Guidelines for Individuals Affected by the Train Derailment in Lac Mégantic, Quebec

by Colin R. Singer / Tuesday, 13 May 2014 / Published in 2013

Operational Bulletin 535 – July 26, 2013

Summary

This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides instructions to staff from:

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the,
Canada Border Services Agency

It informs the staff about the public policy and procedures applicable for:

Temporary residents
Permanent residents and,
Canadian citizens

These guidelines would apply to all individuals affected by the train derailment in Lac Mégantic.

Background

A series of explosions that succeeded a freight train derailment occurred on July 06, 2013. These incidents devastated the Quebec town of Lac Mégantic. The community of Lac Mégantic faced significant damage and other impacts as a result of these incidents.

The Minister took certain measures to support those affected by this situation. This included approving the waiver for some fees and other specific requirements. The Minister also gave an administrative waiver of the fee for the replacement of the:

Permanent resident cards and,
Canadian travel documents

These waivers would be in force until October 05, 2013.

Note:

People needing information about the replacement of Canadian travel documents would need to contact Passport Canada at 1 800 567 6868

The New Public Policy

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) provides authority to officers to respond in a flexible and humane manner. This would apply in any situation that warrants such treatment. This includes any situations of emergency. The Minister approved a public policy that:

Waives certain fees for affected foreign nationals in Lac Mégantic
Automatically extends or restores the status of affected temporary residents until October 05, 2013

This public policy is in accordance with Section 25.2 of IRPA.

The clients bear the ownership of proving that the derailment of the train has affected them. Therefore, they would need to show an identity document issued by the government for proving this. They could show any government issued identity document that lists a residential address in Lac Mégantic in this regard. This document would be sufficient to show that the train derailment has affected them. The CIC would consider all requests on a case-by-case basis.

Affected Temporary Residents

Affected temporary residents eligible under this public policy could qualify for an extension in several different ways. Thus, they could get their status automatically extended or restored. This would be applicable until October 05, 2013.

However, applicants using this public policy would need to meet certain qualifying criteria. This public policy is applicable for individuals who:

Are temporary residents residing in Lac Mégantic and,

Are affected by the derailment of the train and,
Had legal status as on July 06, 2013 and,
Would have expired legal status before October 05, 2013

Are foreign nationals residing in Lac Mégantic and,

Are affected by the derailment of the train and,
Were out of legal status as on July 06, 2013 and,
Were within the restoration period specified in Section 182 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

Applicants could also use this public policy to file applications for the replacement of their immigration status documents. These documents include work or study permits or visitor records etc. However, they can only apply for the replacement of these documents if the documents were lost or destroyed in the train derailment or the ensuing destruction of property. Officers would grant them a waiver on the fees of their application for replacing lost or destroyed documents.

Affected Permanent Residents

Officers have the relevant authority to provide applicants with a replacement of permanent resident cards without levying any fee. The officers would issue replacements of permanent resident cards on an expedited basis. Officers would extend this facility in cases where the train derailment and the ensuing destruction of property resulted in the loss or destruction of the permanent resident cards.

However, applicants needed to submit their replacement card applications from July 06 to October 05, 2013. Officers would process applications received during this period on an expedited basis.

Procedures

The Procedure for Applicants to Self-Identify as Affected Persons

Affected individuals have access to a system whereby they could contact an agent with priority in the queue
The system gives affected individuals access to a dedicated line in the Call Centre Interactive Voice Response
Applicants would need to call 1 800 242 2100 and press “7”
The agent would give the applicant certain standard questions to answer
Once the applicant answers the questions satisfactorily, the agent would provide the applicants with advice on how the clients need to proceed with an application
Affected individuals also have access to a dedicated e-mail address for routing their queries (Lac-Megantic@cic.gc.ca)
This e-mail address could be used by:

Affected temporary residents
Affected permanent residents and,
Canadian citizens

When sending an e-mail to the above-mentioned e-mail id, affected individuals would need to:

Mention “URGENT: LAC-MÉGANTIC” in the subject line and,
Provide other information like:

Unique Client Identifier (UCI) number
Full name
Date
Place of birth and,
Country of birth

On receiving the e-mail, an agent would revert to their queries

The Procedure for Applicants who Need to Apply for Replacement Immigration Documents or Urgent Processing

This procedure is applicable for the replacement of lost or destroyed documents
Affected temporary residents would need to complete the Verification of Status or Replacement of an Immigration Document form
They would need to write the words “URGENT: LAC-MÉGANTIC, QUEBEC” on the cover of the final envelope
Then, they would need to send this to the Query Response Centre
Affected permanent residents would need to complete the Application for a Permanent Resident Card
They would need to write the words “URGENT: LAC-MÉGANTIC, QUEBEC” on the cover of the final envelope
Then, they would need to send this to the Case Processing Centre, Sydney (CPC-S), Nova Scotia
Affected Canadian citizens would need to complete the Application for a Citizenship Certificate
They would need to write the words “URGENT: LAC-MÉGANTIC, QUEBEC” on the cover of the final envelope
Then, they would need to send this to the Case Processing Centre, Sydney (CPC-S), Nova Scotia
Officers would process applications on a priority basis
Officers would levy the appropriate fees for providing replacement certificates

Note:

For affected temporary residents and affected permanent residents, officers would issue replacement or reprinted immigration documents on a priority basis
The officers would not levy any fees for issuing replacement or reprinted immigration documents in these circumstances

The Procedure for Processing Affected Applications

Financial and Special Program Coding

Fee Exemption

Officers would enter the code “999” in the cost recovery fee exemption code field
They would do this for all fee-exempt applications they process
This would be applicable for all temporary resident lines of business
For permanent resident cards, officers would enter “P01” in the cost recovery code field

Special Tracking

Officers would need to use the special tracking code, which would enable them to track various cases
Officers would need to enter the code “UE3” in the special program code field
They would enter this in the Global Case Management System for all affected applications they process
Officers would need to annotate the special program code in the Work in Progress – Remarks screen for CPC systems

Lost or Destroyed Documents

Officers would need to process applications for issuing replacement documents on a priority basis
They would need to ensure that the replacement documents match previously issued documents in all regards such as validity, conditions etc.

Note: