The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB or the Board) carries out its work within a global environment of increasing migration and shifting mobility patterns. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, changing migration patterns and increased intake created the largest backlog of refugee claims and wait times in the Board's history. While the pandemic reduced mobility around the world due to factors such as closed borders, the Board was able to significantly reduce its refugee claim inventories and wait times over the pandemic period. However, since the reopening of the border, intake levels have risen steadily, and referrals to the
IRB are outpacing the Board's annual processing capacity, leading once again to growing inventories and wait times.
In Budget 2022, the Government of Canada announced permanent funding of $150 million annually to the
IRB. This investment allowed the Board to stabilize its operating budget and workforce. The Budget also included a further temporary top up investment of $87 million over two years, helping to address risks from the post-pandemic increase in refugee claims.
To effectively manage and adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, the
IRB innovated and accelerated its Digital Strategy to become a predominantly digital organization. Most notably, the adoption of a virtual hearings operating model has been successful in enabling the Board to maintain its high-level of productivity and deliver quality decisions ensuring efficient and timely access to justice for clients. The virtual hearings operating model, coupled with digital case management, has ensured that the
IRB continues to be well positioned moving forward.
Refugee claims and appeals
With increased member productivity and strategic case management, the Refugee Protection Division finalized close to 48,200 decisions for fiscal year 2022 to 2023, the highest number of finalizations since the 2012 Refugee Reform. The Division was also successful in reducing the percentage of cases in the inventory pending over two years to less than 10%, down from 44% at the beginning of the fiscal year. However, the Division experienced the highest level of annual intake to date, with more than 79,200 claims received over the fiscal year, resulting in an increase in wait times. In addition to the increased intake, a higher percentage of files in the Refugee Protection Division inventory were non-actionable, primarily for reasons outside the Board's control. A higher percentage of non-actionable files in the inventory impacts the Division's ability to efficiently schedule and hear claims.
The Refugee Appeal Division had limited pandemic‑related disruptions to its operations as most of its decisions are rendered without a hearing and its members were able to work remotely. This, combined with lower intake levels, resulted in an 11% reduction in inventory and a drop in wait times for new appeals. As a result, wait times for new appeals have been below 6 months since March of 2021. The impact of significant member vacancies during the year was offset by a lower than anticipated rate of appeals on Refugee Protection Division decisions.
Admissibility hearings, detention reviews and immigration appeals
Admissibility hearings throughput increased each quarter in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 but, was outpaced by a surge in intake during the third quarter that led to a 23% growth in inventory over the year. The return to pre-pandemic detention review volumes limited the Immigration Division's responsiveness to the surge of admissibility hearings intake. However, the detention reviews intake eventually flattened in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 2023 and the Immigration Division met or exceeded its targets.
The Immigration Appeal Division's inventory and wait times for new appeals remained stable despite an upward trend in intake for the past two years. The Division's productivity was supported by a high alternative dispute resolution rate, contributing to more than half of all cases being decided without a hearing.
The
IRB's decisions have an impact on the lives and security of the individuals appearing before it. The Board will continue, in 2023 to 2024, to respond to challenges within its operating context to resolve immigration and refugee cases efficiently, fairly and in accordance with the law.