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Refugee protection and asylum
A claim for protection is decided on whether a decision-maker believes what you say happened, and whether what happened meets a legal definition. Those are two different problems. A well-built claim addresses both.
Two definitions, two different burdens
Canadian law recognises protection on two separate bases. Many claims are argued under both, but the elements differ and the evidence that supports one does not automatically support the other.
Convention refugee
A person outside their country of nationality with a well-founded fear of persecution by reason of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, who is unable or unwilling to seek that country's protection. The fear must be linked to one of those five grounds.
Person in need of protection
A person who would personally face a danger of torture, a risk to life, or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. No connection to a Convention ground is required, but the risk must be personal rather than one faced generally by others in that country.
How a claim made in Canada proceeds
The order matters, because each stage constrains the next. What is written at the first stage is compared against everything said afterwards.
The claim is made and screened for eligibility
A claim may be made at a port of entry or at an inland office. An officer determines whether the claim is eligible to be referred, considering matters such as a prior claim, protection already granted elsewhere, and the Safe Third Country Agreement. Ineligibility is decided before any hearing on the merits.
The Basis of Claim narrative is filed
This is the single most consequential document in the file. It sets out, in your own words, who you are, what happened, who did it, why, and why you cannot return. Where a claim is made at a port of entry, the form is generally due within 15 days of referral. Amendments later are permitted but are scrutinised.
Evidence is disclosed to the Board
Identity documents, corroborating evidence, medical and psychological reports, and country condition material are filed in advance of the hearing. The Rules require disclosure well before the hearing date; documents produced on the day are often refused.
The hearing
A member of the Refugee Protection Division hears the claim, usually with the claimant giving evidence and being questioned. Preparation is not coaching; it is making sure you understand what will be asked and why, and that the record already answers the obvious questions.
Decision, and what follows
If the claim is accepted, you become a protected person and may apply for permanent residence. If it is refused, an appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division may be available on a short deadline, and where it is not, an application for leave and judicial review in the Federal Court may be.
What actually carries weight
Credibility is decided on consistency and detail, not on sincerity. These are the categories that repeatedly determine outcomes.
| Category | Function in the claim | Common defect |
|---|---|---|
| Identity and nationality | Establishes who you are and which country's protection is in issue. Without it, the claim can fail before the merits are reached. | No explanation offered for why an original document could not be obtained |
| The first-person narrative | Frames every other document and sets the account against which testimony is measured | Written in a representative's voice, compressed, or missing dates |
| Corroboration of specific incidents | Police reports, medical records, threats in writing, photographs, affidavits from witnesses | Undated, unsourced, or inconsistent with the narrative timeline |
| Country condition evidence | Shows that what you describe is consistent with documented conditions, and addresses state protection | Generic material that does not speak to your specific profile |
| Medical and psychological reports | May explain memory, demeanour, or inconsistency, and may corroborate harm | Obtained late, or written without the assessor seeing the narrative |
| Explanation of gaps | Addresses delay in claiming, travel through other countries, or return visits | Left unaddressed and raised for the first time at the hearing |
Protection routes other than an in-Canada claim
01Private sponsorship from abroad, including the Group of Five
People outside Canada cannot make a claim here. They may be resettled through private sponsorship, which is available to Sponsorship Agreement Holders, Community Sponsors, and to groups of five or more Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
A Group of Five undertaking commits the sponsors to support the person financially and with settlement for a defined period. The application must establish that the person meets a resettlement class, that the group is eligible, and that the settlement plan and funds are real. We advise sponsoring groups as well as the people being sponsored.
02Pre-removal risk assessment
Where removal is imminent and a person has not had a risk assessment, or where conditions have changed since one was made, a pre-removal risk assessment may be available. Eligibility is restricted and bars apply after certain events, so the availability question has to be answered before anything else.
03Permanent residence for protected persons
A person found to be a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection may apply for permanent residence, and may include family members abroad. Timing matters: a family member who is not declared cannot generally be sponsored later.
04Humanitarian and compassionate relief
Where a claim has already been decided or is unavailable, an application on humanitarian and compassionate grounds may be considered. It is a different test, resting on establishment in Canada, hardship, and the best interests of any child directly affected, rather than on risk of persecution. See our permanent residence page.
Why we draft in the first person
A Basis of Claim narrative is the only place in the process where you speak at length without being interrupted. If it is written in someone else's register, using vocabulary you would not use, the difference is audible the moment you are questioned about it, and a member is entitled to draw conclusions from that.
So the narrative is taken from you, drafted in your voice, read back to you, and corrected until you recognise it. This takes longer. It is also the reason the account holds together when it is tested.
If you have a hearing date, start now.
Preparation for a protection hearing is not something that can be compressed into the final week. Bring your referral notice, your Basis of Claim if it has been filed, and any identity documents you hold.
647-546-0134 · admin@hf-imm.ca