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Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

r. 50 Documents — permanent residents

  • PART 4 Procedures
  • DIVISION 3 Conduct of Examination

Last verified: June 2026 · Source: justice.gc.ca

The law says

IRPR r. 50
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(1)In addition to the permanent resident visa required of a foreign national who is a member of a class referred to in subsection 70(2), a foreign national seeking to become a permanent resident must hold

  • (a)a passport, other than a diplomatic, official or similar passport, that was issued by the country of which the foreign national is a citizen or national;
  • (b)a travel document that was issued by the country of which the foreign national is a citizen or national;
  • (c)an identity or travel document that was issued by a country to non-national residents, refugees or stateless persons who are unable to obtain a passport or other travel document from their country of citizenship or nationality or who have no country of citizenship or nationality;
  • (d)a travel document that was issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland, to enable and facilitate emigration;
  • (e)a passport or travel document that was issued by the Palestinian Authority;
  • (f)an exit visa that was issued by the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to its citizens who were compelled to relinquish their Soviet nationality in order to emigrate from that country;
  • (g)a passport issued by the United Kingdom to a British National (Overseas), as a person born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong;
  • (h)a passport issued by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; or
  • (i)a passport issued by the United Kingdom to a British Subject.

Exception — protected persons

(2)Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who is a protected person within the meaning of subsection 95(2) of the Act and holds a permanent resident visa when it is not possible for the person to obtain a passport or an identity or travel document referred to in subsection (1).

(3)[Repealed, SOR/2010-54, s. 1]

Provisions this one cites

IRPA Authority

Amendment History (1)
  • SOR/2008-253, s. 1; SOR/2010-54, s. 1; SOR/2011-125, s. 1; SOR/2014-139, s. 1(F); SOR/2016-298, s. 1(F)

Justice Laws is the authoritative version. If this copy and it ever differ, Justice Laws wins.

Sections numbered under r. 50

Each of these is its own section of the Regulations, numbered after section 50.

IRPR r. 50.1

Designation of unreliable travel documents

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What that means

The Minister can declare a whole type of passport unreliable as proof of who you are. Two things decide it. One is how strong the document's security features are. The other is how trustworthy the issuing country's process is. Once a document is on the list, it stops counting as a passport for permanent or temporary residence, so you would need a different one. The list is published, so you can check before you book travel.

The law says

(1)The Minister may designate, individually or by class, passports or travel or identity documents that do not constitute reliable proof of identity or nationality.

Factors

(2)The Minister shall consider the following factors in determining whether to designate any passport or travel or identity document, or class of passport or travel or identity document, as not being reliable proof of identity or nationality:

  • (a)the adequacy of security features incorporated into the passport or document for the purpose of deterring its misuse or unauthorized alteration, reproduction or issuance; and
  • (b)information respecting the security or integrity of the process leading to the issuance of the passport or document.

Effect of designation

(3)A passport or travel or identity document that has been designated under subsection (1) is not a passport or travel or identity document for the purpose of subsection 50(1) or 52(1).

Public notice

(4)The Minister shall make available to the public a list of all passports or travel or identity documents designated under subsection (1).

Guides on this part of the Regulations

No guide cites this section directly. These guides cite other sections in the same Division of the Regulations.