On September 27, 2024, CBSA announced an administrative deferral of removals to Lebanon (ADR).

This is a general stay against removals to Lebanon under s. 230 of the immigration Regulations. It does not apply to persons who are inadmissible on security grounds, grounds of violating human or international rights, sanctions, grounds of serious or transborder criminality, organized criminality, or exclusion under the Refugee Convention.

The other places under an ADR are certain regions in Somalia (Middle Shabelle, Afgoye, and Mogadishu), the Gaza Strip, Ukraine, Syria, Mali, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Burundi, Venezuela, Haiti, Iran, and Sudan.

As yet, there are no specific programs in place for nationals (citizens) or residents of Lebanon. However, remaining in Canada when there is an ADR preventing removal can be grounds for a work permit under s. 206(1)(b) of the Regulations.

For 2022-2023, the Refugee Board reports that it finalized 80% of cases within 36-37 months (three years).¹ The average wait-time as of April 2023 was 22 months.²

This is the wait time from the referral to the Refugee Board, namely when you received your “Refugee Protection Claimant Document” (“brown paper”) or submitted your Basis of Claim Form, not your arrival in Canada.

However, please note that an assessment from August 2024 suggests that it would take the Refugee Board four years to hear all the cases currently before it.³

There is almost nothing that can be done to “speed up” your hearing process. Once a about a year has elapsed, counsel may begin writing to the Refugee Board with reminders, mainly to confirm the file is still in the queue.

To prevent delays, make sure to update your contact information with counsel, review the documents submitted to the immigration authorities, make sure your evidence is legibly scanned and translated or provided to counsel for translation. You may also want to take a Ready Tour,⁴ to get a sense of what the hearing will be like.

1. Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board, 2022 to 2023 Departmental Results Report, 2023, online: https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/reports-publications/planning-performance/Pages/departmental-results-report-2223-r.aspx; Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2024 to 2025 Departmental plan, 2024, online: https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/reports-publications/planning-performance/Pages/departmental-results-report-2223-r.aspx. ↩︎
2. Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2024 to 2025 Departmental plan, 2024, online: https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/reports-publications/planning-performance/Pages/departmental-results-report-2223-r.aspx. ↩︎
3. Nicholas Keung, “Canada’s refugee system is overwhelmed by skyrocketing claims. What can Ottawa do to reduce backlogs?”, The Toronto Star, 1 August 2024, online: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/canadas-refugee-system-is-overwhelmed-by-skyrocketing-claims-what-can-ottawa-do-to-reduce-backlogs/article_9d6c7c28-4b83-11ef-8ced-83f07793a559.html. ↩︎
4. https://myrefugeeclaim.ca/en/ready-tours/, ↩︎

DO

Before coming to border

• Make sure you are eligible and that you have the documents to prove it! See Family Member Exception to the STCA
• If at all possible, fill out the following forms¹ before arriving at the CBSA offices:
  • Generic Application Form for Canada
  • Schedule 12
  • Schedule A
• If it is not possible to fill out the forms, be prepared to provide the following information correctly
  • Your name, and any nicknames, spelling variations, or past names
  • Your marital status, past and present
  • Your contact information
  • Your passport information
  • Any recent periods living in a country where you were not a citizen
  • You secondary and post-secondary studies, including vocations or trades, and including things you did not complete
  • What you have been doing, and where, for the last ten years: if employed, who was your employer; if working, what kind of work and where; with start- and end-dates
  • The details of any police or military service, mandatory or voluntary
  • Your involvement at any level with any sort of organization (including student organizations, unions, churches, etc)
  • Your lifetime history of work of any kind for any level of government
  • Your addresses for the last 10 years
  • Your immigration history (applications made, refused or granted)
  • Whether you have been detained (even if you were not arrested or charged), with dates and locations
  • Your exact route to Canada
• Tell a friend or family member in Canada when you are coming, so someone is aware if you don’t make contact
• Make good-quality scans of all your important documents, and save them to a cloud platform or send them to someone you trust
• If you cannot travel with them, arrange to have any other original identity documents sent by secure mail to someone you trust in Canada
• Do not destroy any travel documents – real or false – before arrival

