Chairperson's guidelines

​​The Chairperson's Guidelines provide guiding principles for adjudicating and managing cases. They serve primarily as source of guidance for decision-makers, but also for the personnel supporting adjudicative functions. They may have an adjudicative or an operational content. While they are not mandatory, decision-makers are expected to apply them or provide a reasoned justification for not doing so. Within the IRB, Guidelines have generally been employed to achieve strategic objectives, as opposed to simply managing daily operations. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, in s. 159(1)(h), provides statutory authority for the Guidelines.

Guidelines

Guideline 1 - Civilian Non-Combatants Fearing Persecution in Civil War Situations

These Guidelines address issues in relation to claims made by civilian non-combatants fearing return to situations of civil war.
(March 1996)

Guideline 2 - Detention

These Guidelines deal with several topics, including long-term detention, the notion of "danger to the public", alternatives to detention, and evidence and procedure.
(September 2010 | Amended in June 2013 | Amended in April 2021​)

Guideline 3 - Child Refugee Claimants: Procedural and Evidentiary Issues

These Guidelines address the specific procedural issue of the designation of a representative and the more general procedural issue of the steps to be followed in processing claims by unaccompanied children. The Guidelines also address the evidentiary issues of eliciting evidence in a child's claim and assessing that evidence.
(September 1996)

Guideline 4 - Women Refugee Claimants Fearing Gender-Related Persecution

These Guidelines encourage and promote consistency in dealing with refugee claims made by women fearing gender-related persecution. Originally launched in 1993, these guidelines became a model for other countries in developing their own guidelines on women asylum claimants fearing gender-related persecution.
(November 1996)

Guideline 6 - Scheduling and Changing the Date or Time of a Proceeding

The purpose of this Guideline is to explain the process the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) follows before and during a proceeding to ensure fair and efficient scheduling of its proceedings. The Guideline applies to all three divisions of the IRB.
(April 2010 | Amended in December 2012)

Guideline 7 - C​oncerning Preparation and Conduct of a Hearing in the Refugee Protection Division

This Guideline changes the order of questioning by having the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) leading the inquiry in the hearing room. The purpose of this change is to allow the RPD to make the best use of its expertise as a specialist tribunal by focussing on the issues which it has identified as determinative.
(December 2006 | Amended in December 2012)

Guideline 8 - Concerning Procedures with Respect to Vulnerable Persons Appearing Before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

The intention of this Guideline is to provide procedural accommodation(s) for individuals who are identified as vulnerable persons by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB).
(December 2006 | Amended in December 2012)

Guideline 9 - Proceedings Before the IRB Involving Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression

The purpose of this Guideline is to promote greater understanding of cases involving sexual orientation and gender identity and expression (SOGIE) and the harm individuals may face due to their non-conformity with socially accepted SOGIE norms.
(May 2017)