Stopping a Removal Before It Happens
When the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) schedules a removal, the consequences can be irreversible — separation from family, return to danger, and the loss of a pending case. A stay of removal is an urgent court order that halts your removal while an underlying matter — such as a judicial review, an appeal, or a pending application — is decided. These motions are among the most time-sensitive in all of immigration law.
This is an emergency. Removal can be scheduled with very little notice, and a stay motion may have to be prepared and filed within hours or days. If you or a loved one has received a removal date — a "Direction to Report" — do not wait. Call us immediately so a stay can be pursued in time.
The Test the Court Applies
To obtain a stay, the Federal Court applies the well-established three-part test from RJR-MacDonald:
A Serious Issue
There must be a serious issue to be tried in the underlying proceeding — your case is not frivolous or vexatious and raises a genuine question.
Irreparable Harm
You must show you would suffer irreparable harm if removed before your case is decided — harm that could not be undone or compensated later, such as risk to safety or the loss of the very right being litigated.
Balance of Convenience
The balance of convenience must favour granting the stay — weighing your interests against the public interest in enforcing removal.
All three elements must be established with clear, well-marshalled evidence — under intense time pressure. That is exactly the kind of advocacy these motions demand.
Deferral Requests and Stays
In some situations, the first step is a request to the CBSA to defer the removal — for example, where a pending application or a compelling personal circumstance warrants a short delay. If a deferral is refused, a stay motion in the Federal Court may follow. We assess the fastest, strongest route given your specific circumstances and timeline.
What a Stay Does — and Does Not — Do
A stay pauses your removal; it does not, by itself, resolve your underlying case. It buys the time needed for your judicial review, appeal, or application to be decided properly. We pursue the stay and the underlying matter together, so that stopping the removal is the beginning of a real solution — not just a delay.
Because Federal Court matters require a lawyer, and because the timelines are so compressed, having experienced counsel engaged the moment a removal date appears can make the difference between staying in Canada and being removed.