Glossary
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses terms and abbreviations that can be hard to understand. This glossary contains some of the most commonly used terms. These are not legal definitions; they are based on IRCC’s glossary and expanded upon by Lighthouse Immigration Law.
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Record of landing (IMM 1000)
An official document once issued to a person when they arrived in Canada as a permanent resident. Canada stopped issuing records of landing on June 28, 2002.
See Confirmation of permanent residence, Permanent resident card
Record suspension
A record suspension (formerly a pardon) allows people who were convicted of a criminal offence, but have completed their sentence and demonstrated they are law-abiding citizens for a prescribed number of years, to have their criminal record kept separate and apart from other criminal records.
See Criminal inadmissibility, Criminal rehabilitation, Deemed rehabilitation.
Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program
The Government of Canada’s program under which refugees from abroad, who meet Canada’s refugee resettlement criteria, are selected and admitted to Canada.
Refugee claimant
A person who has applied for refugee protection status while in Canada and is waiting for a decision on his/her claim from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
Refugee dependant
A family member of a refugee in Canada, whose application for permanent residence is processed at the same time as the principal applicant’s.
Refugee landed in Canada
A permanent resident who applied for and received permanent resident status in Canada after their refugee claim was accepted.
Refugee protection status
When a person, inland or overseas is determined to be a Convention refugee or protected person, they are said to have refugee protection status in Canada. Refugee protection is given to a person in accordance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Refugee travel document
A document for people in Canada with protected-person status to use for travel outside Canada. This includes refugees and people who have received a positive Pre-Removal Risk Assessment.
It can be used to travel anywhere except the country the person is a citizen of or the country of claimed persecution.
Regulated Occupation
A profession that sets its own standards of practice. If you want to work in a regulated occupation and use a regulated title, you must have a licence or a certificate, or be registered with the regulatory body for your occupation. Sometimes an occupation is regulated in some provinces or territories but not in others. 20% of jobs in Canada are regulated.
Regulatory body
An organization that sets the standards and practices of a regulated occupation.
Within each province and territory, a regulatory body exists for each regulated occupation.
Rehabilitation
A process by which a person can overcome criminal inadmissibility.
Relationship of convenience
Related term:
Marriages of convenience
A marriage, common-law relationship, conjugal partnership or adoption that is not genuine, or was entered into for status or privilege in Canada. People in these relationships are not members of the family class.