{"id":267851,"date":"2020-01-27T11:33:05","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T16:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:48:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:48:36","slug":"administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Administrative law just got a new \u2018standard of review\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Supreme Court of Canada judgment<\/a> made headlines around the world in December by deciding that Alexander Vavilov, born in Canada to \u201cdeep cover\u201d Russian spies, was entitled to Canadian citizenship. Lawyers and scholars took to Twitter to joke that reporters had missed the really exciting part: the Supreme Court of Canada had just redefined the \u201cstandard of review\u201d in administrative law.<\/p>\n

The terms confuse even lawyers in other fields, but the stakes are high: administrative law concerns how all levels of government \u2014 from a municipality granting construction permits to the governor general making someone a member of the Order of Canada \u2014 reach their decisions; the standard of review is how much scrutiny the courts will apply if someone challenges those decisions. The Court has given new directions in the Vavilov case on how the lower courts determine what makes a decision legal or reasonable \u2014 directions that will help vulnerable individuals who bear the brunt of government decision-making.<\/p>\n

For years, courts have debated how much deference they owe. On the one hand, if Parliament or a legislature has delegated a decision to an official, board or tribunal, courts should be reluctant to interfere. On the other hand, the rule of law means the courts must ensure that government action is consistent with legal rules, including the Constitution, and is neither arbitrary nor unfair.<\/p>\n

These issues mattered to Vavilov because just after his 20th birthday, the Canadian Registrar of Citizenship cancelled his citizenship certificate, based only on written submissions. The issue was his parents\u2019 status when he was born: they were foreigners living under false identities and working for Russia as spies. He learned their story only just before his 16th birthday, when they were arrested in their Boston home. The family was sent to Russia in a \u201cspy swap,\u201d but for Alexander, it was a move to a country he had never known.<\/p>\n

Canada grants citizenship to almost everyone born here, but the Registrar of Citizenship relied on a few words in the Citizenship Act<\/em> that create an exception for the children of \u201ca diplomatic or consular officer or other representative or employee in Canada of a foreign government\u201d; she argued that Alexander fell into this exception and was ineligible for citizenship.<\/p>\n

The underlying issue \u2014 the kind that makes non-lawyers shake their heads \u2014 was whether the exception applies to any \u201cemployee of a foreign government\u201d or whether those few words take their meaning from the larger context and apply only to foreign government employees with diplomatic status, which the Vavilovs were not. Alexander\u2019s lawyers pointed out that restricting the exception to diplomatic employees was the only interpretation consistent with international treaties and with a generous view of citizenship; on their reading, Alexander\u2019s parents were not diplomatic or similar employees, and he would be outside the exception and eligible for citizenship by birth.<\/p>\n

The procedural issue was just how much deference the courts had to show to the Registrar\u2019s own interpretation of the Citizenship Act<\/em>. Vavilov argued that she had to make a decision that was correct<\/em>: that is, there could be only one valid interpretation of the statute, and the Registrar had to get it right. Government lawyers argued the opposite: officials need only render a decision that appears reasonable<\/em>, even if the courts might disagree.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court of Canada announced that it would use the case to reconsider the standard of review for government decision-making in general. The judgment decided that the category of cases in which administrative decisions must be correct \u2014 where the courts have the final word on interpreting the law \u2014 will continue to be limited: where a formal appeal is provided for or where the issues are constitutional or of fundamental importance to the legal system. All other decisions are entitled to deference and must only be reasonable.<\/p>\n

But all nine judges decided the decision to cancel Alexander Vavilov\u2019s citizenship was not<\/em> reasonable: his parents did not benefit from any diplomatic privilege or immunity, so the exception from citizenship by birth was not meant for Alexander; and the Registrar did not consider the harsh consequences that her decision would have for him.<\/p>\n

The majority defined what reasonableness means. Among other things, for a decision to be reasonable, it must be consistent with Canada\u2019s international law obligations. In addition, a decision\u2019s impact matters: an individual whose \u201clife, liberty, dignity or livelihood\u201d will be affected deserves greater procedural protection.<\/p>\n

