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As of March 25, 2026, Bill C-12 has received royal assent and become law in Canada. This bill will change how Asylum claims are processed in Canada including the eligibility requirements for those seeking protection.
The key takeaways from the new Bill are the following:
- Asylum claims made more than one year after someone’s first entry into Canada after June 24, 2020 will no longer be referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) regardless of whether a person has left and returned to Canada in that period of time.
- Asylum claims from people who enter Canada through ports of entry along the USA/Canada border and who attempt to make a claim after 14 days of entry into Canada will no longer be referred to the IRB.
People that are affected by these new rules will still have access to a pre-removal risk assessment application (PRRA). This application is something provided to a person by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to prevent a person from being sent back to a country where they will face risks like persecution, torture, or harm.
IRCC has stated that over the coming months the process of Asylum claims in Canada will be streamlined and modernized including changes that will remove inactive cases from the system, refer only completed and “schedule ready” claims to the IRB, and speed up voluntary departures by making removal orders effective on the same day a claim is withdrawn.
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