Who Can Apply for H&C?
First, tell “regular H&C” and “temporary public policy PR” apart.
IRCC updated an internal processing guideline on July 22, 2026 — “H&C considerations: In-Canada PR-granting public policies where H&C requests were also made” — aimed at the officers who handle these files, clarifying how to proceed when an applicant raises an H&C request alongside a temporary public policy PR application.
The guidance is clear: the eligibility conditions of a temporary public policy are not part of the IRPA or its Regulations, so officers have no authority to use H&C to waive them. If an applicant doesn’t meet the policy’s requirements and tries to use H&C to make up the gap, the public policy PR application should still be refused — and it doesn’t automatically trigger a separate H&C decision. For H&C to actually be assessed on its own merits, the applicant needs to file a separate application and pay the applicable fee.
Bottom line first: this is not a new PR program, and it isn’t a fix-all application anyone can use.
Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) consideration is an exceptional measure: when someone is already in Canada and can’t apply for permanent residence (PR) through the usual route, they can ask for an exemption from certain requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) or its Regulations. It is not a separate, regular immigration stream, and it does not replace other PR categories.
Who might qualify for regular in-Canada H&C?
- Currently be physically present in Canada;
- Need an exemption from one or more requirements of the IRPA or Regulations in order to apply for PR from within Canada;
- Not qualify under the in-Canada spouse/common-law partner, economic class, protected person/Convention refugee, or TRP holder categories;
- Have sufficient, compelling humanitarian and compassionate grounds to support the specific exemption requested.
Example 1 (a hypothetical scenario for illustration only, not a real case)
Ms. Wang entered Canada on a visitor visa to care for her sick parents, then stayed past the expiry of her visa. During that time she had a child born in Canada. She does not qualify under the spouse, economic, or protected person categories, and does not hold a TRP. If she wants to apply for PR from within Canada, she would generally need to request, through H&C, an exemption from the requirement to apply from outside Canada — supported by evidence of the child’s best interests, her family’s actual degree of establishment in Canada, and the specific hardship that returning to her home country would cause — rather than simply citing that life would be inconvenient. Whether this is approved ultimately depends on the officer’s overall assessment of all the evidence.
What is a temporary public policy PR pathway, and who can apply?
Example 2 (a real, now-closed policy, shown only to illustrate how these policies are structured)
The temporary public policy for out-of-status construction workers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA): first launched on January 2, 2020, extended twice through “subsequent policies” in 2021 and 2023, with the final application window running until December 31, 2024, or until 1,000 applications were received, whichever came first. It is now closed and no longer accepting new applications. The eligibility conditions were spelled out item by item — working in construction in a specific part of the GTA, being without legal status, and meeting a specified length of work experience — simply “doing construction work and contributing to the economy” was never enough on its own.
Example 3 (a real, now-closed policy, shown only to illustrate how these policies are structured)
The Guardian Angels temporary public policy: open for applications from December 14, 2020, to August 31, 2021, for pending or rejected asylum claimants who provided direct patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants had to meet specified occupational categories (such as nurses, nurses’ aides, and orderlies) and a minimum length of direct-care experience, and pass medical, security, and criminal background checks. Both policies were equally specific and had clearly defined application windows — once the window closed, the same person could no longer use H&C to “make up” for missing that eligibility.
Three steps to work out which path applies to you
Step 1: Confirm the starting point — you’re in Canada and want PR, but don’t fit a regular in-Canada class such as spouse/common-law partner, economic class, protected person, or TRP holder.
Step 2: Ask yourself — is there a currently valid temporary public policy that explicitly covers your status or situation?
- If yes: check item by item against the conditions that policy actually sets out (status, nationality, industry experience, dates, application window, etc.). Only if every condition is met should you apply for PR under that policy; if even one condition isn’t met, H&C cannot be used to waive a condition the public policy itself set.
- If no: consider regular in-Canada H&C instead — you’ll need to show a genuine need to waive a specific IRPA or Regulations requirement, backed by sufficient, compelling humanitarian and compassionate grounds (the cost or inconvenience of returning home alone is not enough).
