of the second situation, in which a permanent resident in Canada
was determined to have failed to comply with the residency obligation in
section 28 of the Act. A removal order was issued against him pursuant to
subsection 44(2) of the Act and that decision was appealed to the IAD pursuant
to subsection 63(3) of the Act.
[27]
There is no suggestion that Mr. Khan had lost his permanent resident
status by virtue of … a “decision made outside of Canada.” In fact, there is no suggestion that any decision, either outside or inside Canada, has been made that has resulted in him losing his status. Whether or not he has
lost status as a result of failing to reside in Canada the required amount of
time remains under consideration by the respondent. More will be said of this
later.
Paragraph
59(1)(c) of the Regulations - Documents and Information
[28]
To meet the requirement of paragraph 59(1)(c), Mr. Khan had to comply
“with the requirements of sections 56 and 57 and subsection 58(4) [of the Regulations].”
Section 56 of the Regulations prescribes the information and documents that
must be included in an application for a PR Card. The list is long. The
relevant question is whether Mr. Khan fulfilled his obligation to include all
of the necessary information and documents in his application.
[29]
Mr. Gillis swears in his affidavit that PR Cards are only sent by CPC-S
to an applicant’s local CIC office for pick-up after the application has been reviewed
for completeness. Since Mr. Khan’s PR Card was sent by CPC-S to CIC GTA
Central this means that Mr. Khan’s application was reviewed and deemed complete
by the respondent, if only preliminarily. The respondent does not suggest that
Mr. Khan’s application was missing documents or information. The officer at
CIC GTA Central refused to give Mr. Khan his new PR Card only because she
formed the view that he did not meet the residency obligation, not because his
application was incomplete.
[30]
Section 57 of the Regulations states that an applicant must sign an
application on their own behalf. Again, there is no suggestion that Mr. Khan
did not sign his own application.
[31]
Subsections 58(3) and (4) of the Regulations require that an applicant personally
attend to pick-up his PR Card and present the originals of the copied documents
submitted with the application, for verification. They provide as follows:
58. (3) A permanent resident who applies for a permanent
resident card under section 56 must, in order to be provided with the card,
attend at the time and place specified in a notice mailed by the Department.
If the permanent resident fails to attend within 180 days after the
Department first mails a notice, the card shall be destroyed and the
applicant must make a new application in order to be issued a permanent
resident card.
58. (4) When attending in accordance with subsection (3),
a permanent resident must produce the original documents copies of which were
included in their application as required by paragraphs 56(2)(c) and (d).
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58. (3) Le résident permanent qui fait une
demande aux termes de l’article 56 doit, afin de se voir remettre la carte de
résident permanent, se présenter aux date, heure et lieu mentionnés dans un
avis envoyé par courrier par le ministère. Si le résident permanent ne se présente
pas dans les cent quatre-vingts jours suivant la première mise à la poste
d’un avis, la carte est détruite et il doit, s’il veut qu’une autre carte lui
soit délivrée, faire une nouvelle demande.
58. (4) Lorsqu’il se présente conformément
au paragraphe (3), le résident permanent produit les pièces originales dont
les copies accompagnaient sa demande aux termes des alinéas 56(2)c) et d).
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[32]
Mr. Khan attests that he brought the required documents with him when he
went to pick up his PR Card on June 28, 2011. Again, there is no suggestion by
the respondent that he did not. The objection of the officer at CIC GTA
Central was never with the documents Mr. Khan brought with him, but rather with
whether he could pass a fresh residency assessment based on the period she set.
[33]
In summary, all of the evidence in the record points to the conclusion
that Mr. Khan met all the requirements of paragraph 59(1)(c) of the
Regulations. It was only after he had done so that he was entitled to be
issued the PR Card; however, once he had, then the officer was required to
issue the PR Card to him.
[34]
Subsection 59(1) of the Regulations mandates that on application for a
PR Card, an officer “shall” issue it if the requirements of paragraphs (a) to
(d) are met. Mr. Khan met those requirements and thus the officer at CIC GTA
Central was required to issue him the PR Card that had previously been
processed and sent there by CPC-S for issuance.
