CIMM – Support to Decision-Makers at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) – March 24, 2022

Key messages

• Members of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) are independent decision-makers who hear and adjudicate all cases based on their individual merits and the evidence presented, in accordance with the law.
• All members must go through extensive training and orientation before hearing cases, with a strong emphasis on professional, fair and ethical conduct. Topics include intersectionality and trauma-informed practices, and unconscious bias in decision-making.
• In addition, to support and enhance quality and consistency in decision-making, while respecting adjudicative independence, the IRB provides tools to members such as Chairperson’s Guidelines.
• These Guidelines, which members are expected to apply, provide guidance on avoiding stereotypes and incorrect assumptions in decision-making and provide best practices in assessing credibility and evidence.

Supplementary messages

Review of Chairperson’s Guidelines

• The IRB regularly reviews and updates its suite of adjudicative policy instruments to provide members with tools that reflect the most up-to-date research and case-law.
• In recent years the Board undertook a comprehensive review of the Guidelines on Gender and on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics. It was recently published in December 2021.
• The IRB is also currently updating its Chairperson’s Guidelines on gender, vulnerable persons and children.

Training - Establishment of a Gender-Related Task Force:

• The IRB has implemented a number of additional measures to ensure members have the training they need, including the establishment in 2020 of a Gender Related Task Force to bring enhanced expertise and awareness to the adjudication of gender-related refugee claims.
• Members received extensive, specialized, evidence-based training from subject matter experts including lawyers and practitioners in trauma-informed practice.