A foreign national applying for permanent residence can be inadmissible if an accompanying family member is inadmissible. Important limit: for temporary residents (visitors, students, workers), this applies only where the family member is inadmissible on security (s.34), human or international rights violations (s.35), sanctions (s.35.1), or organized criminality (s.37) grounds, not for grounds such as ordinary criminality or misrepresentation.
(1)A foreign national, other than a protected person, is inadmissible on grounds of an inadmissible family member if (a)their accompanying family member or, in prescribed circumstances, their non-accompanying family member is inadmissible; or (b)they are an accompanying family member of an inadmissible person.
(2)In the case of a foreign national referred to in subsection (1) who is a temporary resident or who has made an application for temporary resident status or an application to remain in Canada as a temporary resident, (a)the matters referred to in paragraph (1)(a) constitute inadmissibility only if the family member is inadmissible under section 34, 35, 35.1 or 37; and (b)the matters referred to in paragraph (1)(b) constitute inadmissibility only if the foreign national is an accompanying family member of a person who is inadmissible under section 34, 35, 35.1 or 37.
42.1 (1) The Minister may, on application by a foreign national, declare that the matters referred to in section 34, paragraph 35(1)(b) and subsection 37(1) do not constitute inadmissibility in respect of the foreign national if they satisfy the Minister that it is not contrary to the national interest. (2) The Minister may, on the Minister’s own initiative, declare that the matters referred to in section 34, paragraph 35(1)(b) and subsection 37(1) do not constitute inadmissibility in respect of a foreign national if the Minister is satisfied that it is not contrary to the national interest. (3) In determining whether to make a declaration, the Minister may only take into account national security and public safety considerations, but, in his or her analysis, is not limited to considering the danger that the foreign national presents to the public or the security of Canada.