The Government of Canada
announced that effective today, Canada is removing all countries from the designated country of origin (DCO) list, which effectively suspends the DCO policy introduced in 2012, until it can be repealed through future legislative changes.
The DCO policy did not fulfil its objective of discouraging misuse of the asylum system and of processing refugee claims from these countries faster. Additionally, several Federal Court decisions struck down certain provisions of the DCO policy, ruling that they did not comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.