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Please note: this website was created in 2003 and there have been several changes in relevant Australian legislation since that time (probably Canadian too). The website is kept online as an overview of the situation at that time but has not and will not be updated.

Canadian Tour

This section of the site allows you to explore the process a person or family has to undergo if they seek asylum in Canada.


Canada is committed to providing protection for asylum seekers who meet the United Nations definition of a refugee, as defined in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

Like Australia, Canada differentiates between refugees who have been accepted from overseas and those who seek asylum on entry or after arrival to Canada.

Unlike Australia however, Canada has no mandatory detention system. Canadian asylum seekers also have the right to work and access health and education services while their applications are being considered.

Changes to the decision making process and eligibility criteria have been made to Canada's system recently with the new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act coming into effect in November 2001.See details of the changes at Citizenship and Immigration Canada website.

Another recent change has been the signing of the Canada-U.S. “Safe Third Country” agreement which allows both Canada and the US to stop asylum seekers cross their borders to seek asylum because they're considered to have already reached a safe country. Many refugee advocates like the Canadian Council for Refugees and KAIROS (Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives) been critical of this agreement.

continue to the Canadian Arrival section >>

see also: Australian Tour