Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA)

A Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) is a written protection process administered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). It asks one central question: if you are removed from Canada, would you face persecution, torture, a risk to your life, or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment in your home country? If the answer is yes and you can support it with credible, current evidence, you may be permitted to stay in Canada as a protected person.

A PRRA is not a refugee hearing. In most cases it is decided on written submissions only, with no in-person appearance. For many people whose claim was rejected by the Refugee Protection Division or on refugee appeal, it is the final legal protection available before removal. Because of major changes to Canada's asylum system in 2025 and 2026, more people are now going through the PRRA as their first protection assessment, not as a last resort.

You can only apply for a PRRA if the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) notifies you that you are eligible and gives you an application package. You cannot apply on your own without that notification. A PRRA can also run alongside an application on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, which looks at different factors.

Who Is Eligible for a PRRA and What Are the Application Requirements?

Eligibility is determined by CBSA when removal proceedings begin. A CBSA officer reviews your immigration history and issues a notification if you qualify.

You may be eligible if you are:

• A failed refugee claimant: The Refugee Protection Division (RPD) rejected your claim, the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) upheld the rejection or you had no right of appeal, and you now face removal.
• Diverted under Bill C-12: Your refugee claim was found ineligible for an IRB hearing under the one-year rule or the 14-day border-crossing rule. For these claimants, the PRRA is the first and primary protection assessment, and the new evidence restriction does not apply. See how Bill C-12 changed the PRRA process below.
• Ineligible for an IRB referral on other grounds: Your asylum claim could not be referred to the IRB, but you were not returned under the Safe Third Country Agreement.
• Applying at a port of entry: In some circumstances, a PRRA may be requested at the port of entry at the time of removal.
• Subject to inadmissibility grounds: Persons found inadmissible on security, human rights, serious criminality, or organized criminality grounds may still receive a restricted PRRA limited to section 97 grounds. See the section on restricted PRRA below.

Who Is Not Eligible for a PRRA

You cannot apply for a PRRA if you:

• Made a refugee claim that was found ineligible because of the Safe Third Country Agreement.
• Were found to be a Convention refugee in another country you can return to.
• Are already a protected person in Canada.
• Are subject to extradition.

The 12-Month PRRA Waiting Period

In most cases, you must wait 12 months after your last negative decision before you can apply for a PRRA. The 12-month waiting period is triggered by:

• A negative decision from the IRB on your refugee claim.
• A negative decision from IRCC on a previous PRRA application.
• Abandonment or withdrawal of your refugee claim or PRRA application.
• The Federal Court refusing your application for leave to review your refugee claim or PRRA decision.

If the waiting period applies to you, you are not eligible to submit a PRRA application until it has passed.

Country Exemptions to the 12-Month PRRA Bar

The 12-month bar can be waived for nationals of specific countries where conditions have changed suddenly, such as a coup, a new conflict, or a sharp deterioration in human rights conditions. Each exemption applies only to people who received their negative decision within a precise date range, and IRCC adds new exemptions as conditions change. Always confirm your eligibility against the official list of exemptions to the 12-month wait period on Canada.ca rather than relying on static tables, which quickly become outdated.

PRRA Exemption for Iranian Nationals (December 2025)

On December 19, 2025, IRCC announced an exemption to the 12-month waiting period for Iranian nationals. Iranian nationals who received a final negative decision on their asylum claim from the IRB or the Federal Court between December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025 may now be eligible to apply for a PRRA. IRCC cited the deterioration in human rights conditions in Iran following the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran in June 2025. Iranian nationals who received a negative PRRA decision during the same period may also be eligible to apply for a second PRRA.

Eligibility to apply does not mean you will be permitted to stay in Canada. IRCC officers continue to assess each case individually based on the evidence submitted. Iranian nationals who receive a negative final decision after December 19, 2025 must wait 12 months before applying for a PRRA.

What Are the Key Factors That a PRRA Submission Should Address?

A strong PRRA submission shows the specific risks you would face if returned, not general hardship. Your written submissions should clearly answer:

• Why you would be at risk if returned to your country of nationality or former habitual residence.
• What kind of risk you would face, and who it would come from.
• How the risk concerns you directly and personally.
• Why you cannot get protection from the authorities in your country.
• Why you could not avoid the risk by moving to another city or region of your country.
• How your situation compares with that of the rest of the population in your country.

Evidence supporting your account, such as documents from human rights organizations, news reports, or statements from people familiar with your situation, should also be included. Requesting your GCMS notes can show what is already on record from your previous immigration proceedings and help you address any earlier concerns directly.