The key point of this IRCC guidance
In other words, H&C cannot turn “not eligible under this policy” into “eligible.”
Example 4 (a hypothetical scenario based on the IRCC guidance, not a real case)
Suppose someone applies under the GTA out-of-status construction workers policy but does not actually meet the required length of work experience, and asks for H&C consideration in the same application, hoping that having “lived and worked in Canada for a long time” will make up for that shortfall. Under this guidance, the officer has no authority to use H&C to waive the policy’s own work-experience requirement, so the public policy PR application should be refused — and the refusal letter must explicitly identify which requirement was not met. If the applicant still wants humanitarian and compassionate consideration, they need to file a separate, regular H&C application and pay the applicable fee; they do not automatically get a separate H&C decision as part of the same application. This does not mean no H&C application can succeed, or that there is no other path forward — it simply means that eligibility for regular H&C and for a specific public-policy PR pathway are assessed under two different standards, and should not be conflated.
One table to see the difference
| Comparison | Regular In-Canada H&C | Temporary Public Policy PR |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | IRPA section 25(1) — a case-by-case exemption mechanism | IRPA section 25.2 — a special arrangement established by the Minister |
| Who it’s for | Cases that do not fit a regular PR class but have humanitarian and compassionate grounds | A specific group explicitly named in a policy document |
| Source of eligibility | Case-by-case facts: degree of establishment, family ties, best interests of children, etc. | Conditions spelled out item by item in the policy document: status, nationality, industry experience, dates, application window, etc. |
| Can H&C waive the eligibility conditions? | H&C is itself the exemption mechanism | No — officers have no authority to waive conditions the policy itself sets |
| Common misconception | Citing “inconvenient/costly to apply from abroad” alone is not enough | Assuming “facing hardship” is enough to apply, while overlooking the item-by-item conditions |
There’s another, more common kind of H&C: residency obligation (RO) relief
Example 5 (a real case)
Mr. Z is a PR who, over the past five years, spent extended periods back in his home country caring for his sick parents, and fell short of the 730-day residency requirement in Canada. This is not the “applying for PR” type of H&C discussed earlier — his issue is not whether he can get PR, but whether he can keep the PR status he already has. This kind of request is typically reviewed by an officer at PR card renewal, when applying for a Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD), or during a residency obligation check at a port of entry; if it has already been determined that the obligation was not met (for example, a departure order was issued), it can be appealed to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD). Caring for a sick parent is one of the humanitarian factors that can be taken into account, but it is not an automatic exemption — whether it succeeds depends on the size of the shortfall and the strength of the evidence (such as medical documentation, care records, and continued ties to Canada), and needs to be assessed on the specific facts of the case.
| Comparison | Residency Obligation H&C (IRPA section 28(2)(c)) |
|---|---|
| Legal basis | IRPA section 28(2)(c) — distinct from sections 25(1) and 25.2 discussed above |
| Who it’s for | People who already hold PR status but have not met the 730-day residency requirement within 5 years |
| How it’s assessed | First, whether the 730-day requirement was met; if not, whether H&C factors (including the best interests of any affected child) are enough to justify retaining PR status |
| When it’s reviewed | By an officer at PR card renewal / PRTD application / port-of-entry check; if already found non-compliant, can be appealed to the IAD |
| Common misconception | Assuming a “legitimate reason for being absent” automatically excuses the shortfall, without regard to its size or the evidence required |
Before you file, make sure you know:
- Am I applying for regular H&C, a specific public policy, or residency obligation H&C?
- If it’s a public policy: what is its name, how long is it valid, and what are all of its eligibility conditions — do I meet every one?
- If it’s regular H&C: which specific IRPA/Regulations requirement am I asking to have waived, and does my evidence support it?
- If it’s residency obligation H&C: how big is my shortfall in days, and can I provide strong enough evidence to support humanitarian and compassionate grounds?
- Do I already qualify under a more suitable category — spouse, economic class, protected person, or another PR class?
For more information, feel free to reach out by email or contact info@inkway.org directly.