Upon arrival

• Tell the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers that you are making a refugee claim
• Tell them if you need an interpreter, and what specific language and dialect interpreter you need – if at any point you do not understand the interpreter, you must say so!
• Try to be pleasant, patient, and cooperative, but know your rights and insist on them
• If you would be more comfortable, ask to be interviewed by an officer of the same sex/gender
• Expect to wait a long time for your identity to be verified and the paperwork to be done so you can be released
• Expect to be photographed and fingerprinted
• Expect to have your identity documents seized
  • CBSA must give you a certified copy, and a “Notice of Seizure” for each document
• Tell the officials if you are hungry, thirsty, have to use the washroom or have any medical needs
  • At various points you will be asked about whether you have any medical issues – no medical issue will be held against you in a refugee claim, so be honest
• Tell the truth about who you know in Canada and who you plan to stay with (if anyone)
• Be very clear about names and family relationships – terms like “aunt”/”uncle” and “brother”/”sister” do not always translate properly
• If asked to write out the reason you are making a refugee claim in your own language, include the fact that it is a summary, that you do not have access to any documents, and note where you are not sure about dates or details
• Be honest – but also explain that you do not know the answer if you do not know – when asked about how you traveled to Canada, what documents were used, and how arrangements were made
  • Under most circumstances, a refugee cannot be punished for using improper means to reach safety as long as they are truthful about it as soon as they know they are safe

NOTE: CBSA cannot release you until they are satisfied about your identity. In some cases, this may mean that they feel they have to detain you until, for example, they are able to receive your genuine identity documents. This is unpleasant, but it does not change the fact that you are a refugee claimant. You will be fed and housed. You will receive medical treatment where necessary. Your detention will be reviewed by a tribunal within 48 hours, 7 days, and 30 days, and then every 30 days. You will be allowed to continue your refugee claim.

DON’T

• Be intimidated by CBSA uniforms
• Lie to CBSA officials
• Try to bribe CBSA officials – this is a serious crime in Canada
• Destroy identity documents
• Take advice from interpreters (unless they are interpreting for a lawyer or other authorized representative) or human smugglers
• Agree that information is correct when it isn’t
• Give incomplete answers in order to try to make the process faster or more simple
• Say that you understand an interpreter when you don’t
• Sign anything you don’t understand

1. The forms will need to be opened in Adobe Reader, which is a free program. ↩︎

Your refugee hearing will be scheduled at the discretion of the Refugee Protection Division (RPD), generally between 8 to 24 months after you receive your Refugee Protection Claimant Document or “brown paper”. Nothing can be done to speed this process up, but your counsel may, from time to time, remind the RPD of how long you have been waiting.

The Refugee Protection Board’s current target for completing cases is that 80% of cases will be finalized within 36 months or less. The most recent results are that 80% of cases are finished within 37 months.¹ The average wait time when last calculated (April 2023) was 22 months.² This means that a wait of 2-3 years is perfectly normal.

Although the Act,³ Regulations,⁴ and Rules⁵ state that your hearing will be scheduled at your eligibility interview, and that it will be held within as little as two months, this has never been the usual case.

1. Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board, 2022 to 2023 Departmental Results Report, https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/reports-publications/planning-performance/Pages/departmental-results-report-2223-r.aspx#s31, see under “Results Achieved”. ↩︎
2. Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board, 2022 to 2023 Departmental Results Report, https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/reports-publications/planning-performance/Pages/departmental-results-report-2223-r.aspx#s31, see under FN 2. ↩︎
3. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c. 27, s. 100(4.1), https://canlii.ca/t/7vwq#sec100. ↩︎
4. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227, s. 159.9, https://canlii.ca/t/7xsp#sec159.9. ↩︎
5. Refugee Protection Division Rules, SOR/2012-256, s. 3, https://canlii.ca/t/8r6d#sec3. ↩︎

DO

Before flying to Canada

• Tell a friend or family member in Canada when you are coming, so someone is aware if you don’t make contact
• Make good-quality scans of all your important documents, and save them to a cloud platform or send them to someone you trust
• If you cannot travel with them, arrange to have any other original identity documents sent by secure mail to someone you trust in Canada
• Do not destroy any travel documents – real or false – before arrival

