Change of Province - towards Ontario

[flo]

My husband and I currently live in Montreal, we are accepted refugees with more than 2 years waiting for permanent residence. Do we have any impediment to changing Province? Apart from reporting our new address to immigration, is there anything else we should do in Ontario? Thanks a lot for your responses!

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hi there,

Thank you for sharing your question and situation with us.

While waiting for a Refugee Claim decision is being made IRCC recommends:

Should the claimant decide to move provinces while they are waiting to have their claim heard by the IRB (for example, they claim refugee status in Quebec then move to Ontario), they would need to inform the IRB, IRCC and the CBSA of this move, and provide their new address.

The UNHCR outlines the rights and duties of asylum seekers, as accepted refugees you have:

The right to move freely throughout Canada and choose where you want to live. Note that you might be required to report to the governmental institutions periodically, which sometimes has to be done before you are allowed to move. If these reporting obligations apply to you, make sure you review them carefully and notify the proper authorities of any change of address and phone number. This is to make sure they can contact you if there are any changes or information they need while processing your asylum claim. Please speak to your lawyer before you move to a different province if you have not had your refugee hearing at the Immigration Refugee Board. Please also note that an asylum-seeker cannot (temporarily) leave Canada during the processing of their asylum application.

You may want to connect with a settlement agency to help you get settled in Ontario. You can find more information on settlement services on the Government of Ontario’s page: Getting Settled to Ontario. Settlement agencies help newcomers and refugees find the services they need to settle in Ontario.

They can help you:

• get settled in your community- find housing, a job or childcare- register your children in school- access programs (such as English or French classes, employment services, skills training and foreign credential assessment)- get information about healthcare and social services- find an interpreter or translator

We hope this information is helpful and wish you the best of luck with this move. Please feel free to follow up with us if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Your Settlement.Org team

[flo]

Thanks a lot for the information

[SettlementOrgMod]

Thank you for sharing your question with us! We hope the information provided is helpful, please feel free to follow up with us if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Your Settlement.Org team