IRCC Is Now Telling Some Asylum Claimants to Leave Canada: A Practical Guide to Bill C-12 Ineligibility Letters

What This Means for You

If you filed a refugee claim in Canada, or you support someone who did, the letters now arriving from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) are not routine correspondence — they can end with an instruction to leave the country. According to the Globe and Mail, IRCC has begun formally ordering some asylum claimants who crossed into Canada irregularly from the United States to leave or face deportation, the latest and most consequential stage of a process that started when Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act, received royal assent on March 26, 2026. Roughly 30,000 people are estimated to be affected by the law's new eligibility rules. Based on our review of the regulations, the procedural fairness letter (PFL) process, and the legal options that remain even for claimants found ineligible, here is what each affected group should do.

If You've Received a Procedural Fairness Letter or an Ineligibility Notice:

Immediate action:

Read the letter's deadline the day it arrives and calendar it — do not wait. Response windows under this process have run as short as 7 days and as long as 21 to 30 days depending on the specific letter, and the deadline is fixed regardless of when you happen to open your mail. Missing it can mean the department proceeds without your evidence.
Do not assume a procedural fairness letter is a final decision. A PFL is IRCC telling you it has identified a concern — commonly that you filed more than one year after first arriving in Canada, or that you crossed irregularly between official border points and did not file within 14 days — and giving you a chance to respond with evidence before it decides. An instruction to "leave Canada" is a further step that follows only after your claim has actually been found ineligible, not before.
Contact a lawyer or an accredited immigration consultant immediately, even if you cannot afford one yet. In Ontario, Legal Aid Ontario has authorized roster lawyers to bill extra hours specifically for responding to these letters; ask your existing legal aid lawyer whether this applies to your certificate, or call Legal Aid Ontario's refugee line if you don't have one. In Quebec, contact your regional Aide juridique office. In B.C., Legal Aid BC handles refugee matters. If you are above the income threshold for legal aid, community organizations such as the FCJ Refugee Centre (Toronto), the Refugee Centre (Montreal), and Romero House can help you find low-cost or pro bono representation.

What to prepare:

Assemble a documented timeline of your entry to Canada and your claim date, including any evidence explaining a delay — serious illness, trauma, an earlier lawyer who failed to file on time, language barriers, or lack of access to legal help. These are the kinds of circumstances immigration lawyers report have been used successfully to respond to a one-year-bar finding, though outcomes depend on your specific facts.
Know that a finding of ineligibility does not automatically end your case. Claimants found ineligible under Bill C-12's new grounds retain a constitutional right to a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA), administered by IRCC, which independently assesses whether removing you would put you at risk of persecution, torture, or cruel treatment. CBSA is required to tell you whether and how to apply for a PRRA once your file is referred to them for removal.
If a letter tells you to confirm your departure with the Canada Border Services Agency, that instruction is serious and time-limited, but it is not the same as a final removal order having already been enforced. Confirm with your lawyer whether a PRRA application, judicial review at the Federal Court, or another avenue is still available before you take any irreversible step.

Resources:

Example scenario: A claimant who arrived in Canada in August 2024 and filed a refugee claim in September 2025 — more than a year after arrival — may receive a PFL citing the one-year bar. If that person can document a serious, ongoing medical condition that delayed filing, submitting that evidence with a lawyer's written submission within the response window is the single highest-leverage action available, since a successful response avoids the ineligibility finding entirely rather than falling back on a PRRA later.

If You're an Immigration Lawyer, Consultant, or Settlement Worker:

Audit every active file now for exposure to the one-year bar (entries after June 24, 2020) or the 14-day irregular-crossing rule, since both grounds apply retroactively to claims made on or after June 3, 2025, even though the law only received royal assent this March.
Prioritize clients who have already received a letter with a running deadline over general file review, given how unforgiving these windows are.
Track PRRA processing times in your region and prepare clients for that step in parallel with any PFL response, rather than waiting to see the outcome first, since sequencing matters when timelines are tight.

For All Canadians:

This process affects specific groups defined by entry date and manner of entry — it is not a blanket change to refugee protection in Canada. Claimants who arrived at an official port of entry and filed within a year of arrival are not affected by these two grounds.
If you know someone who may have received one of these letters, connecting them with a settlement agency or legal aid clinic today is more useful than general reassurance, given how short some response windows are.