This is good news for individuals like refugee claimants facing a return to danger or tenants facing evictions: \u201cordinary people, including the most vulnerable among us,\u201d in the Supreme Court\u2019s words. They can rely on Canada\u2019s international promises to protect refugees from harm or to ensure the right to adequate housing, along with other economic and social rights. They can also demand that government decision-makers take into account the real-life consequences for them.<\/p>\n

Photo: Shutterstock.com by Jacques Durocher<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the\u00a0<\/em>Policy Options\u00a0discussion, and send in your own submission.\u00a0Here is a\u00a0<\/em>link<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on how to do it.\u00a0<\/em>|\u00a0Souhaitez-vous r\u00e9agir \u00e0 cet article ?\u00a0<\/em>Joignez-vous aux d\u00e9bats d\u2019<\/em>Options politiques\u00a0et soumettez-nous votre texte en suivant ces\u00a0<\/em>directives<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Supreme Court of Canada judgment made headlines around the world in December by deciding that Alexander Vavilov, born in Canada to \u201cdeep cover\u201d Russian spies, was entitled to Canadian citizenship. Lawyers and scholars took to Twitter to joke that reporters had missed the really exciting part: the Supreme Court of Canada had just redefined […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":276820,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T02:48:38Z","apple_news_api_id":"6499a603-33d8-4c6d-a0c5-f5227edd4845","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T02:48:38Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AZJmmAzPYTG2gxfUift1IRQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9387,9359,9372],"tags":[8439,8390],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4332,4339],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7094,7178],"class_list":["post-267851","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elaboration-de-politiques","category-loi-droits","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-citizenship-fr","tag-supreme-court-fr","irpp-category-immigration-fr","irpp-category-loi-et-justice","irpp-tag-citoyennete","irpp-tag-cour-supreme"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nAdministrative law just got a new \u2018standard of review\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Administrative law just got a new \u2018standard of review\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Supreme Court of Canada judgment made headlines around the world in December by deciding that Alexander Vavilov, born in Canada to \u201cdeep cover\u201d Russian spies, was entitled to Canadian citizenship. Lawyers and scholars took to Twitter to joke that reporters had missed the really exciting part: the Supreme Court of Canada had just redefined […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Policy Options\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-08T02:48:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-Vavilovs-citizenship-victory-will-help-others-in-need.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@irpp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/\",\"name\":\"Administrative law just got a new \u2018standard of review\u2019\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-Vavilovs-citizenship-victory-will-help-others-in-need.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-27T16:33:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-08T02:48:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-Vavilovs-citizenship-victory-will-help-others-in-need.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-Vavilovs-citizenship-victory-will-help-others-in-need.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Administrative law just got a new \u2018standard of review\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/\",\"name\":\"Policy Options\",\"description\":\"Institute for Research on Public Policy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Administrative law just got a new \u2018standard of review\u2019","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Administrative law just got a new \u2018standard of review\u2019","og_description":"A Supreme Court of Canada judgment made headlines around the world in December by deciding that Alexander Vavilov, born in Canada to \u201cdeep cover\u201d Russian spies, was entitled to Canadian citizenship. Lawyers and scholars took to Twitter to joke that reporters had missed the really exciting part: the Supreme Court of Canada had just redefined […]","og_url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/","og_site_name":"Policy Options","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org","article_modified_time":"2025-10-08T02:48:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-Vavilovs-citizenship-victory-will-help-others-in-need.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@irpp","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/","name":"Administrative law just got a new \u2018standard of review\u2019","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-Vavilovs-citizenship-victory-will-help-others-in-need.jpg","datePublished":"2020-01-27T16:33:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-08T02:48:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-Vavilovs-citizenship-victory-will-help-others-in-need.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-Vavilovs-citizenship-victory-will-help-others-in-need.jpg","width":2000,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/administrative-law-just-got-a-new-standard-of-review\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Administrative law just got a new \u2018standard of review\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/","name":"Policy Options","description":"Institute for Research on Public Policy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues\/267851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issues"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267851"},{"taxonomy":"article-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-status?post=267851"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-category?post=267851"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=267851"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-tag?post=267851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}