Refugee Protection and the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)

Canada gives refugee protection to people in Canada who meet the legal definition of a Convention refugee (section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act) or a person in need of protection (section 97). Officers of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) receive claims and decide whether they are eligible. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), an independent tribunal, decides eligible claims. The CBSA enforces removal orders when a claim is ineligible or rejected.

The IRB has four divisions. The Refugee Protection Division (RPD) decides refugee claims. The Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decides appeals of RPD decisions. The Immigration Division (ID) holds admissibility hearings and detention reviews. The Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) hears appeals of sponsorship refusals, some removal orders and residency obligation decisions.

The point most people get wrong is timing. Deadlines start early: at the eligibility interview, at referral to the IRB and when you receive your Notice to Appear. A missed deadline can lead to your claim being declared abandoned, and an abandoned claim cannot be made again.

A refugee claim is likely the right route if:

• you fear persecution in your country because of your race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group
• you face a danger of torture, a risk to your life, or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment
• the authorities in your country cannot or will not protect you, and no other part of your country is safe for you
• you are in Canada or at a Canadian port of entry, and none of the eligibility bars below applies

Look at other options if:

• you mainly want to work, study or join family in Canada; claiming asylum is not a shortcut to staying longer
• your claim is ineligible or was rejected; a pre-removal risk assessment or a humanitarian and compassionate application may still be open
• you are a permanent resident with a removal order, or your family sponsorship was refused; that is an appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division
• the risk comes only from a lack of adequate medical care in your country, which section 97 does not cover

You cannot make a claim if you have an active removal order. Section 101 of the Act lists the reasons an officer must find a claim ineligible to be referred to the RPD.

The one-year and 14-day rules apply to claims made on or after June 3, 2025. Neither applies to a child under 18 who has no parent or legally responsible adult in Canada. The one-year rule also does not apply if you submitted the start of your claim in the IRCC Portal within your first year in Canada. People affected by these rules can still be considered for a pre-removal risk assessment.

The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) with the United States applies at land border crossings, to people who cross between crossings and claim less than 14 days after entering, to train arrivals, and at airports only for people in transit after removal from the United States. It does not apply to US citizens or to stateless people who habitually live there. Its exceptions cover certain family members in Canada (for example a citizen, permanent resident, protected person, permit holder or adult with a pending claim), unaccompanied minors, holders of certain Canadian documents such as a visa, work permit or study permit, and people facing the death penalty.

1. 1

   1. Make your claim

   At a port of entry, you tell a CBSA officer you want to claim asylum, and the officer interviews you. Inside Canada, you submit the first part of the application in the IRCC Portal (the IRB says within 90 days of starting it), and IRCC invites you to an in-person interview where you officially make your claim. Bring original passports and identity documents; the officer keeps travel documents, gives you certified copies and fingerprints everyone aged 14 and older.

2. 2

   2. Eligibility decision

   The officer decides at the interview whether your claim is eligible. If it is, you receive a conditional removal order (enforced only if the claim is withdrawn, abandoned or rejected), a Notice of Application Due Date, a Refugee Protection Identity Document and instructions for your immigration medical exam.

3. 3

   3. Complete your application

   You complete the full application in the IRCC Portal by your due date, normally 60 days, with one automatic 30-day extension if you ask before the due date. Since November 3, 2026, your Basis of Claim information (who you fear, what happened, why you cannot return) is part of this application. Answer every question in English or French, completely and truthfully, and upload your identity documents and any personal evidence you have.

4. 4

   4. Screening and referral

   IRCC or the CBSA checks the application and carries out security and other screening; send any requested information by the deadline. The IRB says officers have up to 365 days for this review. When the claim is referred, you receive a Confirmation of Referral, and from then on you send updates and evidence to the IRB.

5. 5

   5. Send your evidence

   Personal evidence (identity documents, police and medical reports, letters, photographs) is now due within 30 days after referral, or 60 days for claims referred from November 3, 2026 to January 3, 2027. Claims referred earlier keep the old deadline of 10 days before the hearing. Country conditions evidence is due 10 days before the hearing, up to 100 pages per country without permission.

