The published refugee claim process in Canada: claiming at a port of entry or inland, the eligibility interview and referral to the Refugee Protection Division, the Basis of Claim information submitted through the IRCC portal, evidence, and the hearing, with legal aid help to seek first.
Applies in: CA
This guide describes only the published steps for starting a refugee claim in Canada. It gives no legal advice, makes no prediction about any claim, and offers no view on whether any person should claim or on the merits of any claim. Refugee claims are decided on individual facts and evidence by the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, and the steps below must be read with the help of counsel.
Seek professional help as early as possible. The Immigration and Refugee Board encourages claimants to get professional help, called counsel, to complete the Basis of Claim information. The Board does not offer legal aid and does not pay for representation. Its legal aid page lists immigration and refugee legal aid services in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, and directs readers to contact the legal aid office in their province for detailed information on services and eligibility. Contact that office at the first step. Deadlines in this process are set by the documents and portal notices the claimant receives, and finding counsel after a deadline has passed cannot restore the time.
No commentary on refugee policy appears in this guide. The pages cited are the Board's own claimant instructions and the legal aid list. Where a step differs by route, the guide keeps the two routes separate.
A refugee claim can be made at a Canadian port of entry, meaning an airport, land border, or seaport, or from inside Canada, meaning inland. The route follows the facts of arrival and presence in Canada. Both routes end at the same decision-maker for referred claims, the Refugee Protection Division.
At a port of entry, the claim can be made as soon as the person arrives in Canada. The claimant speaks with a Canada Border Services Agency officer, who asks questions to see whether the person can make a refugee claim, takes fingerprints and a photo, and helps with forms or directs the claimant to an online portal to complete web forms. If the officer decides the person can make a claim, the officer sends the claim to the Refugee Protection Division.
Inland, the claimant completes the online application using the IRCC portal and attends an appointment at an IRCC office. Once the online application is started, the claimant has up to 90 days to complete part 1, and must start over if it is not finished within that time. After the application is submitted, the claimant receives an appointment to meet an officer at an IRCC office about the claim. If that officer decides the person can make a claim, the officer sends the claim to the Refugee Protection Division.
When an officer decides the person can make a claim, the officer directs the claimant to complete the refugee claim application in the IRCC portal and gives a Notice of Application Due Date, which shows when the complete application is due and explains how to complete it. Basis of Claim information is submitted through the IRCC portal as part of the claim application for claims made on or after November 3, 2026; the paper Basis of Claim form applied only to claims referred before that date. The Refugee Protection Identity Document helps the claimant get health care coverage and apply for a work permit or a study permit. Keep the Notice of Application Due Date and the identity document with the claim papers, and keep copies of everything submitted.
The officer's decision at this stage is about referral, not about the claim itself. The officer decides whether the person can make a refugee claim and have it sent to the Division. The Division decides whether the claim for refugee protection succeeds. Confusing those two decisions is the most common misunderstanding in the early stage of the process, and it matters because the evidence and hearing steps that follow are directed to the Division, not to the referring officer.
The Basis of Claim information is the claimant's own account of why refugee protection is being asked for: who the claimant is, who is feared and why, any serious harm or persecution, and why return is not possible. It is submitted through the IRCC portal as part of the refugee claim application, together with supporting documents. Get professional help to complete it. The Board encourages counsel for this information in both routes, and it must be accurate and complete, because it frames the evidence and the hearing. Each family member's information must be declared true, complete, and correct, and a family member may rely on information entered for another member of the group where the application allows it.
After the application is submitted, IRCC or the Canada Border Services Agency reviews it for completeness. If more information is needed, the claimant receives a notice through the IRCC portal with a due date to reply, and missing that due date sends the claim to the Refugee Protection Division for a pre-referral abandonment process. Changes to the Basis of Claim information before referral are made through the IRCC web form by selecting 'Update your application'; once the claim is referred, updates go through the evidence process in Step 4. The deadlines in the portal notices and on the officer's documents govern — treat those, not any general summary, as the deadlines.
