Raison d'être
The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) is an independent, accountable administrative tribunal established by Parliament on January 1, 1989, to resolve immigration and refugee cases fairly, efficiently and in accordance with the law. The IRB ensures continued benefits to Canadians: by only accepting refugee claimants needing protection in accordance with international obligations and Canadian law; by contributing to the integrity of the immigration system, the safety and security of Canadians and upholding Canada's reputation of justice and fairness for individuals; and promoting family reunification. The IRB also contributes to the quality of life of Canada's communities by strengthening our country's social fabric and by reflecting and reinforcing core values that are important to Canadians. These include respect for human rights, peace, security and the rule of law. The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship is responsible for this organization.
Mandate and role
The IRB is Canada's largest independent administrative tribunal. It is responsible for making well-reasoned decisions on immigration and refugee matters, efficiently, fairly and in accordance with the law. The IRB decides, among other responsibilities, who needs refugee protection among the thousands of claimants who come to Canada annually.
Operating context
The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB or the Board) operates within a context that can be unpredictable as a result of increasing migration and shifting mobility patterns worldwide, as well as changing global attitudes and policies towards immigration. Canada received a record-setting intake of new claims for refugee protection in fiscal year 2023 to 2024, with early indications that this trend will continue in fiscal year 2024 to 2025. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees noted that in 2023, Canada was the fifth largest recipient of new individual refugee applications in the world.
The last five years have seen the Board grow, navigate through a global pandemic, and build a virtual-by-default tribunal, while finalizing a record number of cases. As the IRB's operating context changes, the Board needs to continually adapt to ensure the integrity of the Canadian immigration and refugee determination system.
In fiscal year 2023 to 2024, the Board finalized nearly 80,000 decisions across all divisions on immigration and refugee matters. This is a 10% increase compared to fiscal year 2022 to 2023. However, as of March 31, 2024, it also saw a 98% increase in intake due to a surge of 156,900 new refugee claims and a 119% increase in the inventory of pending cases for the Refugee Protection Division.
The permanent and temporary funding announced in Budget 2022 helped the IRB address some of its capacity challenges. Permanent funding helped ensure the sustainability of processing up to 50,000 refugee claims, and up to 11,500 refugee appeals. Temporary funding allowed additional finalizations in fiscal year 2023 to 2024 to address inventory volumes and wait times. Specifically, it enabled the Board to finalize 55,300 refugee protection claims with an average wait time of 14 months in fiscal year 2023 to 2024. However, the wait time for actionable cases (case files that are complete and ready to be scheduled) is expected to increase with the anticipated intake of refugee claims going well beyond the IRB's funded processing capacity.
The Board developed and began implementing its new strategic direction, “Horizon 2026-27,” to better position the organization to deliver on its mandate in a time of high demand. The new strategic plan focuses on strengthening the resiliency of the Board to increase its capacity to process more claims faster, without compromising on quality, so that it can maintain its ability to render fair decisions and provide timely access to adjudication and decisions, despite the growing inventory.