Last Updated on June 15, 2015

The Minister issued Ministerial Instructions (MIs), which the Canada Gazette published on October 31, 2014. These Ministerial Instructions (MIs) aimed at protecting the public health and safety of Canadians against the threat of the Ebola virus disease.

As a result, these Ministerial Instructions (MIs) affected applications from individuals, who:

• Have resided in Ebola Affected Countries (EAC) during the last three months
• Have travelled to Ebola Affected Countries (EAC) during the last three months and,
• Have transited through Ebola Affected Countries (EAC) during the last three months

In particular, the Ministerial Instructions (MIs):

• Instruct officers to stop processing new applications for Temporary Residence (TR)
• Instruct officers to stop processing pending Temporary Residence (TR) applications
• Instruct officers to stop processing new applications for Permanent Residence (PR) and,
• Instruct officers to withhold the issuance of Permanent Resident (PR) visas

These instructions apply to applicants who:

• Have resided in Ebola Affected Countries (EAC) during the last three months
• Have travelled to Ebola Affected Countries (EAC) during the last three months and,
• Have transited through Ebola Affected Countries (EAC) during the last three months

The Ministerial Instructions (MIs) define the Ebola Affected Countries (EAC) as countries that have widespread and persistent (or intense) transmission of the Ebola virus disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already identified these countries.

The Ministerial Instructions (MIs) do not apply to all the:

• Permanent Resident (PR) types of applications and,
• Temporary Resident (TR) types of applications

Therefore, the officers would first need to determine whether the Ministerial Instructions (MIs) apply to the type of application submitted by the applicant. Thereafter, the officers would need to assess whether the Ministerial Instructions (MIs) describe the applicants themselves too.