Annulment of permanent residence
Statutory definition
IRPA s 109 provides that the RPD may, on application by the Minister, vacate a decision to allow a refugee claim if the person obtained it by misrepresentation or withholding material facts. Where protection is vacated, the person loses protected person status and may be removed. For PRs who obtained status through misrepresentation (not the refugee pathway), the inadmissibility under IRPA s 40 for misrepresentation creates the basis for a s 44 report and removal proceedings.
Explanation
The annulment of PR status is a severe consequence of misrepresentation — it effectively unwinds the entire immigration history based on the fraudulent foundation. If a person obtained PR through misrepresentation and later naturalised as a Canadian citizen, the citizenship itself may be subject to revocation if the PR was obtained by fraud. The government has pursued annulment and citizenship revocation in cases of war criminal misrepresentation and large-scale immigration fraud.