This submission responds to key questions that the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism has raised in support of her upcoming visit to Canada. Our responses focus on people who use drugs, sex workers, people without permanent residence or citizenship, and people living with HIV in Canada.
Everyone — including people who have been detained — has a right to the highest attainable standard of health and to healthcare that is at least equivalent to that which is available in the community, whatever their immigration status. The current system — which allows for indefinite and punitive detention without comprehensive oversight — fails … Read more
IMPORTANT LEGAL UPDATE REGARDING REFUGEE CLAIMS IN CANADA On March 26, 2026, the government of Canada passed a new law called Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act. Among the serious changes, the new law significantly limits who can make a refugee claim in Canada. NEW RULES IMPACTING REFUGEE CLAIMS One-year limit to making a … Read more
The information contained in this publication is about the law but is not legal advice. For legal advice, please contact a lawyer. If you are in Canada, contact an organization serving immigrants and refugees, or an AIDS service organization in your area, and ask them if they can provide you with information on immigration issues … Read more
The HIV Legal Network made this submission to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (“Committee”) in advance of its review of Canada’s periodic report, detailing our concerns about Canada’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This submission provides information on violations of Articles 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, and … Read more
We hope you’ll read our 2024-25 annual report — Securing Rights: Using Our Values to Meet the Moment — to find out more about the kind of positive change we’re making and get a glimpse of what we hope to accomplish in 2026.
We are deeply disappointed by the Federal Court’s decision dismissing the HIV Legal Network’s application (“motion”) for public interest standing in the constitutional challenge to Canada’s medical inadmissibility regime. In February 2024, the HIV Legal Network joined RA, an international student living with HIV, in challenging section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act … Read more
Bill C-12 will overhaul how people in Canada can access refugee protection or maintain lawful status by introducing new eligibility bars to refugee protection, broadening government discretion to end refugee claims, granting government sweeping new powers to cancel immigration status, and authorizing increased data-sharing of personal information across government agencies and with foreign governments. Submission … Read more
June 17, 2025 The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, P.C., M.P. Minister of Public Safety House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 The Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, P.C., M.P. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 RE: The Strong Borders Act and its Harm to People Living with HIV and Other … Read more
In 2007, the HIV Legal Network (Legal Network) published Hard Time: HIV and Hepatitis C Prevention Programming for Prisoners in Canada, exploring health and harm reduction policies and practices in Canada’s provincial, territorial, and federal prisons. Then, as now, the Legal Network confirmed that everyone benefits from improved healthcare in prison, and that imprisonment is … Read more