Sideshow regarding who is a "Canadian" versus who is not:
The Canadian government recognizes that Permanent Residents are Canadians NOT Foreign Nationals. IRPA, section 2, specifically defines "Foreign National" to mean a person who is not a Canadian citizen or PR. Additionally, the Charter specifically affords certain mobility rights to Permanent Residents (and more such rights to Canadian citizens) distinguishable from all others (typically referred to as "everyone" in the Charter).
When I landed, the POE officer who processed my landing completed the process by congratulating me, saying I was "
now a Canadian" (which at the time confused me because to that point I thought to be "Canadian" meant being a Canadian citizen . . . leading me to do the research, to do my homework so to say).
But there is no great philosophical significance in such distinctions. The respective rights and entitlements and privileges and obligations vary greatly and are spelled out in numerous statutes and regulations. The Residency Obligation of a PR, for example, versus say the restrictions imposed on FNs who have visitor status; the mobility rights of a Canadian citizen versus those of a PR versus those of a FN (for the last, that is none, limited to what is provided by statute).
In any event, for purposes of Canadian law, in addition to the people of the First Nations there are Canadian citizens, Canadian PRs, and Foreign Nationals. What the respective status means is spelled out in numerous statutes and regulations, which, again, encompasses a great deal of variety. (Note, for example, that among Canadian PRs, there are further distinctions such as for PRs with conditions, who lose PR status if there is a failure to fulfill the condition.)
bkara said:
my timeline would be
applied : sept-2015
.
.
.
.
Oath : sept-2016,according to the statistical data from ontario,let`s say if I apply in Scarborough.
with the new law,
I`ll be eligible to apply for citizenship sept-2017.Do you think I`ll be done with all of this paperwork and stuff until sept-2018? (since the processing time suppose to be shorter with the new system of evaluating citizenship applications)
While others have adequately responded, such as the response by
nadeem55, I would add:
It would be pure speculation to guess at the timeline for applications made in 2017. Moreover, it is quite likely that there will continue to be
wide ranging variability in how long the process takes for any particular individual applicant. In the last year, for example, scores of applicants had timelines ranging from six to ten months (mine was eight months), but many, many others have seen much, much longer timelines. Routine timelines currently appear to range from six months to two years. And non-routine applications continue to vary even more.
I think some have noted that there is likely to be a huge decline in the number of new applications made in the months immediately following the date the revised residency provisions come into force, precisely because as of that date nearly all those who would have become qualified during the following months will not become qualified until a year later (or longer for those who could have counted pre-landing time). That may indeed enable CIC to clear its backlog and be prepared to more timely process applications in 2016 and later. Moreover, the nature of the revised qualifications, particularly in contrast to those now in effect (which allow credit for pre-landing time in Canada, and allows applications to be made based on less than 1095 days actual presence), will likely facilitate more decisive screening at the early stages of processing, which should mean more efficient and timely processing. But it is not beyond CIC to slip into disarray dealing with change, so there is no guarantee future processing times will tend to be less-than-a-year let alone merely six months, even though they should.
Some observations about the coming into force date itself:
The coming into force date of the revised
statutory provisions will be specified in an order by the Governor in Council. That order must be published in the Gazette.
The
regulatory changes may be made and registered
before the coming into force date of the
SCCA (parts not yet in force), with the regulatory changes to become effective as of the date that the respective provisions in the
SCCA come into force.
Thus, the recent notices in the Gazette as to proposed regulatory changes are mostly a clue that tends to indicate that the
statutory provisions will not come into force before the comment period (as to proposed
regulations) expires (thus, most likely not before May 1st).
But they do not offer much of a clue beyond that, except to reflect that the government is taking the necessary steps toward implementation. In particular, the registration of the regulatory changes will not necessarily indicate the imminent coming into force date of the statutory provisions.
Reminder:
The Governor in Council's Order prescribing the coming into force date for the provisions which took effect last August 1, 2014 was made just the day before, on July 31st. It was not published in the Gazette until . . . I forget, but it was well into the month. CIC, however, posted news of the changes online at the CIC website during the day August 1.
That could easily be what happens this time, no actual notice before it happens.
That said, I think the experience with the increased fees without notice, in February 2014, appears to have been a teaching moment given CIC's more recent approach to increasing the fees, for which there was substantial notice; while the amount of notice may not be what many hope, I would expect at least a week's notice, perhaps a little more . . . but there is
no guarantee, particularly since in general this government (as PMM noted) tends to give no or minimal notice as to the date new legislation is implemented.
On the other hand, relative to other legislative enactments I have seen a number of orders published in the Gazette, within the last several months or so of 2014, in which the coming into force date for various statutory provisions has been ordered, and the order published, significantly in advance of the coming into force date itself.
While the individual departments probably have some say, some influence, in what the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet decide will be the date ordered by the Governor in Council, the coming into force date of this legislation is not a decision made by CIC but rather by the Prime Minister's Office in counsel with selected members of the Cabinet, in form by the "Governor in Council."
Query:
It has been quite a long while since I laboured over a number of the particular provisions in the
SCCA. My recall is there was little doubt that applications received before the date the revised section 5(1) came into force would be governed by the current requirements. I was revisiting this in an effort to more precisely discern whether the critical date is the date the application is signed or the date it is actually received at CIC. I suspect there are many who would like confirmation regarding which it is. I have usually assumed that the date actually received was the critical date, but am less sure of this now . . . section 13 of the
Citizenship Act (a provision of the
SCCA which came into force last August) does not make it as clear as I was thinking it did. Any further insight?
ne entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman
