By: Meagan Potier, Bassam Saifeddine, and Chad Haggerty

PDF Version: What’s In A List? Examining Canadian Terrorist Listing

Policy Commented On: Terrorist listing pursuant to section 83.05 of the Criminal Code of Canada

In 2001, Canada enshrined into law a public-facing list of terrorist entities as a part of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46. In theory, this list is meant to simplify one aspect of Canada’s exceedingly complex terrorism prosecutions. In practice, the listed entities have only been relied on in Canadian criminal proceedings six times. More often than not, the listed entities are referenced during Immigration and Refugee Board decisions. This post provides a brief review of how the list is used within Canada, and then looks to Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand as case studies for best-practices of listing and delisting. Finally, we recommend that the federal government should evaluate the procedural safeguards within the listing process and the continued use of the listed entitles within the immigration context.