Upon arrival

• Tell the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers that you are making a refugee claim – even if they are checking people as they get off the plane, or even on the plane if it has landed
• Tell them if you need an interpreter, and what specific language and dialect interpreter you need – if at any point you do not understand the interpreter, you must say so!
• Try to be pleasant, patient, and cooperative, but know your rights and insist on them
• Ask to be allowed to recover your luggage, or have CBSA recover your luggage, as this usually comes after making the claim and sometimes the airline has put it aside
• If you would be more comfortable, ask to be interviewed by an officer of the same sex/gender
• Expect to wait a long time for your identity to be verified and the paperwork to be done so you can be released
• Expect to be photographed and fingerprinted
• Expect to have your identity documents seized
  • CBSA must give you a certified copy, and a “Notice of Seizure” for each document
• Tell the officials if you are hungry, thirsty, have to use the washroom or have any medical needs
  • At various points you will be asked about whether you have any medical issues – no medical issue will be held against you in a refugee claim, so be honest
• Tell the truth about who you know in Canada and who you plan to stay with (if anyone)
• Be very clear about names and family relationships – terms like “aunt”/”uncle” and “brother”/”sister” do not always translate properly
• If asked to write out the reason you are making a refugee claim in your own language, include the fact that it is a summary, that you do not have access to any documents, and note where you are not sure about dates or details
• Be honest – but also explain that you do not know the answer if you do not know – when asked about how you traveled to Canada, what documents were used, and how arrangements were made
  • Under most circumstances, a refugee cannot be punished for using improper means to reach safety as long as they are truthful about it as soon as they know they are safe

NOTE: CBSA cannot release you until they are satisfied about your identity. In some cases, this may mean that they feel they have to detain you until, for example, they are able to receive your genuine identity documents. This is unpleasant, but it does not change the fact that you are a refugee claimant. You will be fed and housed. You will receive medical treatment where necessary. Your detention will be reviewed by a tribunal within 48 hours, 7 days, and 30 days, and then every 30 days. You will be allowed to continue your refugee claim.

DON’T

• Be intimidated by CBSA uniforms
• Lie to CBSA officials
• Try to bribe CBSA officials – this is a serious crime in Canada
• Destroy identity documents
• Take advice from interpreters (unless they are interpreting for a lawyer or other authorized representative) or human smugglers
• Agree that information is correct when it isn’t
• Give incomplete answers in order to try to make the process faster or more simple
• Say that you understand an interpreter when you don’t
• Sign anything you don’t understand

Resources

• Information from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
• Canadian Red Cross First Contact Program
  • Toll-Free: 1-866-902-4993
  • Phone: 416-480-2500 options 1 & 1

This is a general guide only and does NOT constitute legal advice. Claimants and anchor relatives will also be interviewed to confirm identity.

WHO CAN BE AN ANCHOR RELATIVE?

WHAT RELATIONSHIP IS NEEDED?

• Mother
• Father
• Legal guardian
• Grandmother (mother’s mother or father’s mother)
• Grandfather (mother’s father or father’s father)
• Aunt (mother’s sister or father’s sister)
• Uncle (mother’s brother or father’s brother)
• Niece (child of mother’s or father’s sister or brother)
• Nephew (child of mother’s or father’s sister or brother)
• Sister (at least one parent the same)
• Brother (at least one parent the same)
• Spouse or common-law partner
• Child (including adult children)

WHAT STATUS DOES THE ANCHOR RELATIVE NEED TO HAVE?

• Canadian citizen
• Permanent Resident of Canada
• Protected person under Canadian immigration legislation or has made a claim for refugee status in Canada that has been accepted (accepted refugee or accepted PRRA)
• Has had his or her removal order stayed on humanitarian and compassionate grounds (approved in principle)
• Holds a valid Canadian work permit (without being out of status)
• Holds a valid Canadian study permit (without being out of status), or
• Is over 18 years old and has a claim for refugee protection that has been referred to the refugee board and not withdrawn, abandoned, rejected, or found ineligible

WHAT DOCUMENTS ARE NEEDED?

Documents need to be original if at all possible, completely clear and legible, and if not in French or English must be accompanied by a proper translation. There is no official list of documents and alternatives may be possible, but generally speaking:

