How a claim for refugee protection is made from within Canada.
A person inside Canada who fears returning to their country can make a claim for refugee protection. A claim can be made at a port of entry on arrival or at an office inside Canada, and the first stage is an eligibility determination by an officer — whether the claim can be referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board at all.
If the claim is eligible, it is referred to the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board. The Board is an independent tribunal, separate from IRCC, and the decision is made by a Board member at a hearing on the evidence put before them. That separation matters: the officer you first speak to does not decide your claim.
From the first conversation onward, everything said and filed forms one record. The account given at the port of entry, the written Basis of Claim, the supporting documents and the oral evidence at the hearing are compared with one another. Consistency across that record is central, which is why the first account given matters as much as the last.
| Where a claim can be made | At a port of entry, or at an office inside Canada |
|---|---|
| First stage | An eligibility determination by an officer |
| Who decides the claim | The Refugee Protection Division of the IRB |
| The IRB is | An independent tribunal, separate from IRCC |
| Assessed largely on | Credibility and country-condition evidence |
What an application on this route usually involves. Not a checklist that guarantees anything — IRCC sets the requirements, and they change.
Whether it fits you is what a consultation is for. This page cannot answer that and does not try to.
Everything said and filed is compared. Differences are treated as credibility issues even where there is an innocent explanation, which is why the first account matters as much as the last.
The time limits here are short and firmly applied. A missed deadline can end a claim regardless of its underlying merits.
A personal account carries far more weight when corroborated by evidence about conditions in the country concerned.
Options narrow faster here than anywhere else covered on this site.
A member of the Refugee Protection Division at the Immigration and Refugee Board, an independent tribunal. Not IRCC, and not the officer who took your claim.
There is a process for work authorisation for claimants, with its own requirements. It is not automatic on making a claim.
It is common and not automatically fatal, but it has to be explained credibly and consistently. What causes difficulty is an explanation that changes.
It can, and the interaction is not always obvious. This is a reason to get advice before making decisions about parallel applications rather than after.
That is the one question this page cannot answer. Start with the free assessment, then bring your situation to a consultation with the RCIC-IRB.
Start Your AssessmentBook a paid consultationThis page is general information. It is not an assessment of your eligibility, and nothing on it is immigration advice for consideration. Claiming Protection From Inside Canada matters at ZIMMR are advised on directly by Irshad Osman, RCIC-IRB.
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