IRCC may cancel asylum claims
IRCC is issuing procedural‑fairness letters and may cancel thousands of asylum claims under new rules for irregular border crossers — affected claimants are being steered to explore alternate pathways (x.com).
Bill C-12 received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026, and its new asylum‑eligibility rules apply to claims made on or after June 3, 2025; the law bars referral to the Immigration and Refugee Board for claims filed more than one year after a claimant’s first entry into Canada after June 24, 2020, and for irregular Canada–US land‑border entries made 14 or more days after arrival. (Canada.ca (canada.ca)) The Immigration and Refugee Board reported roughly 298,230 pending refugee protection claims as of February 2026, giving scale to how many outstanding files could be affected by the new eligibility filters. (IRB‑CISR (irb-cisr.gc.ca)) The legislation also grants IRCC broader authorities to cancel, suspend or change groups of immigration documents and to modernize processing rules, measures the government says are designed to reduce systemic pressure. (Canada.ca (canada.ca)) A new IRCC temporary public policy permits certain claimants whose files are deemed ineligible to obtain or retain open work permits during the administrative interval before they receive notification that they may apply for a Pre‑Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA). (IRCC public policy (canada.ca)) PRRA remains the statutory safety valve for people whose refugee claims are not referred to the IRB, and IRCC guidance confirms a claimant becomes eligible to apply for a work permit once they are formally notified they may seek a PRRA. (Canada.ca (canada.ca)) International and domestic rights groups — including Amnesty International and interventions from UN bodies — publicly criticized the law’s retroactive eligibility carve‑outs and warned they could place long‑pending claims at risk, a concern amplified in media reporting that highlighted the statute’s retroactive application to claims from mid‑2025 onward. (Amnesty International Canada (amnesty.ca); UNHCR Canada (unhcr.ca); VisaHQ (visahq.com))