6. 6

   6. Notice to Appear

   The RPD sends the date, time and format of your hearing. Changes or additions to your Basis of Claim information must generally arrive within 5 days after you receive the Notice to Appear. Transitional rule: if your claim was referred on or before November 2, 2026 and you receive the Notice to Appear on or before January 3, 2027, changes to your Basis of Claim form are due no later than 10 days before the hearing.

7. 7

   7. Hearing and decision

   The member may decide at the end of the hearing or later in writing. You receive a Notice of Decision with reasons, which says whether you can appeal to the RAD or apply to the Federal Court.

You can request a work permit in your claim application, with no separate application or fee; it is issued after a complete application and a passed medical exam. Children under 18 can attend school up to secondary level without a study permit. Keep your contact information current with IRCC, the CBSA and the RPD.

One RPD member decides your claim. The member decides whether you have a well-founded fear of persecution for one of the five Convention grounds (section 96), or whether removal would personally expose you to a danger of torture, a risk to your life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment (section 97). You must also show that your country cannot or will not protect you, and you may have to show you cannot live safely elsewhere in your country.

• You must be physically in Canada for the hearing and decision, or the claim may be declared abandoned.
• Most hearings are virtual. You can ask for an in-person hearing, or to use IRB equipment at an IRB office, at least 10 working days before.
• The IRB provides an interpreter free of charge if you do not speak enough English or French. Name your language and dialect in your application.
• Most hearings take less than 3 hours and are recorded. The member questions you about your application; Minister's counsel may take part in some claims.
• Children under 18 attend only if the member asks. An unaccompanied minor receives a free designated representative appointed by the IRB.
• Witness details are due at least 10 days before the hearing. A request to change the date must arrive at least 3 working days before, except in emergencies.

Documents not in English or French need a translation and a declaration from a human translator, who must say if software or artificial intelligence helped. You cannot use artificial intelligence to create or change evidence.

If the RPD rejects your claim, you may be able to appeal to the RAD; the Minister can also appeal a positive decision. Most appeals are decided without a hearing, on the RPD record and your appellant's record.

• Notice of appeal: within 15 days after you receive the RPD's written reasons.
• Appellant's record: within 45 days after you receive the written reasons. The regulations say 30 days, but a RAD practice notice in force since September 28, 2020 allows 45. Reasons sent by mail count as received 7 days after mailing.
• New evidence: only evidence that arose after the rejection or was not reasonably available at the RPD.
• If the Minister intervenes, you have 15 days to reply. If you cannot meet a deadline, apply for an extension without delay.

You cannot appeal to the RAD if you are a designated foreign national, if your claim was withdrawn or abandoned, if the RPD found no credible basis or a manifestly unfounded claim, if you claimed at the US land border under an STCA exception, or if the decision was on a Minister's application to end or cancel your protection. Judicial review may then be the remaining option. The RAD can confirm the decision, substitute its own, or send the claim back to the RPD; without a hearing, the regulations set a 90-day time limit to decide after the appeal is perfected, or as soon as feasible after that.

Pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA). When removal starts, the CBSA tells you whether you can apply. An IRCC officer then assesses the risk of persecution, torture, risk to life, or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. In most cases you must wait 12 months after your last negative decision from the IRB, a previous PRRA or the Federal Court, although some countries are exempt. You cannot apply if your claim was ineligible under the STCA, if you can return to a country that recognized you as a refugee, or if you face extradition. Applying within 15 days of being told you are eligible keeps your removal on hold until the decision.

Humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) application. This is an application for permanent residence on exceptional grounds such as how settled you are, family ties, hardship and the best interests of a child directly affected; refugee-type risk is not assessed. You cannot apply while your claim is pending at the RPD or the RAD, while another H&C application is in process, or while a pre-removal risk assessment is pending after your claim was found ineligible. You also cannot apply for 12 months after the IRB rejected or abandoned your claim, or after the Federal Court refused your case, unless removal would harm a child's best interests or you would face a risk to life from inadequate medical care. An H&C application does not stop a removal.

