Meet the requirements to submit a refugee claim
There are two main steps in the process of submitting a refugee (asylum) claim.
Step 1. Confirm your claim meets the eligibility requirements
Your refugee (asylum) claim may not be eligible if you:
- are recognized as a Convention refugee by another country that you can return to
- already have protected person status in Canada
- are subject to a removal order
- have already made a refugee claim in another country
- are inadmissible to Canada on security grounds or because of criminal activity or human rights violations
- made a previous refugee claim in Canada that was determined to be ineligible
- made a previous refugee claim in Canada that was rejected, abandoned, or withdrawn
- entered Canada from the U.S. along the land border (see below)
If you meet the eligibility requirements, CBSA will send your claim to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) for determination (Step 2).
If you do not meet the eligibility requirements, you will be referred for removal from Canada.
If you enter Canada from the U.S.
The Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) helps both governments manage access to their refugee system for people crossing the land border.
Your claim may not be eligible if you entered Canada from the U.S.:
- at an official land border crossing
- anywhere along the border, including rivers, lakes and other waterways, and made a refugee claim less than 14 days after the day that you entered
If you try to make a refugee (asylum) claim in Canada after entering from the U.S., you will be returned to the U.S. unless you meet an exception or exemption to the Agreement.
Learn more about what it means to enter Canada from the U.S., and how the STCA may affect you.
Step 2. Show that you meet the definition of a refugee
If you meet the eligibility requirements, CBSA will refer your claim to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The IRB is an independent administrative tribunal responsible for making decisions on immigration and refugee matters. The IRB determines if a refugee (asylum) claim is well-founded and if protection in Canada should be granted.
You will have a hearing with the IRB and will need to prove that you meet the definition of a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection.
To meet the definition of a Convention refugee, you must show that you are in Canada, and you can’t return to your home country or the country you normally live in because you have a good reason to believe you will be persecuted because of
- your race
- your religion
- your political opinion
- your nationality
- you belonging to a social group, such as women or people of a particular sexual orientation
To meet the definition of a person in need of protection, you must show that you can’t return to your home country because you will face a
- danger of torture
- risk to your life
- risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment
If the IRB determines that you don’t meet the definition of a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection, that you have abandoned your claim, or accepts your request for withdrawal, you will have to leave Canada, or you will be referred for removal from Canada.
Abandoning or withdrawing your claim means that you will not be able to claim asylum in Canada in the future.
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