The Canadian Council on Refugees (CCR) Annual Status Report on Refugee and Immigrant Rights in Canada, 2008 addresses three items related to immigrant and refugee children’s rights and family issues:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) adopted new guidelines for officers conducting eligibility interviews with children making refugee claims, including children separated from their parent(s).
CIC responded to concerns about families kept separate by the “excluded family member” rule by intervening to reunite several families and initiating measures for internal processes. Processing times still significantly lag.
Changes to the Citizenship Act raises concerns among some about the “stateless child”: a child born abroad to Canadian parents (who were themselves born abroad to a Canadian citizen) will not be Canadian citizens.
See the full report at the CCR site.