TO PROVE RELATIONSHIP

• Anchor relative is mother/father:
  • Claimant’s birth certificate, which will list their mother/father
• Anchor relative is grandmother/grandfather:
  • Claimant’s birth certificate, which will list their mother/father (may also list grandparents, at least father’s father)
  • For mother’s mother or father: mother’s birth certificate; for father’s mother or father: father’s birth certificate (which will list the anchor relative as a parent)
• Anchor relative is aunt/uncle:
  • Claimant’s birth certificate, which will list their mother/father (may also list grandparents, at least father’s father)
  • For mother’s sister or brother: mother’s birth certificate; for father’s sister or brother: father’s birth certificate (which will list the parent they share)
  • Anchor relative’s birth certificate (which will list the parent they share with the claimant’s parent)
• Anchor relative is niece/nephew:
  • Claimant’s birth certificate, which will list their mother/father
  • Birth certificate of the claimant’s brother/sister who is the mother/father of the anchor relative (this will show the same parents as the claimant’s birth certificate, proving that they are brother/sister)
  • Anchor relative’s birth certificate (which will list the parent which is the claimant’s brother/sister)
• Anchor relative is sister/brother:
  • Claimant’s birth certificate, which will list their mother/father
  • Birth certificate of the claimant’s brother/sister who is the mother/father of the anchor relative (this will show the same parents as the claimant’s birth certificate, proving that they are brother/sister)
• Anchor relative is spouse or common-law partner:
  • For spouse: marriage certificate
  • For common-law partner: this will require complicated evidence and should not be attempted without legal counsel
• Anchor relative is child:
  • Anchor relative’s birth certificate (which will list claimant as a parent)

TO PROVE IDENTITY AND STATUS

• Government-issued photo ID for claimant
• Government issued photo ID for anchor relative
• Proof of status in Canada (may be the same item as photo ID):
  • Citizen: passport, citizenship certificate, in-Canada birth certificate
  • Permanent Resident: PR card, Confirmation/Record of Landing, Confirmation of Permanent Residence, Verification of Status document
  • Protected person/accepted refugee or accepted PRRA: Refugee Travel Document, positive decision on PRRA or refugee claim, Verification of Status document
  • Has had his or her removal order stayed on humanitarian and compassionate grounds (approved in principle): Approval letter
  • Holds a valid Canadian work permit (without being out of status): Work Permit, Verification of Status document
  • Holds a valid Canadian study permit (without being out of status): Study Permit, Verification of Status document
  • Refugee case before the RPD: Refugee Protection Claimant Document
• If applicable: if anchor relative has changed their name (for e.g. through marriage) they will need to show proof of this (usually a marriage certificate)
• Proof of current residence in Canada is generally required if the anchor relative is not going to the border interview

