“Section 40(1) of the Act empowers the CHRC to receive and process complaints related to discrimination. However, the SCA notes that no complaint in relation to discriminatory practices may be dealt with by the CHRC unless the act or omission that constitutes the practice occurred in Canada 

and the victim of the practice was at the time of the act or omission either lawfully present in Canada or, if temporarily absent from Canada, entitled to return to Canada. 

The CHRC has noted that this restriction is inconsistent both with the principle that all human rights laws are universal and with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which applies to anyone present in Canada, regardless of the legality of that presence. 

The SCA reiterates its previous recommendation from 2016 and recommends that the CHRC advocates for changes to the Act to permit all individuals, regardless of their legal status, to access its complaint process. 

The SCA refers to Paris Principle D(c) and to its General Observation 2.9 on ‘The quasi- judicial competence.’”