Judicial review. After using any appeal available, you can ask the Federal Court to review a decision, within 15 days of being notified for a matter in Canada (60 days for a matter outside Canada). The Court first decides whether to grant leave. If it finds an error, it sends the case back to be decided again. Removal is on hold while the Court reviews a RAD decision, but not an RPD decision. In the Federal Court you can represent yourself or use a lawyer; immigration consultants cannot appear there.

The Immigration Division (ID) holds admissibility hearings for people the CBSA refers to it. A finding of inadmissibility leads to a departure, exclusion or deportation order. The ID also reviews immigration detention: within 48 hours or without delay afterward, again within the next 7 days, and then at least every 30 days. The member decides whether to release the person, with conditions or a bond if needed. The ID provides interpreters.

Section 64 of the Act bars IAD appeals after a finding of inadmissibility for security, human or international rights violations, sanctions, organized criminality, or serious criminality (here, a crime punished in Canada by at least six months of imprisonment, or one described in paragraph 36(1)(b) or (c)). A sponsorship refusal for misrepresentation can be appealed only if the sponsored person is a spouse, common-law partner or child. The IAD can allow an appeal for legal or factual error, a breach of natural justice, or, except in a Minister's appeal, humanitarian and compassionate reasons including a child's best interests, and it can stay a removal order with conditions.

You do not have to hire anyone. If you pay someone to represent or advise you, section 91 of the Act requires them to be:

• a lawyer who is a member in good standing of a provincial or territorial law society
• a notary who is a member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec
• a paralegal who is a law society member in a province that allows it, such as Ontario
• a member of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC); since July 1, 2023, consultants need the Class L3 licence (RCIC-IRB) to represent anyone before the IRB, even without a fee

A friend, relative or volunteer can represent you if they receive no payment or gift. Legal aid may be available in your province. Only you can sign your application, and a paid representative cannot open a portal account for you or use your password.

A work permit requested in your claim has no fee. The Interim Federal Health Program covers your immigration medical exam and gives temporary health coverage until you get provincial or territorial insurance, until 90 days after you become a protected person, or until you leave Canada. IRB interpreters and designated representatives for minors are free. Fees for later applications, such as permanent residence or H&C, are in IRCC's fee list.

In briefing material for its March 9, 2026 appearance before the House of Commons immigration committee, the IRB said the average wait for an RPD decision was 24 months from referral as of December 31, 2025, and that waits will continue to grow. It reported an average RAD wait of 4 months and an IAD wait of about 6 months. The times shown on this page describe past cases, not how long yours will take.

• Credibility: differences between your application, your Basis of Claim information, your documents and your testimony. Correct mistakes in writing before the deadline.
• Identity not established: missing identity documents without a reasonable explanation of why, and of how you tried to get them.
• Internal flight alternative: a part of your country where you would face no serious possibility of persecution and where it would not be unreasonable for you to live.
• State protection: states are presumed able to protect their citizens, and clear and convincing evidence is needed to show protection would not be available to you.
• Delay or return: delay in claiming, or going back to your country, is not an automatic bar, but an unexplained delay can lead the member to doubt your fear.
• No Convention ground, or a general risk: section 96 needs a link to one of the five grounds, and section 97 does not cover a risk faced generally by others in your country.
• Exclusion: section 98 excludes people described in Article 1E or 1F of the Refugee Convention, such as people with status in another country or people involved in serious crimes or human rights violations.
• Late or missing evidence, and abandonment after a missed deadline, appointment or hearing, or after leaving Canada.

An appeal mostly reviews the RPD record and accepts new evidence only in limited cases, so a complete, consistent and well-documented claim at the RPD matters most.

• If the RPD or the RAD accepts your claim, you become a protected person. After a positive RAD decision, the Minister has 15 days to ask the Federal Court for leave.
• You can apply for permanent residence as a protected person; current processing times are shown below.
• Returning to your home country can lead to the loss of your protected person status.
• As a permanent resident, you can later apply for Canadian citizenship once you meet the requirements.