[35]
What that officer could do, and ought to have done if she did not, was
compare the original documents handed to her by Mr. Khan with the copies he provided
with his application. If she found that they did not match, then she could
have withheld the PR Card and had CIC investigate the matter. In my view, that
is all that the officer could do once Mr. Khan otherwise met the conditions set
out in subsection 59(1) of the Regulations.
Why the respondent's
submission is in error
[36]
The respondent submits that it is incumbent on an applicant to prove
that he or she meets the residency requirements as at the date that the PR Card
application is received by CIC and not merely when he or she purports to have signed
it. I agree with the respondent that the relevant date is the date when the
application is filed with CIC, otherwise an applicant could unilaterally select
an earlier date to sign the application, a date when he or she meets the
residency obligation.
[37]
In the majority of cases, the time between the date of signature and the
date of receipt will only be a few days and it is not likely to be relevant to
determining whether residency has been met. In this case, however, there was
an unexplained gap of eight weeks (56 days). That gap could have been relevant
as Mr. Khan's application indicated that he had been in Canada, as of the date of signature, 781 days. If he left Canada immediately after signing the application
then he would have been in Canada only 725 days – five days short of the
minimum requirement.
[38]
It is certainly open to CPC-S, when processing an application, to
satisfy itself if there is uncertainty as to whether the residency obligation
is met as at the date of filing. It can seek further information from the
applicant. Indeed, Mr. Gillis attests that CPC-S “conducts a review of the
applicant’s residency and other compliance with the IRPA and IRPR to assist in
identifying applicants where there is a higher risk of non-compliance.” In
this case, the FOSS notes contain an entry that confirms that CPC-S did the
required residency review; it reads: “CLIENT ABSENT 1044 DAYS AS OF 08JUN2010.”
One can only conclude from this entry that the officer at CPC-S was satisfied,
although the officer may have been mistaken, that Mr. Khan met the residency obligation.
[39]
I note that the information that Mr. Khan gave to the officer at CIC GTA
Central was that in the five year period preceding that date he had been absent
from Canada from August 17, 2007, to February 28, 2010, and again from June 2,
2010 (or possibly June 12, 2010), to June 6, 2011. If accurate, this
information supports that Mr. Khan was in Canada almost all of the period
between signing the application and it being received by CIC.
[40]
The respondent, however, submits that the officer at CIC GTA Central was
obliged to withhold the PR Card unless satisfied that Mr. Khan met the residency
obligation. That is in error because meeting the residency obligation is not a
condition for issuing the PR Card set out in subsection 59(1) of the
Regulations. Further, notwithstanding the statement in the form letter sent to
those who are to pick up their new PR Card that “According to the Immigration
and Refugee Protection Act, all permanent residents of Canada are subject to a residency assessment at the time of distribution of their
new PR card,” there is no such requirement in the Act. It is most certainly
within the prerogative of the respondent to confirm at the time of pick up or
at any other time that a permanent resident satisfies the residency obligation;
however there is no legislated requirement that it be done at the time of the
PR Card pick up and such an examination cannot impede the issuance of the PR
Card.
[41]
The Act requires that every permanent resident meet the residency
obligation in every rolling five-year period. Therefore, although not
required, it was open to the officer at CIC GTA Central to question whether Mr.
Khan met the residency obligation as at that date or as at any other earlier
date. What was not open to her was to refuse to issue him the PR Card once he
had met the conditions set out in subsection 59(1) of the Regulations.
Remedy
[42]
Mr. Khan asks, if his application is allowed, that the respondent be
directed to issue a new PR Card to him forthwith without requiring him to
provide further information or appear in person to pick up the card. He also
seeks his costs.
[43]
Included as an exhibit to an affidavit of a consultant employed in the
offices of Mr. Khan’s counsel is an email from Mr. Khan explaining his current
circumstances. He is now in Pakistan with his family. Counsel at the hearing said
that it was unknown whether he could now return to Canada without a PR Card.
He cites Bageerathan v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration),
2009 FC 513, where the Court directed the Minister to grant the applicant’s
husband permanent resident status in Canada due to “the lack of comprehension
and cooperation shown by the First Secretary and his obstinacy.”