General

• Don’t rush! Speak as slowly as you need to speak.
• It’s okay to have to think about an answer first, but if you are going to need a moment – for example, to work out or recall a date – say so. It’s okay to say “I need a moment to work out that date” – otherwise the Member (or your lawyer) may think you didn’t hear or understand the question.
• Make sure you have a bottle of water or beverage available – you will be talking a lot, and your throat may get dry. It is a good idea to also have a snack ready for during a break.
• There will be at least one break, but you can always ask for a break if you need to use the washroom or anything else.
• You can address the Member as “Sir” or “Ma’am”, “Mister Member” or “Madam Member”, or if they give you their last name, “Mister” or “Miz” followed by their last name.
• If you are giving an estimate or opinion or something someone else told you, TELL US that is what you are doing.
• It is always okay to say “I don’t know” – HOWEVER, if you are not 100% sure but do think you know what the answer probably is, it is better to say that. For example:
  • “I don’t know how many men were in the room, but it was at least three”
  • “I don’t know exactly what time they phoned me, but it was in the morning before I went to work”
  • Or you can ask what the person asking you the question wants, for example: “They never told me why they were threatening me, so I don’t know for sure, but do you want me to say why I think they were doing it?”
• DON’T GUESS – don’t give a specific answer if you only have an estimate – if you only know something happened in the middle of May, say “the middle of May”, not “May 15”.
• Make sure you understand the question before you answer it!
  • It is very hard to ask a question that can only be understood one way – especially through an interpreter – make sure you understand what time (WHEN), what people (WHO), what location (WHERE) is being asked about.
  • Sometimes Members (or your lawyer) will switch to a different area and not tell you. For example, they will be asking you about the time you lived in a particular city, and that will go on for a few minutes. Then they ask “Did you ever have any trouble with the police?”, and since you never had trouble in that city, you say “No”, but they actually meant “Have you ever in your life had any trouble with the police?”
  • You can just say “I don’t understand the question”
  • You can also ask them to be more specific, for example: “Do you mean ever or when I was at school?” or “Do you mean ever or when I worked in that city?” of “When you say trouble with the police, do you mean just the police or with any of the authorities?”
• Sometimes the Member (or your lawyer) will ask a question that sounds like they misunderstood something. For example, if you only have brothers, and they ask “How old is your oldest sister?” ALWAYS CLARIFY! Maybe they misspoke and meant to ask “How old is your oldest brother?” or maybe they misunderstood and thought you had sisters. Either way, asking for clarification will make sure you are answering the correct question and there is no confusion.
• If you realize that earlier you made a mistake or forgot to say something, IT’S OKAY TO CORRECT YOURSELF.
• FOCUS: answer the question that was asked; don’t start talking about something else.
  • Do not memorize your story word-for-word and recite it. This would be obvious, and makes you sound dishonest.
  • Wandering off-topic makes it sound like you are avoiding the question and thus like you are being dishonest.
  • Sometimes you may have to give an explanation first. If you think you have to do that, say you are doing that, for example: “To tell you how I got out of the country, I have to explain something about my father first” – otherwise the Member (or your lawyer) will think you have misunderstood the question.
• If you are asked to give a “Yes or No” answer and you can, please do so. If you are asked to give a “Yes or No” answer and you can but it doesn’t give the whole story, you can say “Yes, but I have to explain something” or “No, but I have to explain something”. If it just isn’t possible to give a “Yes or No” answer, it is okay to say “I can’t just give a ‘Yes or No’ answer to that question”.
• Sometimes the Member is having a bad day, or isn’t a very warm person. Don’t worry about this. Some good Members aren’t very friendly, and some bad Members are very friendly. Don’t get defensive, and don’t let their attitude get to you. They won’t be rude or inappropriate (or your lawyer will step in). This is also true of Minister’s Counsel if there is one.
• The Member’s job is to make sure you are telling the truth. Sometimes this means they will ask questions that imply they don’t believe you or think you are incorrect or lying. Don’t take it personally, and don’t get defensive. Just give the best, most truthful answer you can.
• The people asking you questions may pause after your answer, to take notes or think of their next question. You don’t have to fill the silence. If your answer is finished, it is finished.
• It is okay to get emotional or cry while testifying. It is also okay to not get emotional or cry. People react different ways. If you need a moment to compose yourself, that is okay – just ask.

For In-Person Hearings

• The microphones on the tables ONLY RECORD, so make sure you are speaking loudly enough to be heard by everyone else in the room.
• However, also make sure you are speaking into the microphone, so your answer is recorded.
• Try to look at the person who asked you the question when you given your answer; when in doubt, look at the Member.
• Bring a bottle of water (there are water fountains in the hallway but often no cups). Bring a snack (you cannot eat in the hearing room, but you can eat in the waiting room if you are discreet).

Working with an Interpreter

• Even if you think you understood a question in English, wait for it to be interpreted to you so that the recording captures each individual speaking.
• Break up your answers into short pieces so the interpreter has time to interpret them – you don’t have to give short answers, just say a sentence, and pause to allow him or her to interpret it before you continue.
  • If you speak in too-long sentences, sometimes only the beginning and end gets interpreted and the middle gets missed.
• If you notice the interpreter making a mistake SPEAK UP! The interpreter is there to make sure your story is told correctly. They might make an honest mistake, but if you don’t say anything, no one will know.
• If there are repeated difficulties with the interpreter, we will get another interpreter.

Common Questions or Types of Questions

• Are there any documents that you tried to get that you were not able to get?

They are giving you an opportunity to explain why you don’t have documents they expect you to have.

• How did you get the identity documents you presented:
  • To the US authorities?
  • When you made your original refugee claim?
  • At this hearing?

They are trying to verify whether your documents are genuine, based on your explanation of when and how you got them.

Make sure to explain who exactly obtained or sent the documents, whether they were applied for and obtained legally, illegally, or partially illegally (for example with false information or a bribe), and whether or at what times you had real original versus a scan, photo, or copy.

They may not understand how you could have multiple “originals” of a document, because it isn’t possible with every document in every country.

• How did you enter [any country] without your passport/without a visa?

If you don’t know at all, you can just describe what happened from your perspective. People expect borders to be perfect, but they are not. If you took a bus to the border, crossed illegally on foot, and then caught a bus on the other side, don’t say that you took the bus from one country to the other – describe what really happened.

• Who are you afraid of in your country?

