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Humanitarian & compassionate

When the rules don’t fit, your life still counts. Humanitarian & Compassionate (H&C) applications

An H&C application asks Canada to grant permanent residence based on your circumstances rather than a checklist — your establishment, your family, the children affected, and what leaving would actually cost.

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Applied from inside CanadaMost often used by people already living here
DiscretionaryNo points grid — an officer weighs your whole situation
Children come firstBest interests must be actively considered
A long processPlan status and work authorisation alongside it

H&C is a high bar — and one application at a time.

You may generally have only one H&C in process, and two bars apply after a refugee claim. IRCC cannot examine a request made less than 12 months after the Refugee Protection Division or Refugee Appeal Division rejected the claim, or found it withdrawn after evidence was heard or abandoned, or after the Federal Court refused leave or judicial review (IRPA s. 25(1.2)(c) (opens in a new tab)), unless removal would put your life at risk through inadequate medical care or harm a child’s best interests. A designated foreign national cannot apply until five years after the final decision on their claim or application, or five years after being designated (IRPA s. 25(1.01) (opens in a new tab)). A weak application can cost you years, so the assessment matters as much as the submission.

Processing fee, you and a spouse or partner (each)
$660
Right of permanent residence fee (each adult)
$600
Each dependent child
$180
IRCC’s published processing time
More than 10 years

Source: IRCC fee list (opens in a new tab) (fees) and IRCC processing times (opens in a new tab) (humanitarian and compassionate, inside and outside Quebec; figures dated September 3, 2026), verified October 9, 2026.

Strength indicator

How strong is your H&C picture?

H&C is decided on the weight of your circumstances taken together. This gives you an honest first read before you invest years in an application.

1 Answer the five questions → 2 watch the scale weigh them

01 / 05

A refugee claim in Canada?

Statutory bars are checked before anything is weighed.

02 / 05

03 / 05

Children in Canada affected by removal?

Best interests of the child is a factor an officer must actively consider.

04 / 05

Close family in Canada who depend on you?

05 / 05

Steady work, taxes or community ties?

What officers weigh

The factors that decide an H&C.

None of them is a box to tick. Each is weighed against the others, and each has to be shown with evidence.

  1. 01

    Establishment in Canada

    Employment history, taxes, property, volunteering and community involvement — documented, not merely described.

  2. 02

    Best interests of any child

    Where a child is affected this must be identified and evidenced specifically, never mentioned in passing.

  3. 03

    Family ties and dependency

    Who relies on you here, who you rely on, and what separation would practically mean for them.

  4. 04

    Health and medical needs

    Diagnoses, treatment plans, and whether comparable care is realistically available elsewhere.

  5. 05

    Consequences of leaving

    The concrete hardship of return — your specific circumstances, not generalised difficulty.

  6. 06

    Your immigration history

    Time out of status, prior refusals and any misrepresentation are weighed. They get addressed, not hidden.

A family kitchen with children's drawings on the fridge, a lunchbox and house keys on the counter

A file is stronger where the factors are shown to compound, not merely listed.

How an officer weighs an H&C

How it is decided

What the officer must be satisfied of.

On 27 August 2026 IRCC consolidated its H&C decision-making guidance into a single instruction covering the initial assessment. The test itself did not change, but it is now set out plainly — and it is worth understanding before you file.

  1. (a)

    The onus is entirely on you

    Why drafting matters

    Officers do not have to go looking for H&C factors, and they are not required to tell you that grounds might exist. Every factor you want weighed has to be raised and evidenced in your own submissions.

  2. (b)

    Balance of probabilities

    Facts are found on the ordinary civil standard — is it more likely than not that what you have put forward is true. The lower “reasonable grounds to believe” standard applies only to findings of inadmissibility.

  3. (c)

    A global assessment

    Once the facts are settled, the officer weighs them together rather than scoring each factor on its own. A file is stronger where the factors are shown to compound, not merely listed.

  4. (d)

    Guidelines are not binding law

    The instructions guide officers; they are neither exhaustive nor restrictive, and they cannot fetter discretion. Circumstances that fall outside the guidance can still be raised, and should be.

Who applies

Situations where H&C fits.

H&C is not a catch-all. It works where there is a real, documented human cost to applying the ordinary way from abroad.

  • Long-established in Canada

    Years of work, community, taxes and relationships — a life that cannot simply be transplanted.

    Most common

  • Children affected

    A child in Canada whose schooling, health or family unity would be harmed by removal.

