Migration Jurisprudence from the South › Canada
Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)
Supreme Court of Canada · Canada · 1999-07-09 · National court
Citation: [1999] 2 SCR 817
Type of case: Administrative
Outcome: Decided for the migrant side
Question
Must officials weigh the interests of a domestic worker’s Canadian-born children before deporting her?
What the court decided
Yes. The decision had to be attentive to the children’s best interests, and the officer’s notes raised a reasonable apprehension of bias; the deportation decision was quashed.
In plain language
A Jamaican woman who had worked for years as a live-in domestic worker faced deportation, leaving behind her four Canadian-born children. The Supreme Court said officials must take the children’s interests seriously.
Dalam bahasa sederhana
Seorang perempuan Jamaika yang bertahun-tahun menjadi pekerja rumah tangga tinggal di rumah majikan akan dideportasi, meninggalkan empat anaknya yang lahir di Kanada. MA menyatakan pejabat wajib serius menimbang kepentingan anak-anak.
Pertanyaan: Haruskah pejabat menimbang kepentingan anak-anak kelahiran Kanada dari seorang pekerja rumah tangga sebelum mendeportasinya?
What happened afterwards
- 1999-07-09: Decision quashed.
Sources
Open this decision in the interactive collection (compare, filter, Indonesian view, downloads).
Cite as: Institute for Migrant Rights (2026), Migration Jurisprudence from the South, version 0.1, https://theimr.org/court-decisions/d/ca-baker-1999/. This page summarizes a court decision for research and advocacy; it is not legal advice.