Practice notice: RPD and RAD processing for individuals applying under government of Canada public policies

Date Announced:

June 14, 2021

Active Period:

Comes into force June 14, 2021

Overview:

When this practice notice first came into force on December 14, 2020, it applied to two Canadian public policies related to healthcare workers (healthcare public policies). It is now being updated to include a third public policy related to recent air disasters (air disaster public policy). These public policies are referred to collectively in this practice notice as “the Public Policies.”

This practice notice sets out how the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) and the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) will schedule and hear refugee claims and appeals for those individuals who have made applications under the Public Policies.

This practice notice comes into force on June 14, 2021. It replaces the previous practice notice which came into force on December 14, 2020.

Background
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is administering special programs to recognize certain refugee claimants who were front-line health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic or were family members of victims of certain air disasters. Many of these individuals have pending refugee claims or appeals before the IRB.

Processing the claims and appeals of these individuals at the IRB at the same time as IRCC is processing their applications under the Public Policies would result in an inefficient use of resources and a duplication of effort. It would also unnecessarily require those individuals to spend time and money pursuing two streams to obtaining status in Canada.

Therefore, as described below, the IRB has agreed to put these claims and appeals on hold pending the outcome of the application under the Public Policies.

Departments and Agencies:

Immigration and Refugee Board

Type of Administrative Action:

  • Guidelines and rule changes
  • Operations

    • Immigration Category:

    Family class (reunification) | Refugee claimants

    Keywords:

    air disasters; front-line health workers; Guardian Angels

    Source Document(s):

    https://irb.gc.ca/en/legal-policy/procedures/Pages/rpd-rad-pn-processing-claimants.aspx

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