Bill C-220 Immigration Status Sentencing
C-220 An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Immigration Status in Sentencing)
Bill Type: Private Member’s Bill
Bill Sponsor: Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill)
Status: This Bill was DEFEATED at Second-Reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Estimated Read Time: 2 minutes
WHO GAINS POWER
- Courts would have a clear rule — they could not consider a sentence’s potential effect on the immigration status of a non-citizen offender or their family members
- Parliament would prohibit consideration of immigration-status consequences when sentencing non-citizen offenders
WHO LOSES POWER
- Judges lose the ability to consider immigration consequences when crafting a sentence — even where deportation or loss of permanent residency would follow automatically
- Non-citizen offenders and their families would lose sentencing consideration of the sentence’s potential effect on their immigration status — including cases where a lighter sentence might have kept a family together
- Defense lawyers lose a sentencing argument currently available to non-citizen clients
WHO GAINS MONEY
- No financial provisions in this Bill
WHO LOSES MONEY
- No financial provisions in this Bill
THE CATCH
- ⚠️ The Bill changes what a sentencing Court may consider. It does not amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or its rules governing immigration consequences of criminal convictions
- ⚠️ The Bill also prevents consideration of the sentence’s potential effect on a family member’s immigration status. It does not expressly prohibit consideration of every other effect on the family
- ⚠️ The Bill does not define “immigration status,” but its sentencing restriction expressly applies to offenders who are not Canadian citizens
- ⚠️ The prohibition applies whether considering immigration-status consequences would lead to a lighter or harsher sentence