Start collecting evidence as soon as possible. The Board's instruction is direct: do not wait for a hearing date, because early evidence may allow the Division to decide the claim sooner or to accept it without a hearing. Evidence must reach the Division as early as possible and no later than 10 days before the hearing, or the Division may decide it cannot be used.
Personal evidence must establish identity first. Send clear, readable copies of official documents that include name and date of birth. Where original identity documents are not available, be ready to explain why they are not available and how the claimant tried to obtain them before the hearing. Original documents given to the Canada Border Services Agency or to IRCC will be copied to the Division by those bodies, but originals and copies should still be brought to the hearing.
Other evidence should help show that the claimant can be believed, has a real fear of persecution, faces a risk specific to the claimant rather than a risk faced by everyone in the country, will not be protected by the government in the country, or would not be safe in a different part of the country. Examples on the Board's page include proof of membership in political organizations, police reports, travel visas, sworn statements from witnesses, medical or psychological reports, travel documents, notes or recordings of threats, news clippings, photographs, and business records. The list is illustrative, and any evidence the claimant thinks supports the claim can be sent.
Country conditions evidence follows a separate rule. The Board produces a National Documentation Package for every country, a collection of public documents on country conditions, and the Division already considers package documents part of the evidence in each claim. Check the newest version of the package for the home country before the hearing, do not send documents already in the package, and send only country information not already in the package, within a 100-page limit per country. Where more than 100 pages are needed for a country, an application to send voluminous disclosure must be made, and a Division member decides whether the material is relevant.
Witnesses follow the same 10-day rule. A witness knows about the claim and can give information supporting it, must be ready to answer questions, and cannot join the hearing before testifying. At least 10 days before the hearing, send the Division the witness's address, telephone number, or other contact information, the relationship to the claimant, why the witness will speak and what information can be shared, how much time is needed, and whether an interpreter is needed and in what language and dialect. For an expert witness, state the expertise and qualifications, have the witness write and sign a summary of what will be said, and send the signed summary to the Division. The Division member decides at the hearing whether the witness needs to be heard.
The Refugee Protection Division decides the claim. In some cases it can accept a claim without a hearing, on the evidence in the file. In other cases it schedules a hearing and sends a Notice to Appear with the date, time, and location. The Division's hearing guide and preparation materials describe how to get ready, and counsel prepares the claimant for testimony and for the evidence the member may raise.
This guide states no waiting time for a hearing, no hearing length, and no description of hearing procedure beyond the witness and evidence rules on the official pages, because those figures and procedures are set case by case and the claimant's Notice to Appear and counsel's preparation govern. Attend on the scheduled date and time, bring originals and copies of all documents, and follow any direction in the Notice to Appear about attendance, whether in person or by videoconference. If a hearing date cannot be attended, raise the matter with the Division and with counsel at once, in writing, rather than simply not attending, because non-attendance engages the abandonment process the Board's pages describe.
After the hearing or file review, the Division issues its decision. This guide describes nothing about what follows a decision, because the next steps depend on the decision itself and on counsel's advice. Do not treat any general statement about appeals or later applications as a substitute for the decision letter and for counsel's advice on that letter.
This guide states no eligibility criteria for refugee protection, no list of bars to referral, no hearing waiting time, no hearing length, no success rate, and no appeal deadline, because none of those figures appears on the Immigration and Refugee Board pages in a form that can be stated as a general rule. It states no legal aid eligibility test or funding amount, because eligibility and services are set by each provincial legal aid office and must be checked with that office. It states no work permit or health coverage processing time, because the Refugee Protection Identity Document helps with those applications without fixing their timelines. Where a figure was cut, the guide points to the Board page or the legal aid office that owns it.
A claim can be made in two ways: on arrival at a Canadian port of entry, meaning an airport, land border, or seaport, or after entry, from inside Canada, which the Immigration and Refugee Board calls inland. At a port of entry, the claimant speaks with a Canada Border Services Agency officer. Inland, the claimant completes an online application through the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada portal and then attends an appointment at an IRCC office. In both routes, an officer asks questions to decide whether the person can make a refugee claim, and if so, sends the claim to the Refugee Protection Division, which decides the claim. The route is set by where and when the person asks for protection, not by preference for one decision-maker over another, because the Refugee Protection Division decides referred claims from both routes.
