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The Safe Third Country Agreement is an agreement between the governments of Canada and the United States to better manage the flow of refugee claimants at the shared land border. It came into effect on December 29, 2004.

The primary purpose of the Agreement is to reinforce refugee protection by establishing rules for the sharing of responsibility for hearing refugee claims between Canada and the United States. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stated that responsibility-sharing agreements between states can, where appropriate safeguards are in place, enhance the international protection of refugees by ensuring the orderly handling of asylum applications.

According to the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, persons seeking refugee protection must make a claim in the first country they arrive in (United States or Canada), unless they qualify for an exception to the Agreement. Therefore, refugee claimants arriving from the United States at the Canada–United States land border may be allowed to pursue their refugee claims in Canada if they meet an exception under the Safe Third Country Agreement.

Under specific terms of the Agreement, an individual referred by either Canada or the United States to the other country cannot be removed to a third country until an adjudication of the individual’s protection claims  has been made. The Agreement also provides that an individual returned to the country of last presence shall not be removed to another country pursuant to any other Safe Third Country Agreement or regulation.

Where the agreement is in effect
The Safe Third Country Agreement applies only to refugee claimants who are seeking entry to Canada from the United States:


 * at Canada-United States land border crossings
 * by train
 * at airports, if a person seeking refugee protection in Canada who has been determined not to be a refugee in the United States, has been ordered to be deported from the United States and is in transit through Canada for removal from the United States.

Exceptions to the agreement
Exceptions to the Safe Third Country Agreement are based on principles that take into account the importance of family unity, the best interests of children and public interest.

Despite qualifying for one of the exceptions outlined below, refugee claimants must still meet all other eligibility criteria of Canada's immigration legislation. For example, a person seeking refugee protection will not be eligible to make a refugee claim in Canada if he or she has been determined to be inadmissible to Canada on grounds of security, violating human or international rights, or criminality.

There are four types of exceptions:

Family member Exceptions
An asylum seeker with an “anchor” relative in the U.S or Canada. who is either in lawful immigration status (other than visitor status) or is 18 years or older and has an asylum application pending here will be allowed to enter to join the relative. The range of family members who may qualify as “anchor” relatives under the Agreement is considerably broader than that recognized under other provisions of immigration law. The list of eligible family members includes spouses, sons, daughters, parents, legal guardians, siblings, grandparents,  grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.

Unaccompanied Minors Exception
An asylum seeker who is unmarried, under 18 years of age, and does not have a parent or legal guardian in either Canada or the United States.

Document holder Exceptions
If the applicant holds a valid visa, work or study permit or travel document for either country, they are not required to obtain a temporary resident visa in Canada nor the United States.

Public interest Exceptions
Has been permitted, as an unreviewable exercise of discretion by the Department of Homeland Security, to pursue a protection claim in the United States because it was determined that it is in the public interest to do so. In Canada, they may be eligible for this excepttion if the claimant has been charged with or convicted of an offence that could subject them to the death penalty in the U.S. or in a third country. However, a refugee claimant is ineligible if he or she has been found inadmissible in Canada on the grounds of security, for violating human or international rights, or for serious criminality, if the Minister finds the person to be a danger to the public.

Reaction to the Agreement
Canada and the U.S. consider that the implementation of the Agreement has been a success. The strong partnership with UNHCR and ongoing cooperation from NGOs and stakeholders have allowed the transparent and consultative process that characterized the Agreement’s development to continue with its implementation and review. This binational report marks an important step in building strong public support and partner confidence in the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement.

Canadian Catholic bishops called for the repeal of the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States and the end of racial profiling of Arab and Muslim communities. The recommendations were contained in a pastoral letter, We Are Aliens and Transients Before the Lord Our God, published by the bishops' social affairs commission. Refugees must not be scapegoats because of heightened security concerns following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, saidArchbishop Roger Ebacher of Gatineau, Quebec, at a news conference held on Jan. 10 on Parliament Hill. He said most terrorists would probably not go to the trouble of trying to enter the country as refugees. He urged Canadians not to become prejudiced toward refugees and migrants, who face poverty, separation from families and persecution in their home countries. "It is a fundamental inversion of values when laws and politics place national interests before human dignity," said Archbishop Ebacher, who chairs the social affairs commission.

Peter Rekai, author of a C.D. Howe Institute study on immigration, argues that the Safe Third Country Agreement is a distraction from the real challenge facing Canada: how to jointly manage access to North America with a security-conscious U.S. while pursuing Canada's distinct immigration goals. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has refused to discuss proposals raised by experts for a security perimeter around North America, which might accomplish both aims. "The perimeter is not something we talk about here," says Immigration Minister Denis Coderre.