Ottawa, June 23, 2011 —Brian P. Goodman has been reappointed, to a two year term, as Chairperson of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today.
Mr. Goodman was first appointed as a member of the IRB on August 7, 2001, and was assigned to the Convention Refugee Determination Division (now known as the Refugee Protection Division) in Toronto. He was reappointed on August 7, 2003. Mr. Goodman was designated Deputy Chairperson of the Immigration Appeal Division on May 8, 2006, and became interim Chairperson of the IRB March 17, 2007. He was designated Chairperson on June 20, 2007.
Mr. Goodman received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and his Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws (Public Law) from Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1974. Before joining the IRB, he held senior legal and executive positions in several Government of Ontario ministries and agencies. Among other positions, he served as Chair of the Ontario Rent Review Hearings Board, Acting Mining and Lands Commissioner and Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Public Law Division. In 2009, Mr. Goodman was elected to the Governing Council of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges.
Created in 1989, the IRB is an independent administrative tribunal. It currently has three divisions: the Refugee Protection Division, the Immigration Appeal Division and the Immigration Division. The IRB determines refugee protection claims made in Canada, hears immigration appeals, and conducts admissibility hearings and detention reviews.
The Chairperson is the IRB’s Chief Executive Officer and reports to Parliament through the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.
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For further information:
Candice Malcolm
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca