COW – Security Screening of Asylum Seekers – May 28, 2026
For people who arrive in Canada and claim asylum: all adults, regardless of how they arrived, must undergo in-depth security screening.
All claimants must give their biometrics and undergo extensive health, criminal, security and other background checks.
Anyone seeking asylum in Canada first has their claim reviewed for eligibility by an officer from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Only claims that meet strict eligibility requirements are referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB).
Following this referral, we conduct a thorough review of the file for any credibility, program integrity or public safety concerns to see if we need to intervene before the IRB. This includes front end security screening on all asylum claimants 18 and over.
Asylum seekers who are inadmissible
Admissibility and refugee decisions are made independently by the IRB.
If we believe a claimant may be inadmissible on serious grounds—such as security concerns, human rights violations or serious criminality—we'll report that person to the IRB and their case will be put on hold.
We can intervene in any claim before the IRB, including to raise security concerns.
We can also suspend the refugee process if there are concerns that the person may be inadmissible to Canada—for example, due to security risks, serious criminality, organized crime, or human or international rights violations.
People found inadmissible on these grounds are issued a removal order and are not permitted to proceed with an asylum claim.
