In Canada, to be successful at your refugee hearing, you must prove your identity and establish that you meet the criteria of Convention refugee or a person in need of protection. Persons who succeed in their claim before the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) receive permanent resident status in Canada.
Your application will be judged based on legal issues, not solely on the extent of the trials you faced.
Guidance on the issues that affect qualification as a refugee and the information that should be gathered are found at the My Refugee Claim website. Information on credibility considerations can be found on the website Meet Gary.
Discussed below are various issues that may be considered in a hearing for Convention refugees. There are similar yet broader criteria that apply to persons in need of protection.
Showing a well-founded fear of persecution
An RPD member (adjudicator) may consider the following factors in deciding whether you have a well-founded fear of persecution (or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment):
- Whether, if you return to your country, there is a serious possibility that you will face persecution. (This addresses the legal issue of persecution or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.)
- Whether the risk of persecution exists because you are identified as being part of a certain religion. (Under the Convention, this addresses the legal issue of nexus, or the connection between the persecution and an enumerated ground. For protected person status, this shows that this risk of very serious mistreatment is not shared by everyone in your country but is directed specifically at you and people like you.)
Showing basis for fear
In order to show a well-founded fear of persecution (or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment), you must show (1) that you subjectively fear persecution, and (2) that there is a valid basis for that fear. An adjudicator may consider the following factors in applying each part of this test:
- Whether you are genuinely afraid to return to your country and have plausible reasons for being afraid based on your particular situation. (This addresses the legal issue of a subjective basis for fear.)
- Whether you refrained from travelling back to a location that poses a risk to you. Adjudicators are sometimes concerned that claimants who have returned home are not really afraid. (This addresses the legal issue of re-availment.)
- How promptly you left your country, how promptly you claimed asylum, or whether you made a claim in a safe country that you passed through. (This addresses the legal issues of delay in departure, delay in claiming, and failure to claim elsewhere.)
- Whether, based on factual public information about the country, people of your religion have well-founded reasons for being afraid. (This addresses the legal issue of an objective basis for fear.)
Showing alternatives
- Whether your country’s government or other authorities are unable or unwilling to protect you. (This addresses the legal issue of state protection.)
- Whether you cannot live safely in any other part of the country where it would be reasonable to expect you to live. (This addresses the legal issue of an internal flight alternative.)
Showing credibility
- All parts of your testimony are plausible, have adequate supporting information (where this exists and is reasonably available to you), are consistent with all other aspects of your claim, and are consistent with documentation provided by yourself or available through public sources.
For more information on what is involved in each of the legal issues, please consult the hearing preparation pages on the My Refugee Claim website.
RPD members have broad discretion to determine what evidence is relevant to the determination of a refugee claim. Discuss with your lawyer what evidence or which circumstances of your case are most important to your claim, and what questions an adjudicator is likely to pose in your hearing.
Disclaimer: This website does not contain legal advice. For all legal questions, it is best to consult with a qualified lawyer. The information contained on this website may not be current due to changes since the time it was written.
Religious Refugees 