Section 35 — Human or international rights violations
Text of provision
(1) A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of violating human or international rights for
(a) committing an act outside Canada that constitutes an offence referred to in sections 4 to 7 of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act;
(b) being a prescribed senior official in the service of a government that, in the opinion of the Minister, engages or has engaged in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide, a war crime or a crime against humanity within the meaning of subsections 6(3) to (5) of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act; or
(c) [Repealed, 2023, c. 19, s. 5]
(c.1) having engaged in conduct that would, in the opinion of the Minister, constitute an offence under section 240.1 of the Criminal Code.
(d) [Repealed, 2023, c. 19, s. 5]
(e) [Repealed, 2023, c. 19, s. 5]
(2) [Repealed, 2023, c. 19, s. 5]
Plain English
Section 35 provides that a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of violating human or international rights for:
- committing an act outside Canada that is a war crime or a crime against humanity within the meaning of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act;
- being a prescribed senior official in the service of a government that has engaged, or is engaging, in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide; or
- being a person, other than a permanent resident, whose entry would be contrary to Canada's international human rights instruments.
Practical effect
Section 35 is used to bar entry to former officials of regimes that committed atrocities — even where no criminal conviction exists. The standard is "reasonable grounds to believe", which is lower than the criminal standard.
Senior officials of listed regimes (e.g., historical genocidal regimes, listed terrorist states) are presumed inadmissible. The definition of "senior official" is broad and covers anyone with the authority to commit or condone systematic violations.