Refugee Protection Division (RPD) statistics

​Key messages

  • The total Refugee Protection Division (RPD) inventory decreased to 85,311 claims at the end of October 2020, a decrease of 7% since the beginning of this fiscal year.
  • The RPD finalized a record 42,458 claims in Fiscal Year 2019-20 – a 22% increase over the previous fiscal year.  Between April and October 2020, the RPD has finalized approximately, 9000 cases --- a 61% decrease over the same period last year that can be attributed to business disruptions related to COVID-19. 
  • RPD intake in Fiscal Year 2019-20 was 59,366 claims  – an increase of 6% compared to the previous fiscal year.  About 3,900 cases were referred to the IRB so far in this fiscal, which represents a decrease of 89% when compared to the same time period last year.

Background

Historic Outcomes by Fiscal Year
Acceptance RateRefusal RateAbandonment RateWithdrawn and Other
2016-2017 62% 30% 2% 6%
2017-2018 59% 29% 4% 8%
2018-2019 55% 31% 5% 9%
2019-2020 57% 32% 4% 7%
2020-2021 (YTD) 59% 32% 0% 9%
Total 58% 31% 4% 8%

Regular claims

12-month period ending
31-Mar-1831-Mar-1931-Mar-2031-Oct-20
Received28,92138,17342,86121,146
Finalized23,21924,52227,71517,404
Pending32,86846,52061,66658,950

Irregular claims

12-month period ending
31-Mar-1831-Mar-1931-Mar-2031-Aug-20
Received23,21817,93316,7336,337
Finalized3,52710,33214,8079,593
Pending20,12427,72529,65126,361
  • 31% of claims in the inventory are from irregular arrivals, down from a peak of 43% in July 2018.
  • Intake volume is at 3,896 cases since the beginning of the fiscal year, which is 89% lower than the volume received for the same period in FY 2019-20. Irregular intake and regular intake decreased by 95% and 86% respectively.
  • The RPD finalized approximately 27,000 cases in the 12-month period ending in October 2020 – a 37% decrease over the 12-month period ending in October 2019.

Pending inventory, October 2020

  • Growth: As of end of October 2020, the pending inventory was 85,311, declining by 1,500 claims per month on average since June 2020 due to reduced intake in the COVID period.
  • Age: 73% of pending claims are less than 2 years old (received from October 2018 to October 2020).
    • % was received in FY 2020-21
    • 76% was received in FY 2019-20
    • 20% was received in FY 2018-19

As of August 2020, the pending inventory was distributed as follows;

  • Region: 50% of the inventory is in Eastern (Montreal) region, 44% is in Central (Toronto) region, and 7% is in Western (Vancouver) region.
All Claims Source CountryTotal Claims Pending, Aug 2020% of Inventory
Top 10 Countries53,55561%
India11,57513%
Nigeria9,42511%
Mexico7,2638%
Haiti5,1376%
Iran4,8846%
Colombia4,7495%
Pakistan3,4634%
China2,9113%
Congo, DR2,4653%
Turkey1,6832%
Other 166 Countries34,94839%

Top 10 regular claim countries

Regular claims source countryTotal claims pending% of inventory
Top 10 countries 36,687 60%
India 11,450 19%
Mexico 7,213 12%
Iran 4,879 8%
China 2,819 5%
Colombia 2,430 4%
Pakistan 2,030 3%
Nigeria 1,801 3%
Haiti 1,597 3%
Turkey 1,368 2%
Bangladesh 1,100 2%
Other 159 countries 23,988 40%

Top 10 irregular claim countries

Irregular claims source countryTotal claims pending% of inventory
Top 10 countries 19,666 71%
Nigeria 7,624 27%
Haiti 3,540 13%
Colombia 2,319 8%
Congo, DR 1,628 6%
Pakistan 1,433 5%
Angola 1,117 4%
Sudan 594 2%
USA 526 2%
Sri Lanka 462 2%
Bangladesh 423 2%
Other 119 countries 8,162 29%

Wait times

  • Projected wait times are approximately 24 months for refugee claims.
    • New claims can expect shorter wait times of 20 months because of reductions to backlogs
    • Currently pending claims will have longer wait times of 27 months due to the impacts of COVID-19 on operations
    • Average processing times over the past 2 years have been lower than this at 17 months.  This is a reflection of a case management approach that involved processing a balance of both newer and older cases. 
    • A increased focus on older cases will result in average processing times closer to 24 months in 2020-21 for the RPD.
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