Canada will not put you on a plane because an American agent sounds urgent. The Extradition Act, 1999 controls the modern process - Authority to Proceed, a judicial committal hearing, then a Minister of Justice surrender decision. Provincial superior courts test the record of the case before anyone talks transport. Charter protections, including the Supreme Court of Canada framework from United States v. Burns on death-penalty exposure, still matter in serious packages. Canadian citizenship will not stop a qualifying request by itself. Spodek Law Group P.C. fights Canadian procedure while preparing the US indictment waiting after transport from Vancouver to Halifax corridors. Risk-free consultation. Call 212 300 5196 - attorney on call, 24/7.
ATP, then committal, then the Minister - miss a stage and you lose it.
Canadian extradition is sequenced. The Attorney General issues an Authority to Proceed. A judge then holds a committal hearing on whether the record of the case could justify committal under Canadian standards. Only after that does the Minister of Justice decide surrender, including Charter and humanitarian grounds. Argue evidence sufficiency to the wrong official and you burn leverage. We map which defects belong to the judge and which belong in Ministerial submissions.
No nationality bar - Canadian citizenship will not stop surrender.
Canada does not refuse extradition solely because you are a Canadian national. Citizenship comfort is one of the most expensive myths in northern border cases. Dual criminality, identity, abuse-of-process arguments, Charter rights, and Ministerial discretion remain the real battlefield. Fix your passport stories early so strategy focuses on the Extradition Act tools that actually move outcomes.
Record of the case is the evidence culture - attack summaries, not vibes.
Committal turns on the record of the case, not a full American jury trial in Vancouver or Toronto. That means US prosecutors lean on certified summaries and affidavits. Gaps, unreliable hearsay packaging, and overbroad conspiracy narratives can still fail Canadian judicial scrutiny when counsel force precision. We treat every page of that record as a fight document for both the Canadian court and later US specialty fights.
Charter and Burns still shape death-penalty and fairness fights.
United States v. Burns remains a landmark for when Canada faces capital exposure in a US request. Broader Charter arguments - delay, disclosure problems, mistreatment risk, and abuse of process - can feed both committal resistance and Ministerial refusal submissions. Many law firms are mills that push quick consent. We are selective because Canadian timelines reward real Charter work and parallel US defense preparation.
Consent to extradition ends the leverage Canadian law built for you.
Waiving or consenting to committal can collapse judicial review before Charter arguments or record defects get briefed. Soft interviews with RCMP, CBSA, or visiting US agents become federal exhibits. You need Canadian counsel fluent in superior-court practice and US counsel ready for EDNY, SDNY, DNJ, or border districts. Spodek Law Group P.C. coordinates both under one privilege umbrella.
