Canada's immigration loans program and its effects on refugees post-IRPA

Canada is the only resettlement country that charges refugees for the resettlement expenses of their admissibility medical exam(s), travel documents, transportation and related administrative costs, and since 1995, monthly compounding interest. These costs are managed through the Admissibility and Transportation Loans, which are part of the greater Immigration Loans Program. The primary objective of this paper is to thoroughly and coherently explain the Immigration Loans Program and what it means to people arriving to Canada as refugees. The second objective is to examine the policy appropriateness of the Admissibility and Transportation Loans. Ultimately, it is concluded that the Immigration and Refugee Protection Ace has shifted Canada's resettlement objectives in a more humanitarian direction, and that the Admissibility and Transportation Loans are evidence of a refugee policy that has not adapted to this change.