A new Canadian holds a flag at a citizenship ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in April, 2019.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The federal refugee tribunal’s practice of assessing some asylum claims without first questioning applicants could heighten the risk of fraud and weaken security screening, a report by a former director of policy at the Immigration Department says.
The report, to be published on Thursday by the C.D. Howe Institute, expresses concern that the Immigration and Refugee Board’s assessment of asylum claims from certain countries without hearings removes an important layer of scrutiny.
An access to information request by the report’s author, James Yousif, found that between Jan. 1, 2019 and Feb. 28, 2023, the IRB accepted 24,599 asylum claims into Canada without personally questioning the applicants in hearings.
Mr. Yousif, a former IRB adjudicator, says that practice accelerates decision making, but has not reduced the huge backlog of claims.
By September, 2025, there was a backlog of almost 296,000 pending cases.
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Under a file-review policy established in 2019, the IRB drew up a list of countries, which was removed from public view in 2020, from where claims could be assessed without an interview, the report says.
Mr. Yousif argues in the report that all asylum claims should be adjudicated through in-person hearings “without shortcuts.”
He writes that approving asylum claims without a hearing “may facilitate fraud and encourage more fraudulent claims.”
“Asking questions is also a part of Canada’s security screening architecture and cannot be skipped without increasing national security risks.”
In asylum cases, regardless of whether there’s a hearing, a member of the IRB must make the final adjudication. They have the power to refuse applications or require an in-person hearing before a decision is made. Applicants for refugee status are also security screened.
“Without in person questioning to test credibility, probe inconsistencies and assess the reliability of evidence, false or fraudulent claims may succeed and potential security risks may go undetected,” the report says.
IRB hearings allow careful questioning of applicants which can “reveal inconsistencies in complex or fabricated accounts,” it adds.
“The provenance of documents can also be tested at a hearing by asking questions about them. There is no substitute for this process.”
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During an asylum hearing, if questioning reveals information suggesting a potential security risk or raises possible inadmissibility, an IRB board member must notify the minister of public safety or the minister of immigration and may be required to halt the proceeding, the report says.
The IRB said the asylum system includes many safeguards for screening asylum seekers for security concerns.
Before being referred to the IRB, all refugee claimants are interviewed by an immigration or border officer, according to Linda MacMillan, an IRB spokesperson.
“Claims are not referred to the IRB for refugee determination if, after the interview, the claimant is found by the officer to be ineligible on grounds of security, serious criminality, organized criminality, or for violating human or international rights,” Ms. MacMillan said.
She said many of the claims triaged for a “paper process” were frequently finalized through a hearing. If a claim is allocated for “file review” the immigration minister is provided with advance notice.
“This provides the minister an opportunity to review the file and to intervene in the claim on integrity, exclusion or security issues if they wish,” she added in a statement.
The board said IRCC and CBSA may also intervene in any claim before the IRB, including to raise a security issue. If they intervene in person, the claim is not eligible to be processed under the file-review process.
The federal government has been tightening asylum rules in the past year. A bill going through Parliament would bar claims from anyone who has been in Canada for more than a year.
This week Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada published details of a policy set out in last year’s budget to make refugees and asylum seekers share the cost of additional health benefits, including for prescription medication, glasses, dental care and counselling. Visits to the doctor and hospital care will remain fully covered.
The Interim Federal Health Program provides temporary coverage for health products and services for asylum claimants and refugees until they transition to provincial and territorial health-care programs.
Under the changes, refugees would be responsible for paying $4 for each eligible prescription medication, and 30 per cent of the cost for other health products including for the cost of new glasses.
Rachel Talavlikar, medical director of the Calgary Refugee Health Clinic, said in a statement that “even modest co-payments for medications and health services will be unaffordable to many and individuals may delay or forgo care with potentially devastating health consequences.”