Basis of Claim information, known as BOC information, is the claimant's own account of why refugee protection is being asked for, submitted as part of the refugee claim application through the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada portal. As of November 3, 2026, that is how BOC information is submitted; the paper Basis of Claim form, known as the BOC form, was used only for claims referred to the Refugee Protection Division before November 3, 2026, with one form per family member. Inland, part 1 of the online application must be completed within 90 days of starting it; if part 1 is not submitted within 90 days, the claimant must start over with a new application. After the application is submitted, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or the Canada Border Services Agency reviews it, and if more information is needed the claimant receives a notice through the IRCC portal with a due date to reply; missing that due date sends the claim to the Division for a pre-referral abandonment process. The deadlines on the documents and portal notices given to the claimant govern over any general summary.
Yes, seek professional help as early as possible. The Immigration and Refugee Board encourages claimants to get professional help to complete the Basis of Claim information, and calls the professionals who provide it counsel. The Board itself does not offer legal aid and does not pay for a lawyer or other counsel. Its legal aid page lists immigration and refugee legal aid services in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, which may include legal information, advice, assistance, and representation for eligible persons, and it directs readers to contact the legal aid office in their province for services and eligibility. Check the legal aid office in the province where the claim is being made before assuming help is available, and ask about eligibility and timelines at the first contact, because the deadlines in the portal notices and the evidence deadlines do not wait for a representative to be found.
The officer, from the Canada Border Services Agency at a port of entry or from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada inland, asks questions to see whether the person can make a refugee claim, takes fingerprints and a photo at a port of entry, and helps with forms or directs the claimant to the online portal. If the officer decides the person can make a claim, the officer sends the claim to the Refugee Protection Division, directs the claimant to complete the refugee claim application in the IRCC portal, and gives a Notice of Application Due Date, which shows when the complete application is due and explains how to complete it. The Refugee Protection Identity Document helps with health care coverage and with applying for a work permit or a study permit. An eligibility decision is a decision that a claim can be made and referred, not a decision on the claim itself. The Refugee Protection Division makes the decision on the claim.
Send evidence as early as possible, and do not wait for a hearing date. The Refugee Protection Division accepts personal evidence, meaning information about the claimant and the claim, and country conditions evidence, meaning information about conditions in the claimant's country. Evidence must reach the Division no later than 10 days before the hearing, or the Division may decide it cannot be used. Personal evidence includes clear copies of official documents showing name and date of birth, such as a passport, national identity card, birth certificate, marriage certificate, driver's licence, or military document, plus any other documents that help show why protection is needed, such as police reports, sworn witness statements, medical or psychological reports, travel documents, notes or recordings of threats, news clippings, photographs, or business records. Originals need not be sent unless the Division asks, but originals and copies should both be brought to the hearing. For country evidence, check the newest National Documentation Package for the home country first, do not send documents already in the package, and keep country evidence to 100 pages per country unless an application to send voluminous disclosure is made.
Not always. The Refugee Protection Division can accept a claim without a hearing after reviewing the evidence in the file, including security screening confirmation, the Basis of Claim information, identity documents, and other evidence and submissions. Sending evidence early can allow the Division to decide the claim sooner, or to accept it without a hearing. Where a hearing is scheduled, the claimant receives a Notice to Appear with the date, time, and location, and witnesses must be notified to the Division at least 10 days before the hearing with their contact details, relationship to the claimant, what they will speak about, how much time they need, and any interpreter need. This guide states no hearing length and no waiting time, because no hearing schedule or duration figure appears on the Board pages, and both vary by case and office.
Figures that could not be verified on an official page were cut from this guide: eligibility criteria, hearing waiting times and lengths, success rates, appeal deadlines, legal aid eligibility tests, and work permit and health coverage processing times. This guide is process information only and is not legal advice. Seek counsel and check legal aid in the province where the claim is made before acting on any step described here.