Refugee appeals statistics

​​The Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decides appeals of decisions of the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) to allow or reject claims for refugee protection. A person whose claim was rejected by the RPD can ask the RAD to review this decision in order to assess whether the RPD was wrong. An error by the RPD can be about the law, the facts, or both. The RAD decides whether to confirm or to change the RPD’s decision. It may also decide to send the case back to the RPD to hear it again, giving the directions to the RPD that it considers appropriate. The Minister can also appeal to the RAD a decision by the RPD allowing a claim.

The RAD generally makes its decisions without a hearing, on the basis of the submissions and the evidence provided by the parties. The person who is the subject of the appeal may also submit new evidence, for example, evidence that did not exist when the RPD made its decision. If the RAD accepts new evidence, it will consider the evidence in its review. It may also order an oral hearing to consider this new evidence.

Statistics

Please note that appeals finalized in a given year may have been filed in a previous year. The following tables include all intake: appeals by the claimant or by the Minister, and appeals that have been returned to the RAD from the Federal Court for re-determination.

Due to privacy considerations, some values in this table have been suppressed and replaced with the notation "--". As a result, components may not be a sum of the total indicated. In general, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada suppresses values less than 20.
See protecting privacy when releasing statistical information: small value suppression to learn more about how the Board approaches small value suppression.

Appeals by Region - 2023
 
FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal Finalizations
Pending (as of 2023/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned and OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 7,965 183 384 219 5,968 927 2,449 10,130 2,888
Eastern2,055
​66114
​771,765
287
447
2,756
854
Central4,976
797
227
110
3,446
517
1,691
6,088
1,711
Western934
​20​43
​32
757
123
311
1,286
323​

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2023

Appeals by Region - 2022
 
FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal Finalizations
Pending (as of 2022/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 11,186 289 747 367 6,363 835 2,464 11,065 5,005
Eastern3,683
122
255
145
2,528
310
630
3,990
1,547
Central6,106
140
410
167
3,158
450
1,566
5,891
2,785
Western1,397
27
82
55
677
75
268
1,184
673

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2022

Appeals by Region - 2021
 
FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal Finalizations
Pending (as of 2021/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 10,055 251 382 613 7,160 1,042 2,820 12,268 4,891
Eastern3,849881922193,2494327884,9681,866
Central5,1631351333273,0524911,6915,8292,566
Western1,0432857678591193411,471459

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2021

Appeals by Region - 2020
 FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal Finalizations
Pending (as of 2020/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 6,894 189 292 168 6,151 792 1,963 9,555 7,071
Eastern2,914
43
152
77
2,816
243
499
3,830
2,977
Central3,106
111
86
60
2,692
464
1,272
4,685
3,210
Western874
35
54
31
643
85
192
1,040
884

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2020

Appeals by Region - 2019
 FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal Finalizations
Pending (as of 2019/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 11,817 577 266 214 5,746 707 1,174 8,684 9,700
Eastern5,06520591772,9772303323,9123,880
Central5,281319123922,2614227133,9304,772
Western1,471535245508551298421,048

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2019

Appeals by Region - 2018
 FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal FinalizationsPending (as of 2018/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 7,256 608 272 159 2,445 421 506 4,412 6,561
Eastern2,4401754241875851391,3572,725
Central4,230385176971,4242913172,6913,412
Western5864854211464550364424

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2018

Appeals by Region - 2017
 FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal FinalizationsPending (as of 2017/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 4,905 414 245 98 1,625 409 346 3,137 3,710
Eastern1,4891464726312115657111,643
Central3,066190167481,2352482552,1431,862
Western350783124784626283205

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2017

Appeals by Region - 2016
 FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal FinalizationsPending (as of 2016/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 3,813 276 156 112 1,618 570 235 2,967 1,938
Eastern1,09576443939114549744859
Central2,42113369621,1643741801,982936
Western2976743--6351--241143

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2016

Appeals by Region - 2015
 FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal FinalizationsPending (as of 2015/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 2,959 250 148 85 1,606 483 209 2,781 1,092
Eastern97979442555413070902508
Central1,69613558389593021321,624497
Western2843646--9351--25587

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2015

Appeals by Region - 2014
 FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal FinalizationsPending (as of 2014/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 2,391 258 193 57 1,060 296 71 1,935 914
Eastern8688542--
35291--603431
Central1,32213312024637163541,131425
Western2014031--7142--20158

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2014

Appeals by Region - 2013
 FiledNon-Merit MeritTotal FinalizationsPending (as of 2013/12/31)
Dismissed - Lack of RAD JurisdictionDismissed - Appeal not PerfectedDismissed - Withdrawn, Abandoned & OtherDismissed - Confirmed RPDAllowed - Referred BackAllowed - Substituted Determination
National 1,146 184 63 27 291 85 38 688 458
Eastern41976----11926--253166
Central5918240--14155--
357234
Western13626----31----7858

Appeals by Country of Alleged Persecution - 2013