A refugee hearing at the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) is usually the first time a claimant has to explain, out loud and under oath, why returning home is dangerous. Most people arrive knowing the stakes and almost nothing about the room. This article describes the procedure — who attends, what order things happen in, and what the Division does afterwards — so that the process itself is one less unknown.
Angelina Shuster is a paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, and representation at the RPD is within a licensed paralegal's scope. This article is general information about procedure in Canada and is not legal advice; reading it does not create a paralegal-client relationship, and every claim turns on its own facts and its own evidence.
Who is in the hearing room?
Fewer people than most claimants expect. A refugee hearing is not a trial, there is no jury, and it is closed to the public.
- The member. One decision-maker from the Refugee Protection Division. The member both asks questions and decides the claim.
- The claimant. Anyone included in the claim attends, although the member may hear family members separately.
- Counsel. The claimant's representative, if they have one. A licensed paralegal or a lawyer may appear.
- An interpreter, where one has been requested. The interpreter is arranged and paid for by the Immigration and Refugee Board, not by the claimant.
- A Minister's representative, only in the minority of cases where the Minister has chosen to intervene — commonly where credibility, identity, exclusion or criminality is in issue.
Hearings are held in person and by videoconference. The format is set by the Division, and the notice of hearing states which one applies.
| Who | Role at the hearing |
|---|---|
| RPD member | Decides the claim — asks most of the questions and weighs credibility |
| You (the claimant) | Give evidence under oath or affirmation |
| Your counsel | Prepares the case, questions you, makes submissions |
| Interpreter | Interprets everything said, if you asked for one |
| Minister’s counsel | Attends only in some cases — may raise credibility, exclusion or identity |
| Designated representative | Appointed for a minor or a claimant unable to understand the process |
What happens in the first ten minutes?
The opening is administrative, and it is deliberately slow. The member introduces everyone present and confirms the file number, the languages being used and whether the interpreter and the claimant understand one another. That last check matters more than it sounds: if the dialect is wrong, the moment to say so is at the beginning, not after two hours of evidence.
The member then confirms which documents are on file, identifies the issues the hearing will focus on, and administers an oath or a solemn affirmation. Naming the issues early is one of the most useful things a claimant hears all day, because it tells everyone in the room what the member is actually undecided about.
In what order is the evidence heard?
The standard order at the RPD places the member first. This surprises people who expect their own representative to begin.
- The member questions the claimant. This is usually the longest part of the hearing, and it follows the issues identified at the start.
- The Minister's representative questions the claimant, if the Minister has intervened.
- Counsel questions the claimant. Questioning here is generally used to fill gaps, clarify an answer that came out confused, or draw attention to supporting evidence already on file.
- Any witnesses are heard, in the same order.
- Submissions. Counsel explains why the evidence meets the definition in the law. This is argument, not new evidence.
Questions are asked about the account already given in the written material on file and in the Basis of Claim form. A hearing tests an existing account rather than collecting a new one, which is why inconsistencies between the form and the testimony take up so much of the day.
What is the member deciding?
The Division decides whether the claimant is a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection under Canadian law. In practice, a hearing usually turns on a small number of questions: whether the claimant is who they say they are, whether the account is credible, whether the fear is objectively supported by country conditions, whether protection was available from the claimant's own state, and whether it would be reasonable to live somewhere else in that country.
Country conditions are not left to the claimant alone. The Board maintains a National Documentation Package for each country, and the member may refer to it during the hearing.
When does a decision come?
Two routes. The member may give an oral decision at the end of the hearing, with written reasons to follow. Or the decision is reserved and sent later in writing. Neither route signals an outcome, and the Division sets its own timelines.
A claim that is refused may be appealable to the Refugee Appeal Division, and some claims have no right of appeal at all — the categories are set out in the legislation rather than decided case by case. Where an appeal is not available, judicial review at the Federal Court may be. Which of those routes exists in any given file depends on how the claim entered the system, which is one of the first things a representative checks.
What can be prepared in advance?
Preparation for an RPD hearing is mostly documentary and mostly done long before the date.
- Identity documents. Identity is a live issue in a large share of refused claims.
- Consistency between the Basis of Claim narrative and the supporting documents. Dates, names and sequence are compared closely.
- Corroborating material — medical records, police reports, membership documents, correspondence — with translations where required.
- The interpretation request, including the correct dialect, filed with the Board rather than mentioned on the day.
- Disclosure deadlines. The Division's rules set out when documents have to be provided before the hearing; material filed late may not be accepted.
Karb Law appears at Immigration and Refugee Board tribunals, and refugee claims are one of the firm's regular areas of work alongside appeals to the Immigration Appeal Division. Anyone with a hearing date can contact the office to discuss representation.
How does the Basis of Claim form fit into the hearing?
The Basis of Claim form is the written account of why the claimant fears returning. It is filed well before the hearing, and it becomes the document the oral testimony is measured against. Members read it in advance, and questioning frequently begins from something in it.
Three procedural points follow from that. First, the form is the claimant's own narrative, so it should describe events in the order and detail the claimant actually remembers rather than in the order that reads well. Second, if something in the form is wrong or incomplete, the Division's rules provide for amending it in writing before the hearing — a correction filed in advance is treated very differently from one offered under questioning. Third, supporting documents are read alongside it, so a date in a medical record that contradicts a date in the narrative will be noticed.
Claims made at a port of entry and claims made inland enter the system through slightly different steps, and the timelines for filing the form differ accordingly. The date on the notice from the Board is the one that governs.
What happens if the hearing is missed or cannot go ahead?
Two different procedures cover this, and they are often confused.
An adjournment or a change of date is requested in advance, in writing, under the Division's rules. The member decides, and the rules list the factors that are weighed — including how much notice was given, whether the date was previously changed, and the reason offered. A request made the day before is judged on a different footing from one made a month before.
An abandonment proceeding is what follows when a claimant does not appear, or does not provide the required documents. The Division does not simply refuse the claim: it gives the claimant an opportunity to explain why the claim should not be declared abandoned, and that explanation is heard. A claim declared abandoned is not decided on its merits at all, which is why the explanation stage matters.
Where a claim has already been refused, the routes that remain are narrow and time-limited. Some claimants may also be considering humanitarian and compassionate grounds, which is a separate process with its own criteria and is not an appeal of the refugee decision.
What the hearing is not
It is not a cross-examination by an opposing party, in the ordinary case — most hearings have no Minister's representative in the room at all. It is not decided on the day it is heard, unless the member chooses to give an oral decision. And it is not a test of composure: the Division's own guidance recognises that people describing persecution give evidence differently from witnesses describing a contract dispute, and the record contains material on how vulnerable claimants are to be questioned.
What it is, procedurally, is a single decision-maker testing a written account against oral testimony and against published country evidence, in one sitting, in a closed room.
