You will get a Notice to Appear telling you the date, time, and place of your hearing. It will have instructions on how to join the hearing. If you have a counsel, we will send the notice to them. Your counsel will share this with you. If you do not have a counsel, we will send the notice to you directly.
For information on getting support to help make your claim, see
Step 3: Get ready for your hearing.
On this page
Virtual hearing
You
must be physically present in Canada for your refugee hearing and decision. If you are
not in Canada, your hearing cannot proceed and your claim may be declared abandoned.
Your Notice to Appear explains how and when to connect to your hearing. Virtual hearings use the Microsoft Teams application.
You or your counsel will be provided a link to join the hearing. We will provide you or your counsel the link about 5 days before your hearing.
If you do not get the link to your hearing, contact your counsel. If you do not have a counsel, call an IRB representative at 1-833-931-5121.
If you are using your own computer to connect to the hearing, make sure that you have a private space, at your home or somewhere else, on the day of your hearing. Do not go to a public place like a coffee shop or library.
Before your hearing
- Review the Refugee Protection Division
virtual hearing guide
- Install the
free Microsoft Teams program on your device
- Check if your video and audio are working
On the day of your hearing
Your hearing will begin when everyone has connected online.
- Use the link we sent you or was provided to you by your counsel
- Join the meeting
15 minutes before the start time written on your
Notice to Appear
- An RPD employee will join the hearing and make sure everything works so you are ready for the hearing
If you are using an interpreter, you will speak with them before the hearing begins to make sure you understand each other. The interpreter will tell the RPD member at the beginning of the hearing whether you are able to understand one another.
Make sure you have all your documents with you, including:
- your Refugee protection application, including your Basis of Claim (BOC) information or your Basis of Claim (BOC) form and any amendments
- your Notice to Appear
- the originals and a copy of all evidence you already sent to the RPD
Only look at your documents if the RPD member asks you.
The member might want to see your original documents. If so, they will tell you how to send the original documents to the RPD.
In-person hearing
Your
Notice to Appear will give you the date and time of your hearing. It will also give you the address of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada office that you will go to for the hearing.
On the day of your in-person hearing
You must be at the IRB office
30 minutes before the hearing time. The hearing time is on your
Notice to Appear. Go to the reception desk, where they will tell you the room number for your hearing.
Make sure you have all your documents, including:
- your refugee protection application, including your BOC information or your BOC form and any amendments
- your Notice to Appear
- the originals and a copy of all evidence you already sent to the RPD
What happens at your hearing
The RPD holds hearings that are fair and efficient. Sometimes, the member may change the usual hearing process to help ensure the hearing is fair. These changes can help claimants take part in the hearing, especially if they do not have a counsel or have difficulty participating in the usual way.
Most hearings take less than 3 hours. The member will usually take a short break in the middle of the hearing. You can ask for a break at any time.
The hearing will be recorded. When the hearing starts, the member will tell you when they have started the recording.
RPD hearings are informal, but everyone who participates in a hearing is expected to treat everyone with respect.
1. Introduction
The RPD member is in charge of the hearing and will be actively involved in it. They will give instructions to the participants in the hearing to make sure it is fair and efficient.
The member may meet with your counsel before the hearing. This is called a conference. If they do, you may or may not be invited to join that conference. If you are not invited to join, the member will explain to you what happened at the conference. Conferences are usually held to discuss technical or procedural issues.
At the beginning of your hearing, the member will:
- introduce everyone and explain the hearing process
- ask you to promise to tell the truth in a solemn affirmation
- ask you whether the information in your BOC information or BOC form is complete, true and correct
If there is an interpreter at the hearing, the member will confirm that the interpreter can interpret accurately.
If an interpreter helped you with your refugee claim
If an interpreter helped you prepare your refugee claim application including your BOC information or BOC form, the member will ask whether you understood the information that was provided.
The member must decide if you are a
Convention refugee or a
person in need of protection under the law. They will use what you say at the hearing, together with your other evidence, to decide your claim.
See
Refugee Protection in Canada for more information.
The member will tell you the issues they will consider in the hearing.
