IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2025-03

Canadian Asylum System

March 2025

Purpose

Provide information about the Canadian Asylum System

• System overview
• Implementation partners
• Pre-removal Risk Assessments and Protected Person in Canada status

Provide information about the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States
Update on recent developments and next steps for the Canadian Asylum System

Context

• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports 130.8M people forcibly displaced at the end of 2024
• Canada faces significant rise in volumes of claims and change in mode – increasing pressure on the asylum system:
  • over 92,000 in 2022, over 144,000 in 2023, and over 173,000 in 2024
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System overview

Canada’s asylum system reflects our domestic legal framework, international obligations, and humanitarian traditions. Once in Canada, individuals have a right to seek asylum and may not be returned to a country of persecution (“non-refoulement”).

Who claims asylum

• Claimants typically arrive as temporary residents (e.g. visitors, students, workers) but some arrive irregularly
• Claims can be made
  • To the Canada Border Services Agency at a port of entry (airport, land border or marine port)
  • To IRCC at an inland office (including online)

Eligibility

• Criteria set out in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)
• Determined by the Canada Border Services Agency at ports of entry and inland offices, or by IRCC at inland offices
• Eligible claims referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board for decision to grant refugee protection

Basis of claims

• Refugees must have a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of:
  • Race; religion; nationality; political opinion; and/or membership in a particular social group and
  • Face a risk of torture or risk to life, or cruel and unusual treatment, or punishment

Approval

• Those whose claims are approved become protected persons and may apply for permanent resident status
• Those determined ineligible or whose claims are denied (failed claimants) are subject to removal from Canada, once all recourse mechanisms are exhausted

Implementing The System – A Shared Responsibility

• Federal Government issues work permits and provides coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program.
• Provinces and territories provide social assistance, education, emergency housing, and legal aid while claim is pending.
• Municipalities may also provide supports, such as temporary shelter.

Asylum System

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)

• Overall mandate for the asylum system; policy direction, guiding implementation, monitoring, reporting, & delivering some parts of the program

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)

Enforcement policies;
leading various security and enforcement activities (e.g. security screening, removal of failed claimants).

Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)

• Independent administrative tribunal; refugee claim determination and appeals.

Federal Court

Judicial review of decisions made by the IRB and IRCC.

Outcomes – Pre-removal Risk Assessment and Protected Person in Canada

• Persons who allege risk upon return may apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA), which evaluates whether a person would face persecution, torture, risk to life or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if returned.

Eligibility

• Yes - some failed claimants, persons ineligible to make a claim and persons who are inadmissible to Canada.
• No - Failed refugee claimants (incl. abandoned or withdrawn claims), barred from PRRA for a period of one-year after they received their last negative decision (from the IRB or the Federal Court)
• Exceptions - CBSA may defer the removal of a person subject to the PRRA bar and allow them to apply for a PRRA.

Decision outcomes

• Positive - person may be granted Protected Person status and remain in Canada*;
• Negative – Removal
  • Negative PRRA can be challenged in Federal Court - Challenges do not prevent removal unless Court agrees to stay of removal
• An individual becomes a Protected Person in Canada (PPiC) through either:
  • A positive refugee status determination from the Immigration and Refugee Board
  • A Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) by IRCC determines the individual is at risk of persecution, torture or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment in country of removal.
• Once a PPiC, they can apply for permanent residency (PR) and can include Dependent Relatives (DR) as part of PR application.
• Usually dependent relatives are:
  • processed separately from the PPiC PR applications
  • not processed until after the relationship to the PPiC has been established, and admissibility has been assessed
• Stakeholders have been critical of the continuously growing length of family separation time for PPiCs and DRs overseas

Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA)

• Bilateral treaty requiring foreign nationals to pursue refugee protection in the first safe country they arrive in (U.S. or Canada)
  • Those entering Canada from the U.S. are returned to the U.S. (and vice versa), unless they qualify for an exception or an exemption
• Between 2004 and March 2023, the STCA only applied at official land ports of entry. In March 2023, application expanded to the entire Canada-U.S. land border, including internal waterways through the Additional Protocol to the STCA.
• Changes needed post-2017 following a surge of irregular arrivals, mostly through Roxham Road, Quebec, who sought to evade application of the STCA (approx. 20,000 per year in 2017, 2018, 2019 to approx. 40,000 in 2022)
  • Changes deter irregular crossings (approx. 17,000 in 2023 and less than 4,500 in 2024)
  • Ensure consistent treatment of claimants entering via the land border

With the Additional Protocol, the STCA Extended to Persons Crossing:

• between ports of entry
• internal waters along the border (NOT coastal waters)
• and who make an asylum claim within 14 days of crossing
• (N.B. STCA does not apply to claims made after 14 days)

Who Is Still Eligible?

• STCA exempt – U.S. or Canadian citizens or stateless individuals who are considered former habitual residents thereof
• Four categories of exceptions outlined in the Agreement –
  • Family member in Canada (most used)
  • Unaccompanied minors
  • Document holders (e.g. valid Temporary Resident Visa)
  • Public interest exceptions (currently one – facing the death penalty in the U.S. or in a third country)

Individuals eligible under the STCA still subject to all other IRPA admissibility and eligibility

STCA is based on recognition that both countries maintain a commitment to human rights and have robust refugee protection systems that meet international standards – enabling responsibility sharing for asylum claims along the border.

IRPA sets out factors U.S. must meet to maintain its designation as a safe third country – IRCC Minister is accountable for the ongoing review.

Recent Developments – General

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• Refugee intake rose steadily to 64,020 claims in 2019, dipped to under 25,000 claims during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but has increased from 91,635 claims in 2022 to 171,900 in 2024.
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• To support system stability and integrity, Budget 2024 proposed $743.5 million over five years, starting in
  2024–2025, and $159.5 million ongoing
  • Announced legislative changes to simplify and ensure a fast, fair, and final process for the growing number of claimants
  • Amendments were introduced in Bill C-69 (Budget Implementation Act) but withdrawn from the final bill
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Recent Developments – [Redacted]

Budget Implementation Act 2024 – Asylum Reform

Legislative amendments to impact all stages of the asylum process, from initial application through decision making to the post-decision stage, to ensure system-wide efficiencies and enhancements, including:

• Ministerial due diligence - Allow Minister (IRCC and Public Safety) to analyze and review claims and prepare ‘hearing ready’ files prior to referral of claims to the IRB
• One application - Specify info and docs required when claim is initiated, including requiring that info be submitted online within prescribed timelines
• Pre-referral abandonment - Allow Minister of IRCC to determine claim is withdrawn prior to referring claim to the IRB and ensure IRB has the authority to determine a claim abandoned
• Designated representative - Appoint representatives for those unable to appreciate nature of proceedings, including minors

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Key Takeaways/Next Steps

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For Approval:

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Annex 1 - Asylum system overview

Refugee claimants arriving from the U.S. at Canada-U.S. land border are returned to the U.S. to make their claim there unless they fit an exception/exemption to the STCA

Legend

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
  Mandate for the overall system, incl. policy, implementation guidance, and program delivery

• Canada Border Services Agency
  Shares in program delivery, incl. by having IRPA-designated decision makers

• Royal Canadian Mounted Police/Canadian Security Intelligence Service Support IRCC and CBSA

• Immigration and Refugee Board
  Decision on claim and appeals

• Federal Court Judicial review of decisions

Pre-Removal Risk Assessments (PRRA) are also available to failed claimants after a certain period of time has passed since their last negative decisions

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