What is IRPA?

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) is the primary federal statute governing Canadian immigration and refugee law. Enacted in 2001 (in force since 28 June 2002), it replaced the prior Immigration Act and consolidated the immigration and refugee-protection regimes into one law.

Structure of IRPA

IRPA is divided into 3 main parts:

• Part 1 — Immigration: temporary residents, permanent residents, sponsorship, inadmissibility, removal
• Part 2 — Refugee Protection: Convention refugees, persons in need of protection, RPD/RAD/PRRA procedures
• Part 3 — Enforcement and other: detention, offences, appeals, transitional provisions

Most-cited IRPA sections

• s.11 — Application before entering Canada (the basic application requirement)
• s.16 — Obligation to answer truthfully (foundation of misrepresentation findings)
• s.25 — H&C discretion (Humanitarian and Compassionate applications)
• s.34-37 — Inadmissibility grounds (security, human rights, criminality, organized crime)
• s.38 — Inadmissibility for health (medical inadmissibility)
• s.96 — Convention refugee definition
• s.97 — Person in need of protection definition
• s.117 — Smuggling offence
• s.118 — Trafficking offence
• s.122 — Possession of false documents

IRPA vs IRPR

IRPA is the statute (legislation passed by Parliament). The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) are the detailed implementing rules made under IRPA — covering specifics like settlement-funds thresholds, document requirements, and program eligibility.

Why this matters for your file

Every refusal letter cites a specific IRPA section as the legal basis. Knowing which section was cited tells you whether the refusal is challengeable by reapplication (substantive disagreement on facts) or by Federal Court judicial review (legal error in applying IRPA).