A man who was found guilty of drug trafficking for bringing fentanyl from Ottawa into Sudbury, Ont., has lost a lengthy legal battle to avoid being deported. Mohamad Kassar had fought the decision to send him to Lebanon following his conviction more than a decade ago for transporting fentanyl and hydromorphone pills to Sudbury. “He was convicted for trafficking fentanyl in 2018 and was sentenced to a 45-month term of imprisonment,” said the decision by the Federal Court of Canada dated Aug. 28. “He was released on parole in June 2021 and thereafter complied with his parole conditions.” Kassar came to Canada from Lebanon in 1991 and has returned there twice since then. He also became a permanent resident of Canada in 1991, a status that was revoked after his drug conviction. An order to deport him was issued in 2019, but that “order was not acted upon for several years,” the decision said. He applied to have his permanent residency status restored in April 2025 on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, but that was denied. Kassar was to be deported on Feb. 13, 2026. He applied for a temporary residency permit in January, which was denied in June. Granted temporary stay He also applied to have his removal deferred on a number of grounds, including that it would be in “best interests of his grandchildren, for whom he said he provided regular care,” as well as “his medical condition.” That request was also denied, and he sought a judicial review of the rejection and stay of his removal. He was granted a temporary stay of his removal based, in part, on the “arguments regarding his health and the availability of health care in Lebanon.” He argued that his health challenges -- chronic pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, major depression and a “suspicious lung lesion” – could deteriorate quickly if he was unable to access medication in Lebanon. However, the ministry said health deferrals under Canadian legislation are only intended to deal with “short-term impediments to removal, and not life-long medical needs.” “Nevertheless, (an earlier ruling) found that Mr. Kassar would experience irreparable harm if his medical care were to be interrupted due to the gravity and scale of the health-care crisis in Lebanon,” the decision said. “Given the circumstances, the court found that the balance of convenience favoured Mr. Kassar.” He was allowed to remain while his temporary residency permit (TRP) was evaluated. That process, however, concluded that Kassar’s past employment as a labourer “was readily replaceable within the Canadian labour market.” “The bar for Mr. Kassar to demonstrate a benefit from his continued presence in Canada was higher due to him being inadmissible for serious criminality, and that his serious criminality arises from a single event,” the decision said. In addition, arguments that he couldn’t get treatment in Lebanon were “generalized and unsupported by objective, country-specific medical evidence.” “Medical vulnerability does not negate the risk associated with past conduct, nor does it create an entitlement to remain in Canada,” the decision by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said. “Based on the information provided, the applicant has not established that his medical circumstances constitute an urgent, compelling need that outweighs the risks posed by his inadmissibility. The evidence does not support the issuance of a TRP.” He appealed that ruling. To win, he needed to prove three things: there is an issue to be tried, that he would suffer “irreparable harm” if the motion was dismissed and that the balance of “convenience lies in his favour.” While agreeing that there was an issue to be tried, the appeals court ruled that arguing his grandchildren would suffer irreparable harm if he was removed didn’t reach the threshold required by law to allow him to stay. They would still be cared for by their parents – he was not their primary caregiver. “There is no evidence led to suggest that Mr. Kassar’s removal would imply a serious likelihood of jeopardy to his grandchildren’s life, security or safety,” the court ruling said. The court also didn’t accept the argument that he couldn’t access prescription medicine and Vitamin D in Lebanon. And in any event, “this court and the Federal Court of Appeal have consistently been very clear for a number of years that concerns about health care in a foreign country do not constitute irreparable harm.” “Mr. Kassar’s arguments as to irreparable harm on the basis of remedial injustice arising from his removal are therefore rejected,” the court ruled. Read the full decision here.