[44]
Here, there was a refusal to acknowledge that Mr. Khan was entitled to
be issued his new PR Card notwithstanding questions as to whether he had
complied with the residency obligation. Those questions could and should have
been addressed later and, if it was determined that he had failed to meet the
residency obligation, appropriate steps taken which would provide Mr. Khan with
appeal rights to the IAD from any adverse decision.
[45]
Mr. Khan, however, is entitled to be placed back in the position he
ought to have been on June 28, 2011. He is entitled to the PR Card that ought
to have been issued to him that date, provided he produces the relevant
original documents. If he is in Pakistan, then he should not be required to travel
to Canada to re-attend at a CIC office in Canada to pick it up. Further, it is
unclear whether Mr. Khan can obtain a visa to travel to Canada without a valid PR Card to prove that he has permanent resident status in Canada. It is not clear from the record whether the officer at CIC GTA Central ever
compared his original documents with those submitted with the application or
took possession of his old PR Card. These are statutory requirements.
Although an application for a PR Card must be made in Canada there is no requirement in the Act that it must be issued to an applicant in Canada. The Court will order that Mr. Khan inform the respondent as to his current
location and if he is in Pakistan, require that the PR Card be sent to
Islamabad where, upon satisfying an officer that the copies of the documents
submitted with the application reflect the originals, and upon returning his
expired PR Card, if he has not previously done so, he will have the PR Card
issued to him. Unless Mr. Khan has previously handed over those documents to CIC
and thus no longer has possession of them, he must produce them for inspection
to be compared with the copies he sent with the application prior to being issued
the PR Card.
[46]
As stated, the issuance of the PR Card and the residency obligation are
two distinct matters. The respondent is entitled to pursue an investigation as
to whether Mr. Khan has met the residency obligation if it continues to have
any concerns in that regard. The Court will not therefore order that Mr. Khan is
free from responding to inquiries made by the respondent in this respect.
Costs
[47]
Costs are exceptional in immigration applications. However, I find that
this is one of those exceptional cases. But for the error made by the officer
at CIC GTA Central, the applicant would have been issued the PR Card and any
question whether he met the residency obligation in the Act would have been
investigated separately. The applicant has incurred unnecessary costs to bring
this matter forward and accordingly is entitled to his costs, which are fixed
at $5,000 inclusive of fees, disbursements, and taxes.
Certified Question
[48]
The respondent has proposed the following question for certification:
Who has the jurisdiction to make the
final determination on the merits of an application for a permanent resident
card application - CPC-S who may authorize the production of the PR card or the
CIC local office whose mandate is to issue the PR card pursuant to s. 59 of the
regulations?
[49]
Aside from the assumptions that the respondent has written into the
question, it is not a certifiable question as it would not be determinative of
an appeal of this decision.
JUDGMENT
THIS COURT’S JUDGMENT is that:
1.
This application is allowed and the decision of the officer on June 28,
2011, refusing to issue to Mr. Khan the permanent resident card that had been
prepared and sent to it by CPC-S is set aside;
2.
Within thirty (30) days of the date hereof, the applicant is to advise
the respondent, in writing, as to whether he is in Pakistan or Canada and he is
to provide his current address;
3.
Within thirty (30) days after receiving such residence information, the
respondent is directed to transmit the permanent resident card that was
prepared for the applicant on December 15, 2010, to the Canadian High
Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, if the applicant advises that he is
currently residing there, or to the CIC office closest to the applicant’s
residence if the applicant advises that he is currently residing in Canada;
4.
The respondent is directed to advise the applicant no more than 90 days
from the date hereof, as to where, in accordance with this Judgment, he may
pick up his permanent resident card and the applicant shall be required to
attend in person to pick it up;
5.
If the applicant has not previously handed over to the respondent the
originals of all or any of the documents copied in his application for a
permanent resident card, then he must present them for comparison with the
copies provided with his application, prior to being issued the permanent
resident card, which shall be issued if the copies match the original
documents;
6.
If the applicant has not previously done so, he is to return his expired
permanent resident card, as required by paragraph 59(d) of the Regulations;
7.
If the original documents do not match the copies the applicant
submitted with his application for the renewal of his permanent resident card,
then the respondent shall not be required to issue the card to the applicant
without further examination;
8.
The applicant is awarded $5,000 in costs, inclusive of fees,
disbursements and taxes; and
9.
No question is certified.
"Russel
W. Zinn"