It's a rather difficult path to travel down, since temporary resident permits are entirely discretionary.
There are three reasons for which people generally seek TRPs:
- Criminal inadmissibility (ergo, you have a criminal offence of some sort that makes you inadmissible to Canada)
- Medical inadmissibility (ergo, you have a medical condition that makes you inadmissible to Canada)
- Inability to demonstrate temporary intent to enter Canada (ergo, they don't think you're going to leave)
If you are doing this within the context of a separate application (e.g., TRV, work/study permit, permanent resident application, etc.) then you should submit your TRP application along with that other application. This is common with PR applications for example, where there is a criminal conviction of some sort that cannot be rehabilitated at the present time.
A TRP is never "just granted" - there has to be some reason for doing so because it is a "discretionary grant". For example, there are published guidelines that indicate granting TRP in family sponsored PR applications deserve serious consideration. There are cases I've heard reported in which infant children are granted TRPs because they are not eligible for TRVs (e.g., they fail the "you are going to leave" test). For example, PRs where the baby is born outside Canada can usually obtain a TRP (typically after being denied a TRV) on humanitarian grounds.
So there are three grounds on which TRPs are granted:
- National Interest - this would apply, for example, if a refusal of your entry would be detrimental to Canada. If people depend upon your presence for their jobs, for example.
- Humanitarian - granting the TRP would meet Canadian humanitarian and compassionate interests
- Early Admission - granting early access to Canada to a sponsored family member who has a permanent resident application in process
This is a pretty broad list.
OP 20 (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op20-eng.pdf) gives some hope here of course:
Normally, persons who do not meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are refused permanent resident or temporary resident visas abroad, denied entry at a port of entry, or refused processing within Canada. In some cases, however, there may be compelling reasons for an officer to issue a temporary resident permit to allow a person who does not meet the requirements of the Act to enter or remain in Canada. Temporary resident permits allow officers to respond to exceptional circumstances while meeting Canada’s social, humanitarian, and economic commitments.
The key word is
compelling. You must have a compelling reason and your inadmissibility must clearly be overruled by that compelling reason.
The BEST course of action is to find an attorney with experience in the type of TRP you are seeking, because it is unlikely you will be successful in representing yourself (in general, we tend to lack objectivity about our own cases).
Regardless of what you decide, good luck!