What Risks Does a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment Cover?

A PRRA covers a specific, legally defined set of risks under sections 96 and 97 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). General hardship, economic difficulty, and difficult living conditions do not, on their own, meet the legal test.

Convention refugee risk (section 96): A well-founded fear of persecution based on your race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, in circumstances where your own country cannot or will not protect you.

Risk to life, torture, or cruel and unusual treatment (section 97): A personalized danger of torture as defined under the Convention Against Torture, a risk to your life, or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. This must be a risk that you face personally, not a risk that all people in your country face generally.

Restricted PRRA

If your removal order relates to serious criminality, security, human rights violations, or organized criminality, your assessment may be limited to section 97 grounds only. The section 96 persecution ground is not available in a restricted PRRA.

Personalized Risk vs. General Country Conditions

General country reports, on their own, do not satisfy the legal test. An officer needs to see a clear connection between the documented conditions in your country and your specific situation.

A simple illustration of this distinction:

• General country evidence: A human rights report documenting that journalists in your country face government harassment.
• Personalized evidence: A copy of a summons naming you, issued after an article you published, along with messages threatening you by name.

The first piece establishes the backdrop. The second shows why the risk applies to you specifically. A well-prepared PRRA submission uses both: it establishes that the risk is real in your country, then connects it precisely to your identity, history, activities, profile, or relationships.

Relevant personal factors can include your gender, ethnicity, religion, political or social activity, family relationships, employment, past encounters with authorities, and any public profile you hold.

PRRA New Evidence Rule: What Qualifies and What Doesn't

If you previously had a refugee claim or PRRA application rejected, you can only rely on new evidence. New evidence is evidence that became known after the rejection, that you could not access, or that you could not reasonably have been expected to present in time for that decision.

What Qualifies as New Evidence

• Evidence that arose after your last decision: new threats, a new summons, harm to family members, a change in government, or a new law targeting your group.
• Evidence that existed earlier but was genuinely unavailable to you at the time, such as a document you could not obtain, or medical evidence that only became available later.

What Usually Does Not Qualify

• Documents already submitted to the RPD, RAD, or a previous PRRA.
• Evidence that was reasonably available before your last decision.
• Repeating your original account without new supporting material.
• General country reports with no clear link to your case.

Label your new evidence clearly and explain why each document is new, for example by highlighting the relevant parts of an article. If your case went to the Refugee Appeal Division, review that decision closely before you file. It usually spells out exactly what evidence gaps still need to be addressed.

Pre-Removal Risk Assessment Process

The PRRA process begins when CBSA notifies you of your eligibility and gives you the application form and instruction guide. You then submit your application to IRCC's Humanitarian Migration office by the deadline on your notification. An IRCC officer reviews your application and decides it, usually on the written record. CBSA delivers the decision and, if it is negative, arranges your removal.

How Bill C-12 Changed the PRRA Process in 2026

The Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act (Bill C-12) received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026 and introduced the most significant change to Canada's asylum system in decades. Two new eligibility rules now prevent certain asylum claims from being referred to the IRB for a full refugee hearing. Both rules apply retroactively to claims made on or after June 3, 2025.

The one-year rule: If you first entered Canada after June 24, 2020, and you made your asylum claim more than one year after that first entry, your claim will not be referred to the IRB. The clock runs from your very first entry into Canada and does not reset if you leave and return.

The 14-day border-crossing rule: If you entered Canada between ports of entry along the Canada-U.S. land border and did not file your claim within 14 days of arriving, your claim will also not be referred to the IRB.

For people affected by either rule, a PRRA is the first and only formal protection assessment available in Canada. The standard new evidence restriction does not apply to these claimants, so they can submit a full evidentiary record from the outset. Unaccompanied minors under 18 are exempt from both rules.

If you received a procedural fairness letter stating that your claim may be ineligible under these rules, seek advice immediately. The deadlines to respond are short and the stakes are high.

PRRA Application Deadlines

Strict deadlines apply, and IRCC must receive your complete application before your deadline. If it does not, you will be removed from Canada.

• If the CBSA officer gives you the package in person: You must submit your completed IMM 5508 form within 15 days.
• If the package is sent to you by mail: You must submit your completed IMM 5508 form within 22 days.

If your notification sets a separate date for written submissions or supporting evidence, follow that date exactly.

You can submit online through Canada Post's Connect service or by mail. An online application is considered received as soon as it is recorded in Connect, which removes the risk of mail delays close to your deadline.

