The IRPA is implementing the terms of the international agreements on refugees which Canada has signed.

This was central to the recent SCOC decision that found the recent amendments to the IRPA on human to be overbroad ruling a migrant who aids in his own illegal entry or the illegal entry of other refugees or asylum‑seekers in their collective flight to safety is not inadmissible under s. 37(1) (b). Acts of humanitarian and mutual aid (including aid between family members) do not constitute people smuggling under the IRPA. See  B010 v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2015 SCC 58.

It will be up to the Refugee Protection Division of the IRB to determine if the claimants meet the statutory definition of Convention Refugee.  If they are economic migrants then they will not be entitled to protection.

See the IRB publication "INTERPRETATION OF THE CONVENTION REFUGEE DEFINITION IN THE CASE LAW".
http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/Eng/BoaCom/references/LegJur/Pages/RefDef.aspx#table