Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s
Forward Regulatory Plan

Regulations repealing the definition of working days for the purpose of the automatic referral of refugee claims

Enabling Act: Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Description

In 2019, the Government amended the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) to eliminate the automatic referral of a claim to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) where an eligibility decision has not been made within three days. Removing this requirement gave officers greater flexibility to manage volumes at the border, particularly during busy times.

Regulatory amendments are required to remove paragraphs 159(a) to (c), which concern the definition of “working days” for the purposes of subsections 100(1) and (3) of IRPA as they are no longer relevant.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic and international)

Regulatory cooperation efforts are not required.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses

There are no expected impacts on Canadians or Canadian businesses.

Consultations

The public may have the opportunity to comment on the proposed amendments to the regulations through pre-publication in the Canada Gazette, Part I.

Further information

Budget Implementation Act – Bill C-97 (Division 16)

Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

Departmental contact information

Matthew Baker
Assistant Director, Asylum Program Policy, Refugee Affairs Branch
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Email: Matthew.Baker@cic.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: April 1, 2021