The current approach to making refugee decisions in Canada results largely from a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada involving the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Where a serious issue of credibility is involved, fundamental justice requires that credibility be determined on the basis of an in-person hearing before a decision maker. Currently, refugees from abroad are selected with the expectation that they will be able to become self-sufficient within a year of their arrival in Canada. In this decade, most refugees have needed a longer period before they could successfully resettle in Canada. In addition, the requirement makes it difficult to protect refugees who are in need of resettlement but who, like women at risk, victims of violence and torture, the elderly, people requiring medical treatment and unaccompanied minors, need considerably longer than a year to settle.
Family reunification is important to the general health and well-being of refugees.
It is a means to healthier integration into Canadian society and a stabilizing factor in lives. Refugee family reunification. A particular concern of refugees who have just arrived from abroad is the fate of their family members. Until they are reunited, the process of resettlement is more difficult and takes longer. The issue is what can be done to ensure promptness in immediate family reunification.