It is important that you describe ALL of the people or groups that you fear. Start with those harmed or threatened you in the past, but don’t leave out persons or groups that might harm or threaten you in the future.

• Why are you afraid of that person/group?

This is a question with multiple possible meanings.

• Why would that person/group be motivated to cause you threat or harm?
• What are you afraid that person/group will do to you or cause to have done to you?
• Why do you believe that person/group would have the ability to cause you harm or threaten you?

You should clarify with the Member which they intend to ask about. Don’t exaggerate. Make sure to explain the full range or possible outcomes – not just the worst-case scenario.

• What do you think will happen to you if you return to your country?

In order to be found to be a refugee, all that is needed is a real risk of a violation of your rights. In order to be protected under the Convention Against Torture, you need to show that it is more likely than not that you will face torture or death. However, in neither case does it need to be certain that the worst thing that could happen to you would happen to you. Part of the problem is that you don’t know what would happen for certain.

Explain what you think is realistically the most likely thing that would happen. Explain why you think that is the most likely thing to happen. For example, because it has happened to you before, or it has happened to a friend or family member, or you were threatened that it would happen.

Also make sure to explain any other things that you think are quite possible. For example, you might think that it is most likely that you will be arrested on arrival at the airport, detained, and mistreated—but it may also be the case that you would be allowed to go home and arrested a few days or weeks later, or that they would kidnap you instead of arresting you.

• Why would the people of whom you are afraid still want to harm you? Why did they want to harm you in the first place?
• Other questions with multiple possible meanings:
  • Why did you leave at that point?

Why didn’t you leave before that?

Why did you feel you should leave at that point?

Darien Gap

Chen Ying-yu, “‘We’re all fleeing persecution’: Chinese asylum-seekers head to US via Darién Gap”, Radio Free Asia, 26 December 2022, original URL: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/asylum-12242022124941.html, archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20230114220115/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/asylum-12242022124941.html

Near the jetty where the travelers will embark, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration has set up a tent, while the local government has its own tent facing it. A third canopy provides shade to people waiting to board the next vessel to Panama, who hail from Afghanistan, India, Latin America, the Caribbean, and, more recently, from China.

A local government official in Necoclí who declined to be named said the number of Chinese nationals turning up in the small port has risen significantly since September.

“Most of the adults from China are adults aged 20 to 30, about 80 percent are men, but there are also some women,” the official says. “They are in a slightly better situation than some of the immigrants from other countries, as they have a little money.”

“They can afford to eat in restaurants, buy their own food and pay for their own transportation,” he says. “They usually leave in a few days without any help [from the authorities].”

He says that while many don’t have visas, the authorities prefer to turn a blind eye.

“The current attitude of the Colombian government is to respect the freedom of movement of immigrants,” the official says on condition of anonymity. “From a practical point of view, it is really too expensive to send them back.”

According to data from the Colombian Immigration Agency, 1,028 Chinese citizens entered Colombia from Ecuador through unofficial channels between January and November 2022, 485 of whom did so in November alone.

Nearly all of them pass through Necoclí, the jumping-off point for the notorious Darién Gap people-smuggling route through the jungle from Panama to Colombia, in a bid to cross eventually into the United States. 

Safe Third Country Agreement	Five Eyes/IRPA s. 101(1)(c.1)
▶ Mainly determines who can make a claim at an official Port of Entry at the Canada-US land border	▶ Mainly determines who has access to the full Refugee Protection Division hearing process, versus a modified PRRA
▶ WHERE: Applies at Ports-of-Entry at the Canada-US land border	▶ WHERE: Applies to all people making refugee claims, or who have made refugee claims
▶ WHO: Applies to prohibit entry to anyone making a refugee claim at the border, unless they meet one of the exceptions	▶ WHO: Applies to anyone who has ever “made” (initiated) a refugee claim in the US, UK, Australia, or New Zealand
▶ Doesn’t matter if they made an asylum application in the US, only that they are traveling from there	▶ Doesn’t matter if they are traveling from the applicable countries, or how long ago they were there, or what that result was
▶ SOURCES: IRPA, s. 101(1)(e); IRPA Regulations, ss. 159.1, 159.2, 159.3, 159.4, 159.5, 159.6, 159.7; Safe Third Country Agreement	▶ SOURCES: IRPA, s. 101(1)(c.1); Canada, IRCC, “Agreements with other departments and governments”