Canada has introduced a single online application process for asylum claims made inside the country or at a port of entry. Federal regulations bringing the change into force took effect on 3 November 2026, alongside measures covering application deadlines, government checks and support for some vulnerable claimants.
The new process is part of a wider overhaul of Canada’s asylum system. It concerns people seeking protection in Canada, including those making a claim at an airport or land crossing. It is separate from the resettlement system for refugees referred from outside the country.
How a claim begins
For someone already inside Canada, the first step is to answer questions on the immigration department’s online portal to indicate an intention to claim asylum. The person is then invited to an in-person appointment with an officer, where the claim is formally made.
A claim at a port of entry can begin with a border services officer. After an interview, the officer decides whether the claim is eligible. If it is, the person receives a notice of the application due date and instructions for completing the claim online within 60 days.
The federal government says people whose claims are eligible for referral to the independent Immigration and Refugee Board have 60 days to submit their completed application and required documents. A one-off extension of 30 days is available on request. The due date on an individual’s notice remains important, and different requirements can apply to existing claims.
Checks before a decision
An eligibility decision is not the same as a decision to grant refugee protection. Immigration or border officers assess whether a claim can be referred. The board decides claims referred to it, including whether a person meets the definition of a refugee or a person in need of protection.
The regulations also set a time limit for government reviews before referral. Those checks cover security, criminality, admissibility and programme integrity. The government intends checks before a case reaches the board to reduce delays at the hearing stage, but the effect on waiting times remains to be seen.
Other rules explain how a claim withdrawn by the minister can be reinstated and what a claimant must do when the board decides a claim has not been abandoned. A claim may be considered abandoned when a person does not take the required steps to pursue it.
The changes also clarify when a designated representative must be appointed for someone who needs extra support, including certain children and people unable to understand proceedings fully. They set out the representative’s responsibilities and when an appointment ends.
Eligibility and work permits
The regulations follow legislation that became law on 26 March 2026. That law introduced eligibility restrictions for claims made on or after 3 June 2025, including a rule affecting claims made more than a year after a person’s first entry into Canada after 24 June 2020, even if they have since left and returned.
A separate restriction concerns some people who enter between official ports of entry on the Canada–US land border and make a claim more than 14 days later. People affected by those restrictions can still access a pre-removal risk assessment, a separate process from referral of a claim to the board.
The new regulations provide an exception to the one-year restriction for people who register online and indicate an intention to seek asylum within their first year in Canada. Unaccompanied minors are also excepted from the new ineligibility rules. Whether a particular claim can be referred remains an individual decision.
Eligible claimants can continue to receive work permits after submitting a complete claim. The government says the regulations make the existing approach permanent. Other requirements still apply, and a complete claim does not itself amount to a work permit or a grant of refugee protection.
What happens to existing applications
People who began an inland portal claim but had not submitted it by 11.59pm Eastern time on 2 November 2026 must review previous answers and respond to new questions before submitting. Personal information already entered is saved. Those who submitted by the cut-off generally do not need to provide new information unless officials ask for it.
The government says asylum claims from January to August 2026 were 52 per cent lower than in the same months of 2025 and 68 per cent lower than in the same period of 2024. Those figures precede the November changes and do not show what effect the new regulations will have.
Immigration lawyers raised concerns during consultation on the draft rules that the document deadline might be difficult for vulnerable claimants. They also warned that a proposed exception for operational limitations could weaken the time limit on government reviews. Those comments addressed the draft, rather than an assessment of the final wording.