Automatic Stay of Removal

If you are a first-time PRRA applicant and you submit your application on time and not at a port of entry, your removal is automatically paused while your application is processed. This stay ends if you confirm you do not intend to apply, miss your deadline, withdraw or abandon your application, or your application is refused. If this is not your first PRRA application, or it was submitted late or at a port of entry, the automatic stay generally does not apply.

If You Do Not Want to Apply for a PRRA

If you receive a PRRA notification but choose not to apply, you must formally say so:

1. Complete Section G (Statement of No Intention) of the Application for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (IMM 5508).
2. Send it to the address shown in your PRRA notification.
3. Report to the CBSA office that gave you the application package to arrange your departure..

Documents to Include with Your PRRA

Your application is assessed on the documents and written submissions you provide. In most cases there is no in-person opportunity to fill gaps after you submit, so completeness at the outset is critical.

Include the following:

• Completed IMM 5508 form, signed and dated. Each family member in Canada aged 18 or older who is also applying must complete their own application.
• Written submissions explaining the specific risks you face, why those risks are personal to you, why protection in your home country is unavailable, and why moving elsewhere in your country is not a viable option.
• Identity and relationship documents: Photocopies of your passport, national identity card, birth certificate, or marriage certificate.
• Evidence of personal risk: Police reports, arrest warrants, a summons naming you, threatening messages, photographs of harm, or medical records documenting injuries.
• Country condition evidence: Reports from UNHCR, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, or U.S. State Department human rights reports, used to give context to your personal risk.
• Witness statements or affidavits from people who can corroborate your account.
• Expert reports, where relevant, for example from a medical professional, a country expert, or a psychologist.
• Translations: Every document that is not in English or French needs an English or French translation by a certified translator, plus a copy of the original. Documents submitted without a translation will not be considered.
• Use of a Representative (IMM 5476), if a representative is helping you with your application.

Identify each piece of evidence clearly in your written submissions and explain its relevance to your specific risk. Clear, numbered headings help the officer find the key information.

What Happens After a PRRA Decision?

If Your PRRA Is Approved

A positive decision grants you protected person status. This means you cannot be removed to the country where the risk was found. Once you hold this status, you can apply for permanent residence in Canada. While your permanent residence application is being processed, you can apply for a work permit or a study permit.

In a restricted PRRA, an approval usually leads to a stay of removal only, without protected person status. This can happen where a person is found inadmissible on serious grounds but cannot be safely removed. That stay can be reviewed later, so a representative should explain which outcome applies to you after a decision is made.

If Your PRRA Is Refused

A refused PRRA leaves limited but time-sensitive options.

You may apply to the Federal Court for leave to seek judicial review of the decision. This is a two-stage process: the Court first decides whether to grant leave to hear the case, and if leave is granted, a judicial review follows. Judicial review is not a new hearing. The Court examines whether the officer's decision was reasonable and procedurally fair. If an error is found, the case is usually sent back for redetermination by a different officer, not reversed outright.

Filing for judicial review does not automatically stop your removal. You must separately ask the Court for a stay of removal. The deadline to file for leave is very short, typically 15 days for matters arising inside Canada, so seek advice immediately after a negative decision. There is no appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division from a PRRA refusal.

Depending on your circumstances, you may also consider an immigration appeal or an application on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. A representative can advise which options remain open in your specific situation.

How PRRA Differs from a Refugee Hearing and an H&C Application

PRRA vs. Refugee Hearing at the IRB

PRRA vs. Humanitarian and Compassionate Application

A PRRA focuses narrowly on the legal risks of being returned to your country. A humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) application considers a broader range of factors, including your establishment in Canada, family relationships, and the best interests of any children affected by removal. These are different legal questions with different standards.

You can submit a PRRA and an H&C application at the same time. Submitting an H&C application does not, on its own, stop removal.

Most failed refugee claimants are subject to a 12-month bar on H&C applications. Exceptions apply where a child under 18 would be directly and adversely affected by removal, or where a life-threatening medical condition cannot be treated in the home country.

PRRA Application Cost

There is no government fee to apply for a PRRA. However, preparing a submission that meets the legal standard, particularly one addressing a previous refusal or requiring expert reports, usually calls for professional representation.

Factors that affect the cost of professional help include:

• The volume of evidence that needs to be reviewed and translated.
• The number of family members included in the application.
• Previous decisions that need to be addressed and distinguished.
• The urgency of the removal date.
• Expert reports or medical documents required to support the risk claim.

A clear cost breakdown is provided before any work begins.