First, some repetition to keep what's important forefront . . .
Summary (for others, and what matters):
For a PR who meets the RO based on days actually present in Canada, no need to wrestle with claims the instructions about what supporting documents need to be submitted are confusing:
A single NoA can count as one of the two pieces of evidence needed to make a complete PR card application. Of course, obviously, just like any bank statements, club memberships, pay stubs, T4s, or other such items evidencing presence or residence in Canada, the content of the document needs to show the PR's presence or residence in Canada sometime during the relevant five years.
The rest of this is an aside.
. . . just saying that if someone who knows English as well as I do can get confused on reading the instructions, then it should be a given that these instructions could easily be equally if not more confusing for those who have more challenges with the language
There are plenty of statements in IRCC's instructions and its other information for PRs that is confusing, and a lot more that is very broad including some that is overly broad and some that is overtly vague.
More than a few statements in the instructions are outright NOT accurate. Instructions for the PR card application specifically state, multiple times, that a PR "
must" be in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation to be eligible for a PR card. That is simply NOT true. Even a PR who has been issued a Removal Order for a breach of the RO is not only eligible for a PR card but
entitled to one so long as there is a right of appeal. And, in the very instructions that repeatedly state that to get a PR card the PR must be in RO compliance there are instructions about how to apply and get a PR card when not in RO compliance.
The point has been made before, deserves repeating, warrants repeating with emphasis:
Overall: instructions should be read with a focus on understanding what they mean, not to support this or that interpretation.
Indeed, at the risk of sliding into linguistics, straying well beyond the scope of what is practical (slipping into the pedantic one rather rude forum participant has emphatically insulted), instructions for IRCC's bureaucratic forms are not statutory provisions, not regulations, not administrative rules, and even though the difference is subtle and may not be obvious to many, approaching the instructions through the lens of interpretation is not the same as reading to understand. There is a reason why the Federal Courts do not have authority to interpret particular terms used by an administrative agency (the courts' have authority to determine if the agency's interpretation is reasonable/unreasonable, and on occasion the FCs have
suggested this or that interpretation, recognizing that what such terms means is for the agency to decide).
Leading to . . .
Now, if you need a legal degree or some sort of legal background and experience to properly read and interpret the instructions - fine, I don't have that. I'm not qualified and am happy to go along with those who have the experience to interpret it properly. (Although if this is truly the case I also would question whether or not these instructions should be intended for the general public.)
Actually jurists (lawyers, judges, legal scholars, others whose profession is in the law), at least most jurists, do not have the background, experience, or expertise to read and understand bureaucratic forms and instructions much better than most others who are well informed, as well as being proficient in the language (generally). Some will, but that will be rooted in practical experience dealing with the particular administrative agency, their familiarity with that agency's terminology and manner of stating things. This is a big, big part of why Federal Court judges do not have the authority to interpret an agency's use of particular terms.
There are examples aplenty. A salient one in PR card and PR TD applications is the statement, in
the appendix regarding new PRs:
If you have been a permanent resident for less than five (5) years
- you must show that you will be able to meet the minimum of 730 days of physical presence in Canada within five (5) years of the date you became a permanent resident.
Most of us participating in the forum, in regards to discussions related to PR status, easily understand that this does not mean the PR needs to document how they will in fact be present in Canada enough days to meet the RO within the first five years. No need to say where they will be working or living, for example, no need to describe plans for staying in Canada.
It just means that there must be enough days left on the calendar, before the fifth year anniversary of landing, that when added to days already in Canada they total at least 730. Or, as many here astutely observe, it just means the PR's travel history shows they have not been outside Canada for more than 1095 days since landing.
Compare this to the requirement that a citizen sponsoring a spouse's family class PR application show they will relocate to Canada, which does require some details about their plan to settle here in Canada. To
understand (not interpret but understand) these respective instructions demands seeing them far more through the lens of understanding-in-context than it does linguistic or legalistic interpretation.
Parsing these instructions can be as likely to lead one astray as it is to illuminate what IRCC is asking for.
Which leads back to
> You must provide copies of 2 pieces of evidence that can show you have met the residency in Canada in the five (5) years immediately before the application
The plain reading of this is that those two pieces of evidence should show that you have met the residency obligation in the five years immediately before the application.
Forgive me, please, for I will (reluctantly) indulge in just a bit of parsing, for illustrative purposes: There is a difference between what something "
can" show (which is what the supporting documents need to do) versus what "
does" or "
will" show. Your so-called "
plain reading" is the latter.
Analogy: a fingerprint at the scene of a crime is an item of evidence that can show (be evidence of) a particular individual's culpability, because it shows the individual's presence at the scene, but it will not, does not, show that individual is the culprit. More evidence than a single fingerprint is needed to do that.
This is why I tried, in a previous post, to highlight the importance of understanding what a supporting document
is needed for. No single document, and indeed no two documents combined, are enough to "
show [the PR has]
met the residency obligation in the five years immediately before the application."
That alone should be enough to make it clear the instruction is not asking for two documents (just two "
pieces of evidence") that "
show that you have met the residency obligation," that is, not asking for the impossible (it being impossible to show RO compliance with just two documents).
The instruction is clearly, unequivocally, saying the PR needs to submit two pieces of evidence, each piece being a document that can show RO compliance . . . that is, show presence in Canada (which is direct evidence of days getting credit toward RO compliance) or residence in Canada (indirect evidence of being in Canada).
All of which is well beyond the scope of the TLDR (too long, didn't read, or don't read) crowd that is so prevalent (not just here), but well shy of a full dive into navigating the nuances (like explaining why the reference to "bank statements" is plural versus the NoA or document showing receipt of government benefits is singular, English major stuff, but not really necessary to
understand what is being asked).
But for this particular matter, the matter of what needs to be included in a PR card application to make it complete, there shouldn't be any need to go there. So, I will repeat, and this is true regardless what someone can read into the instructions:
Summary:
For a PR who meets the RO based on days actually present in Canada, no need to wrestle with claims the instructions, about what supporting documents need to be submitted, are confusing:
A single NoA can count as one of the two pieces of evidence needed to make a complete PR card application. Of course, obviously, just like any bank statements, club memberships, pay stubs, T4s, or other such items evidencing presence or residence in Canada, the content of the document needs to show the PR's presence or residence in Canada sometime during the relevant five years.