A pre-removal risk assessment, or PRRA, is the last risk review most people receive before removal from Canada. It is offered by the Canada Border Services Agency to certain people facing removal, it runs on short deadlines, and it decides whether returning you would expose you to persecution, torture, a risk to your life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment. This page explains who is offered one, the deadlines, and what a decision means.
Book a consultation
Who is offered a PRRA
You can only apply if a CBSA officer tells you that you are eligible. The offer is made to people who are subject to a removal order that has come into force, most often failed refugee claimants and people who were never able to make a claim. It is not something you request on your own initiative, and it is not a second refugee hearing.
There is a 12-month bar. In general, you must wait 12 months after a negative decision from the Immigration and Refugee Board, a previous PRRA refusal, an abandoned or withdrawn claim, or a refused judicial review before you can be offered a PRRA. IRCC exempts nationals of certain countries from the bar when conditions there have changed; the list is published and updated on canada.ca.
Not eligible
Claims found ineligible under the Safe Third Country Agreement, people recognised as refugees in another country they can return to, people who already have protection in Canada, and people subject to extradition.
15 days to apply
If you receive the form and guide in person, the application must be submitted within 15 days; 22 days if they come by mail.
Written submissions
A further 15 days after applying to send written submissions and evidence.
Removal is paused
If you apply in time, you are not removed while the application is pending.
The deadlines decide everything
The PRRA notification starts the clock. Applying within the deadline gives you a stay of removal until the decision is made. Missing it means removal can proceed and the assessment is lost. The evidence deadline is just as firm: what is not in front of the officer cannot be weighed.
If you have been notified, the first call should be the same day. Preparing a PRRA properly in 15 days is possible; preparing one in the last three of those days is not.
What can be submitted, and the new evidence rule
The assessment looks at the risk you would face in your country of nationality or former residence: whether it is personal to you, whether you could avoid it by moving within the country, and whether it is different from what the general population faces.
If your refugee claim was rejected, you may only submit new evidence, meaning evidence that arose after the most recent rejection, that became known after it, that you could not access, or that you could not reasonably have been expected to present at the time. A PRRA is not a chance to re-argue the claim with the same material. Most PRRA applications are decided on paper; a hearing is held only in limited circumstances.
What a decision means
A positive decision makes you a protected person, and protected persons may apply for permanent residence. In rare cases involving serious inadmissibility, a positive risk finding results only in permission to remain until conditions change.
A negative decision means you must leave Canada. You can apply to the Federal Court of Canada for a review of the decision, but you must still leave unless the Court grants a stay of removal. That application is filed through counsel authorised to appear in the Federal Court; an immigration consultant prepares the file up to that point and refers you.
A PRRA is one of several processes that can be in play at the same time as a removal date, alongside an H&C application, a request to defer removal, and appeals at the Board. They have different rules and different effects on removal. A consultation is where they are sorted out in the right order.
Representation before removal
Shirani Daniel holds the RCIC-IRB designation, which authorises representation before the Immigration and Refugee Board as well as IRCC. PRRA work involves the same country-conditions research and evidence discipline as a refugee hearing, and it is done under the same deadline pressure. See also refugee claims and protection and Refugee Appeal Division appeals.
Based in Edmonton, working across Alberta
Imprint Immigration Services represents people in Edmonton and across Alberta who are facing removal. Consultations are held in person and by video, and urgent matters are seen on the earliest date available.
Working with an RCIC-IRB in Edmonton
Imprint Immigration Services is led by Shirani Jenita Daniel, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant authorised to represent clients before Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and before the Immigration and Refugee Board. Her CICC licence number is R705794 and it can be checked on the CICC public register.
A consultation is a paid appointment where your situation is reviewed and the options that may apply are explained to you. It is a review, not a prediction. No representative can tell you what an officer will decide.
Consultations are held in Edmonton and remotely. Call (825) 435-1101 or book a consultation.
Common questions about the PRRA
- What is a pre-removal risk assessment?
- A review by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada of the risk a person facing removal would face in their country of nationality or former residence: persecution, torture, a risk to life, or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. It is offered by the Canada Border Services Agency to certain people subject to a removal order.
- Can I ask for a PRRA myself?
- No. You can only apply if a CBSA officer tells you that you are eligible and gives you the application.
- How long do I have to apply for a PRRA?
- Fifteen days if you receive the form and guide in person, or 22 days if they come by mail, and a further 15 days after applying to send written submissions and evidence. These are the figures on canada.ca; confirm them on the notification you receive.
- Does a PRRA stop my removal?
- If you apply within the deadline, you are not removed while the application is pending. Removal can proceed if you decline to apply, miss the deadline, withdraw, or receive a negative decision.
- Can I use the same evidence from my refugee claim?
- If your refugee claim was rejected, only new evidence is considered: evidence that arose after the rejection, that became known after it, that you could not access, or that you could not reasonably have been expected to present at the time.
- What happens if the PRRA is refused?
- You must leave Canada. You may apply to the Federal Court for a review of the decision, but you must still leave unless the Court grants a stay of removal. Speak with a licensed representative immediately, because the Federal Court deadline is short.
This article is general information and is not immigration advice. Advice about your own situation comes from a consultation with Shirani Jenita Daniel, RCIC-IRB, CICC Licence R705794. Representation begins only once a retainer is signed.