    BIOC

  • Family ties

    Close family here who depend on you, or on whom you depend, where separation would cause real hardship.

  • Health considerations

    Medical needs that cannot reasonably be met in the country you would return to.

  • Adverse country conditions

    Conditions at home that create hardship even where they fall short of a refugee claim.

  • Out of status

    People who lost status through circumstances beyond their control and built a life here regardless.

Before you file

Married or common-law? There may be a better route.

If your spouse or common-law partner is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and the two of you are living together in Canada, a public policy made under subsection 25(1) of IRPA may let you be processed in the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada class instead — even if your temporary status has run out. It is a materially easier route than a general H&C.

  1. 01

    A lower bar to clear

    You would not have to establish unusual and undeserved or disproportionate hardship. The class asks for an eligible sponsor with a valid undertaking, a genuine relationship, and cohabitation in Canada.

  2. 02

    Priority handling

    Spousal applications are processed on a priority basis, and family members in Canada and abroad can be included on the same application.

  3. 03

    Protections that general H&C does not give

    No minimum income requirement for the sponsor, no excessive-demand medical bar, and a temporary administrative deferral of removal for applicants who qualify.

A sponsorship undertaking has to be genuinely on file. Without one — or where the sponsor is not eligible — the case is assessed under the general H&C rules described on this page. See how the spousal public policy works.

How we work

How we prepare an H&C.

Four steps, in this order. Each one is finished before the next begins, so nothing is filed on a guess.

  1. 01

    Assess honestly first

    H&C is not right for everyone. We tell you candidly whether your facts support it before you invest years.

  2. 02

    Build the evidence record

    Employment, tax, medical, school, community and country-condition evidence, organised into a coherent record.

  3. 03

    Address the children properly

    Where a child is involved we develop the best-interests analysis in full rather than leaving it to inference.

  4. 04

    Write the submission

    A structured submission tying your evidence to each factor an officer must weigh.

Questions about H&C applications?

We keep every common question — eligibility, documents, timing, fees and processing — answered and updated in one place.

Visit the Help Centre →

Good to know

Questions, answered.

The questions we hear most on this topic, answered by our consultants. The full list is in the Help Centre.

What is an H&C application?
A discretionary request for permanent residence based on your circumstances — establishment in Canada, family ties, the best interests of any child affected, health, and the hardship of leaving. It is decided on evidence, not on a points grid.
Can I apply without status?
Yes. Many H&C applicants are out of status. It is a factor an officer weighs, not an automatic bar. What matters is the overall picture and how well it is documented.
Can I apply while my refugee claim is pending?
No. You generally cannot have both in process at once, and a bar commonly applies for a period after a negative refugee decision. Getting this sequencing wrong can cost you the option entirely.
Does filing an H&C stop removal?
Not automatically. If enforcement is a live concern in your case, that has to be addressed separately and urgently. Tell your representative immediately if CBSA has contacted you.
Is humanitarian and compassionate the right route if my spouse is Canadian?
Usually not. If your spouse or common-law partner is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you are living together in Canada, and a sponsorship undertaking is submitted, a public policy under subsection 25(1) of IRPA allows you to be processed in the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada class instead. That route does not require you to demonstrate unusual and undeserved or disproportionate hardship, and it carries priority processing, no minimum income requirement and no excessive demand medical bar.

More questions on this topic are answered in the Help Centre.

Related services

Explore your other options.

General information only, not legal advice. Rules, fees and processing times change — confirm current requirements on canada.ca before filing. Contacting us does not create a client–consultant relationship until a written retainer is signed. IRCC makes all final decisions.

Honest case assessment

Is H&C realistic for you?

These applications take years and cost real money. Before you file one, get a straight answer about whether your circumstances actually support it.

Send us your details ↓ Contact us today to discuss your case

Next on your path

Keep your file moving.

The checklist, free tools and guides that usually come next.

  1. ChecklistH&C checklistEstablishment, hardship and best-interests evidence.
  2. GuideTemporary resident permitsEntering Canada when you are inadmissible.
  3. GuideRefusals and remediesReapply, reconsider or go to Federal Court.
  4. GuideVulnerable worker permitsLeave an abusive employer and keep working.

H&C review

Do you have humanitarian and compassionate grounds?

Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.

  1. 01Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant
  2. 02A written shortlist of the programs you qualify for
  3. 03Fee-based; the fee and times come by reply

CHK Immigration Services, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions. Prefer to talk first? Call 647-948-7200 or book a paid consultation.