Making a Refugee Claim in Canada

To start a refugee claim in Canada before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a claimant would fill out and print a set of forms. The claimant would then present themselves at an IRCC office to start the claim. Even though these offices have been locked off from the public for years, they would let refugee claimants in, would review the forms, and then (eventually) set up an in-person interview. After the interview the person would receive a document acknowledging that they had made a claim, would be told they had a few basic rights, and the refugee claim would then be referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board for a hearing.

This procedure changed somewhat with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, claims were started by the claimant sending an email to IRCC. IRCC would open an account for the claimant in Canada Post's e-Post service, much like Dropbox, called Connect. The claimant would be asked to upload and file copies of the paper application forms already in use. An examination (sometimes done remotely) by an officer would follow and the claim would be referred to the IRB for hearing as before.

On October 6, 2021, without warning, the intake process changed again. As of October 6, 2021 almost all in Canada refugee claims are now to be commenced by opening a unique portal account in IRCC's computer system and filling out numerous online (not paper) forms asking for answers to extremely detailed questions and then submitting the refugee claimant's information and copies of documents online.

The new system is criticized for asking too much, too soon, of refugee claimants. It demands that the claimant have reliable access to a computer and great language skills in English or French. The new system is essentially not different than the previous systems. It, however, demands a level of support or sophistication from the refugee claimant that people genuinely fleeing persecution in their home country do not have when they first come to Canada. As was mentioned in a news item a few weeks ago, the government's rush to computerization is for the government's own convenience, not because the systems they have installed are making the processing of applications better or more efficient.