Examples of issues:
Who or what do you fear, and why
This involves, for example, telling us if you are a member of a group that is persecuted and providing us with evidence that shows this.
Who are you
This involves telling us who you are and which country you are a citizen of, or where you normally lived if you have no citizenship. You can prove your identity with a passport or other government-issued documents.
Are you telling the truth
The member must decide if you are telling the truth. This is one of the reasons the member will ask you questions. Your answers will help them decide if the information you gave in your BOC form and other documents is true.
Can the police and other authorities in your home country protect you
You must explain what efforts you made to get help and give us evidence that shows us you tried to get help. If you did not try to get help, you will be asked to explain why.
Can you move to somewhere in your home country where you will be safe
You must show the RPD member that it is not safe for you to live in any part of your country or that it is not reasonable to expect you to live in another part of your country.
2. The member will confirm the evidence
Before the hearing, the RPD member will have reviewed any documents you sent to the RPD before the hearing. They will go through all the documents you sent and decide which documents they accept as evidence in your claim.
3. You will answer questions
The RPD member will ask you questions about your claim. They can ask you anything they think they will help them decide your claim. If you have counsel, your counsel will also ask you questions.
A representative or Minister’s counsel might come to your hearing. If someone from IRCC or the CBSA is at your hearing, they might also ask you questions about your claim. The member can limit the questions the Minister’s counsel or your counsel can ask you.
Normally, the member will ask you questions first, then the Minister’s counsel, if they are participating in the hearing, then your own counsel. However, this order can change depending on the issues that are relevant to your claim, or if the member thinks there is a good reason to change the normal order of questioning. If you think there is a good reason to change the normal order of questioning, you or your counsel should ask for a change as early as possible.
You must answer the questions truthfully and as best you can. If you do not understand a question, you should ask the person to repeat or explain the question.
4. Witnesses will answer questions
If you bring a witness to the hearing, they usually speak after you. You usually go first.
A witness usually cannot attend the hearing before they testify. The RPD member will tell the witness when to join the hearing, or to stay in the waiting room until their turn to speak.
5. You make your final remarks to support your claim
At the end of your hearing, the RPD member will ask your counsel to explain why your claim should be accepted. If you do not have counsel, you will explain why you believe your claim should be accepted. This is called making representations.
If someone from IRCC or the CBSA is at your hearing (Minister’s counsel), they may also make representations.
The member can set reasonable limits for how much time you, your counsel and the Minister’s counsel have to make representations. The amount of time given to make representations will depend on different factors including how long the hearing has been, how many issues you need to discuss and how much evidence there is. It is important to respect these time limits.
The member might ask you to provide additional documents or information following the hearing.
6. The RPD member will decide your claim
The member will decide if your claim is accepted or rejected. If your claim is rejected, this means that the member decided that you are not a Convention refugee or person in need of protection.
If they can, the member will give their decision orally at the end of the hearing. If they need more time to decide, the IRB will send the decision in writing later. This is a normal part of the process and waiting for a decision does not mean that the claim will be accepted or rejected.
You will get a written Notice of Decision that explains what the decision is and the reasons for the decision. If you are told that your refugee claim is rejected, we will tell you on the Notice of Decision if you can:
- apply for a review of the decision by the Federal Court
If you are still waiting for the decision or your claim was rejected
You can sign up for an Appeal Ready Tour for appellants to learn how to prepare and send an appeal.
What happens if you did not go to your hearing
If you did not go to your hearing, we will ask you to come to a special hearing called an abandonment hearing.
The RPD will send you a notice asking you to explain in writing why you did not come to your hearing or will send you a new Notice to Appear for an abandonment hearing including the date, time, and place. If you have a counsel, we will send the notice to them. Your counsel will share this with you. If you do not have a counsel, we will send the notice to you.
Important: Your claim will be declared abandoned unless you provide good reasons and evidence as to why you did not go to your hearing.
If your claim is declared abandoned, the RPD will not hear your refugee claim. You will not be allowed to make another claim in the future. You will probably have to leave Canada.
If the member accepts your reasons and evidence, your claim can continue.