Text on screen: Members of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB): Working for Canada
Christina: I feel as if I'm contributing to Canada's human rights and humanitarian record also to protecting the integrity of Canada's refugee system.
Cédric: I feel truly privileged when I look at a refugee protection claimant and I start asking them questions. Why are they asking for Canada's protection? Why did they leave their country? That's what I enjoy the most about this job.
Catherine: To be able to have the power to do something for people, is profoundly moving.
Ron: I don't look at the people in the Hearing Room as my clients, I look at Canada as my client. This is who I'm serving.
Text on screen: IRB Members provide protection to those in need, and ensure the integrity of Canada's immigration and refugee system. See why becoming a member is right for you.
Text on screen: Challenge your Self
Text on screen: Kirk, Immigration Appeal Division
Kirk: If we have members who are open to different ideas, recognizing that there are a variety of different people that come before us with different cultures and different backgrounds and at times to think outside the box.
Text on screen: Catherine, Immigration Appeal Division
Catherine: Some of the best members that we have and some of the best members that I've seen and mentored in my time here are people who don't have a law degree.
Text on screen: Ron, Refugee Protection Division
Ron: This is something that's going to test you as a person, you're going to hear a lot of terrible things that may or may not be true so you can't get too high, you can't get too low, you can't get too cynical and you can't get too soft. Be human, be yourself.
Text on screen: Aminata, Immigration Division
Aminata: It's crucial for members to be impartial, to not prejudge the evidence or make assumptions based on our own preconceptions.
Text on screen: Find meaning
Text on screen: Cédric, Refugee Protection Division
Cédric: As a member, I can make a difference. I can really help people.
Text on screen: Harry, Immigration Division
Harry: When you go into a hearing room, you're entering a process where it's a search for truth. The decisions that you make are important decisions and that's part of the sense of mission which I have when I show up every day for work.
Kirk: The most satisfying parts to the job is to see when you deliver the decision from the bench that how elated the appellants are realizing that their husband or wife can now immigrate to Canada.
Text on screen: Be independent
Harry: You are absolutely, positively, without a doubt, autonomous. No one can interfere with your decision-making process. You are an independent decision-maker.
Cédric: The decisions we render are not influenced in any way by management, or by Legal Services.
Catherine: People don't tell me the decisions that I need to make. I have a ton of independence. I get the file, I prepare it, I review it and then I go away and write the decision and I'm done.
Text on screen: Become an expert
Text on screen: Christina, Refugee Appeal Division
Christina: We have tremendous supports and I would say they fall into three categories: legal tools, human resources and on-going training.
We're trained in many different areas, for example, how to interact with someone who is vulnerable, how to interact with someone who is nervous.
Catherine: I felt by the time we started hearing cases that I was completely well prepared to do so.
Text on screen: Murielle, Refugee Appeal Division
Murielle: The job provides seven weeks of training, and I can tell you that it was the best training I've had in my entire career.
Text on screen: Join our team
Catherin: I work with a great group of people, we're treated with respect here.
Aminata: We're like a family here in some ways. So, we don't hesitate to ask each other questions
Ron: There's so many people that help get the hearing to the point where I can just step in and do the hearing. And then I get to be the one to put all that together – it's a huge honour.
Text on screen: Make a real difference
Ron: This job is actually my dream job. This is a job that lets me use every part of my professional background as a writer, researcher, as an interviewer of people. This is a perfect fit job for me.
Aminata: I love my work in the Immigration Division. I may even keep working in the Immigration Division until I retire.
Catherine: There's always something interesting which enables me to expand my skill base and just get better all the time.
Cédric: In this position, when I allow a refugee protection claim, I am completely changing the life of someone who is asking for Canada's protection.
Harry: At the end of the day, every single decision I make is a decision which impacts a person and it impacts society as long as you never lose sight of that, you're never going to lose that sense of wonder and excitement when you come into work and you're doing something that has meaning and purpose.
Text on screen: Learn more at:
irb.gc.ca/jobs