CIMM - Operations at the Immigration and Refugee Board - Nov 25, 2020
Key messages
The Immigration and Refugee Board has responded well during this pandemic, appropriately balancing the health needs of staff and those who appear before the Board while at the same time providing access to justice.
Although most in-person hearings were suspended in March because of the pandemic, the Immigration and Refugee Board was able to equip its staff to work remotely. The Board began piloting remote hearings in June and began resuming in-person hearings in July, once health and safety measures could be fully implemented in its hearing rooms.
At the same time, the Board led a number of initiatives to expedite digitization efforts and advance its Digital Strategy, with the intent to further enable the processing of claims and appeals.
The Board is now increasingly holding remote hearings across all of its tribunals, while recognizing that in-person hearings will still be necessary in some cases, where strict health and safety measures are in effect.
The Board has been able to provide thousands of claimants, detainees and appellants with access to justice since the onset of the pandemic and remains committed to providing fair and efficient adjudication of refugee and immigration matters.
Supporting facts and figures (in the covid context)
Finalizations
The Refugee Protection Division is expected to finalize approximately 35,000-40,000 claims, or up to 80% of its baseline target of 50,000 claims.
The Refugee Appeal Division is expected to finalize approximately 9,000-10,000 appeals, or up to 75% of its baseline target of 13,500.
The Immigration Division is expected to finalize approximately 8,000 detention reviews and 900 admissibility hearings, aligned with anticipated intake of cases.
The Immigration Appeal Division is expected to finalize approximately 2,400 appeals also aligned with anticipated intake.
Backlog as of September 2020
Prior to the pandemic, the intake of new refugee claims continued to outpace the Board’s funded processing capacity, resulting in a growing backlog of claims.
Due to low intake levels since the beginning of the pandemic, and the resumption of operations beginning in summer 2020, the Refugee Protection Division has been able to reduce its backlog from a high of approximately 93,000, down to 87,000 as of the end of September 2020.
The Refugee Appeal Division backlog currently stands at approximately 7,000 claims (down from over 8,400 in March 2020).
The Immigration Division admissibility hearing claims backlog is 547 (up from 486 in March 2020).
The Immigration Appeal Division claims backlog is just over 3,400 (down from 3,700 in March 2020).
COVID-19 cases related to the Board’s operations
As of November 16, 2020, there have been 7 (5 employees and 2 from the public) confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the Board’s workspace (one in Ottawa; three in Montréal; and three in Toronto).
In all instances, local health authorities were notified immediately and the Board followed all advice provided. Local health agencies determined that there was a low risk of transmission given the robust measures the Board has put in place in consultation with stakeholders and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Thorough details concerning the health and safety measures in place in our buildings are available to the public on the Board’s website.
Background
The Board invested heavily in upgrading infrastructure and providing tools for employees to collaborate virtually and to create a digital inventory of case files.
Additionally, the Board has expanded options for counsel and claimants to exchange electronic information safely and confidentially with the Board through email, ePost, and the My Case portal.
All divisions (Immigration, Immigration Appeal, Refugee Protection and Refugee Appeal) are now scheduling remote hearings, with some exceptions. Requests for in-person hearings are also being considered on a case-by-case basis.