Exploring Canadian Legal Policies and its Impact on the Status Acquisition Process of Stateless Individuals in Canada

Over ten million of the world's population live without nationality. Canada reproduces stateless individuals by failing to protect stateless individuals from Canada and the individuals who arrived in Canada without nationality from the country of origin due to the limitations of the laws. Canada introduced status acquisition pathways that grant legal status by considering unusual hardship and exceptional cases, but these incorporate limitations of the Canadian legal practices. The required identification documents, long processing time, expensive application fees and legal procedures based on discretionary power make it impossible to protect stateless individuals. The three legal instruments, the Citizenship Act subsections 5(4), 5(5) and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act subsection 25(1), may reproduce statelessness. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the legal aspects and move beyond the legal aspects when implementing and exercising policies as they directly affect the daily lives of stateless individuals.