This is a description of Canada’s protection system. It is not advice to make a claim, and it is not a way to plan a claim.
Refugee protection is for people who cannot safely go home. It is not a faster economic program, and it is not family sponsorship under another name. A refused claim can lead to removal. A claim that is not genuine can be treated as misrepresentation.
Two different paths
- Overseas — resettlement. The person is outside Canada. If accepted, they arrive as a permanent resident. There is no hearing in Canada.
- Inland — a claim made in Canada or at a port of entry. The Immigration and Refugee Board decides. Permanent residence comes only after the person is found to be protected.
How we can help
- Explain which of the two paths matches where the person actually is.
- For overseas resettlement, explain who can refer or sponsor, and that there is no public form to join a list alone.
- For an inland claim, explain eligibility to be referred, the hearing, and what a refusal can mean. We do not describe how to avoid the Safe Third Country Agreement.
Overseas Processing
The person has fled their country and, in the usual case, is outside their home country when they are considered.
The three groups
- Government-assisted refugees — supported by the government after arrival.
- Privately sponsored refugees — supported by a Sponsorship Agreement Holder, a Group of Five, or a Community Sponsor. The sponsor’s role is under Sponsorship.
- Blended visa office-referred — referred by the visa office, supported partly by the government and partly by a private group.
What has to be true
- The person meets the refugee definition used for resettlement, passes medical and security checks, and fits the stream.
- Referral comes from the UN Refugee Agency, another referral organization, or a private sponsorship group. There is no public form to join the list alone.
- Processing is at a visa office. Acceptance means a permanent-resident visa. The person is a permanent resident on arrival, not a claimant waiting for a hearing.
- Housing, the support period, and settlement services depend on which group they are in.
- A private group that is not approved, or that cannot show the funds and the plan, cannot move the file.
How we can help
- Identify which of the three groups could realistically support this person.
- Prepare the sponsorship side with the group that is actually allowed to sponsor, then the visa-office file.
Inland Processing
The claim is made by a person who is in Canada, or who arrives at a port of entry and asks for protection.
How it moves
- The claim starts with IRCC or the Canada Border Services Agency.
- An officer decides whether the claim is eligible to be referred.
- If it is, the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board decides whether the person is a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection. That hearing is the centre of the inland system.
- While waiting, the person may be able to get a work permit or a study permit, and remains under the conditions of the claim.
- If accepted, the person becomes a protected person and can then apply for permanent residence.
- If refused, there may be an appeal or a judicial review in some cases. Removal can follow when the process is over.
Who is not referred
- A claim can be ineligible, for example where the person has already been recognized as a refugee in a country they can return to.
- The Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States generally bars a person who arrives at a land port of entry from the United States from making a claim in Canada, unless an exception applies. Exceptions have included certain family members in Canada and unaccompanied minors.
- The agreement is a rule about where a claim may be made. Crossing between ports of entry to avoid it is not a strategy this page will describe. It can lead to detention and removal.
- The Board decides on evidence about risk in the home country, not on the desire to stay in Canada.
How we can help
- Explain whether a claim made at a port or an inland office is eligible to be referred, including the Safe Third Country Agreement where it applies.
- Help prepare the evidence the Board actually decides on: risk in the home country.
- If the person is found to be protected, prepare the later permanent-residence application. If the claim is refused, explain the appeal or review that may exist, without treating refusal as a pause.