The News: What Happened

According to the Globe and Mail, IRCC has ordered some asylum claimants who crossed into Canada irregularly from the United States to leave the country or face deportation, marking a further stage in the rollout of Bill C-12's new asylum eligibility rules. The legislation, which received royal assent on March 26, 2026, created two new grounds on which a refugee claim can be found ineligible for a full hearing before the Refugee Protection Division: claims filed more than one year after a person's first entry to Canada (applied to entries dating back to June 24, 2020), and claims by people who crossed into Canada between official border points along the Canada-U.S. land border and did not file within 14 days of arrival.

Both grounds apply retroactively to claims made on or after June 3, 2025, according to legal-sector reporting on the bill. An IRCC spokesperson has said roughly 30,000 people could be affected by the new rules, and the department began sending procedural fairness letters within days of royal assent, giving recipients a window — reported as ranging from about 7 to 30 days depending on the letter — to submit evidence before a final eligibility decision is made. Claimants found ineligible are referred to the Canada Border Services Agency, which is responsible for informing them of removal steps and of their right to apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment.

Refugee lawyers and advocacy groups, including the Canadian Council for Refugees, have argued the response windows are too short for many claimants — particularly those who are vulnerable, face language barriers, or lack access to legal representation — to gather evidence and respond effectively.

Analysis: Why This Matters

Based on our analysis of the legislative record and the government's stated rationale, this reform responds to a claims backlog that built up from 2022 through 2024 and to a broader push to align Canada's asylum intake with the pace at which the Immigration and Refugee Board can actually hear cases. Asylum claim volumes have already fallen substantially through the first part of 2026 compared with 2024 and 2025, so the retroactive ineligibility grounds are aimed less at a current surge and more at clearing files that predate the new law.

Historical Context:

Bill C-12 followed several years of political pressure over asylum-system backlogs and irregular border crossings, including the period after 2017 when Roxham Road became a widely used unofficial crossing point before it was closed under a revised Safe Third Country Agreement. The one-year bar and 14-day rule are, in effect, Parliament's answer to the argument that Canada's system had become too slow and too open to claims filed long after entry.

What Happens Next:

Expect continued legal challenges to individual ineligibility findings, particularly through PRRA applications and Federal Court judicial review, as more of the roughly 30,000 affected claimants move through their response windows over the coming months. Expect settlement agencies and legal aid systems in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, already reporting capacity strain, to face further pressure as more letters convert into ineligibility findings and, in some cases, instructions to leave the country.

Your Action Plan

Immediate (This Week):

If you've received any IRCC letter about your asylum claim, find its response deadline today and contact a lawyer or legal aid clinic before that date
Confirm whether the one-year bar (entry after June 24, 2020) or the 14-day irregular-crossing rule could apply to your specific entry and filing dates

Short-term (This Month):

Assemble documented evidence of any circumstances that delayed your claim, such as illness, trauma, or lack of legal access
Ask your lawyer specifically about your Pre-Removal Risk Assessment options in case your claim is found ineligible

Long-term (This Year):

Keep a single, organized file of every IRCC and CBSA communication with dates, since missed deadlines are difficult to reverse
If your claim is ultimately referred to CBSA, get written confirmation from a lawyer of every legal avenue that remains before taking any step to leave Canada

Other Perspectives

Government View:

IRCC has framed the eligibility rules as necessary to focus refugee hearings on claims filed promptly after entry and to manage a system strained by a multi-year backlog, consistent with the stated goals of Bill C-12 during its passage through Parliament.

Refugee Lawyers and Advocates:

The Canadian Council for Refugees and immigration lawyers have argued that response windows as short as 7 to 21 days are insufficient for many claimants, especially those who are vulnerable, have limited English or French, or cannot quickly secure legal representation.

Legal Aid Providers:

Legal Aid Ontario has responded by authorizing additional certificate hours specifically for procedural fairness letter responses, an acknowledgment from within the legal aid system that existing hourly allocations were not built for this volume of urgent, document-heavy responses.

Affected Claimants:

Settlement organizations report that many claimants receiving these letters have lived in Canada for years, in some cases working, paying taxes, and raising children here, which is part of why advocates describe the retroactive application of the new rules as especially disruptive.

Note: Including multiple perspectives doesn't imply all views are equally valid, but ensures readers can make informed judgments.

Corrections Policy

We strive for accuracy. If you find an error in this analysis, please email us at [email protected]. We will promptly investigate and correct any factual inaccuracies.

Updates:

No corrections to date (as of July 28, 2026).