The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) is committed to deciding claims for refugee protection both fairly and efficiently. The IRB must ensure that the amount of preparation and hearing‑room time allocated for any given claim is proportionate to its complexity. The Refugee Protection Division (RPD) has gained some experience using shorter, more focused hearings to resolve straightforward claims and has also decided claims without a hearing, where appropriate. This strategic case management approach allows the IRB to use its resources as effectively as possible while maintaining high‑quality administrative justice. Refugee protection claimants also benefit from a more efficient resolution of their case.
To guide this approach, the IRB has issued the
Instructions Governing the Streaming of Less Complex Claims at the Refugee Protection Division, replacing all previous policy guidance on expedited processing. These new Instructions set out how the RPD, relying on its knowledge of country conditions and claim types as well as its experience in deciding claims in this manner, will determine which claims are suitable for a short hearing and which can be decided by file review. In addition to the Instructions, the RPD has developed
procedures and will be publishing an up-to-date
list of countries and claim types that are appropriate for processing under either process. The IRB may, at any time, remove a claim from either process if it becomes clear in the course of processing that the claim is more complex than it originally appeared.
The Instructions Governing the Streaming of Less Complex Claims at the Refugee Protection Division will be applied by all RPD members, which includes members working on the
recently announced Inventory Reduction Task Force for Less Complex Claims.
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