Can I lose my refugee status?

If your refugee claim is accepted by the Refugee Board, you will be granted protected person status and can apply for permanent resident status to stay in Canada.

Losing your protected person status in Canada is not likely but it's possible. There are 3 ways that you can lose your status:

1. The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) can appeal the Refugee Board decision that gave you protected person status.
2. Your protected person status can be stopped or “cessated” if the Government of Canada believes you did something that shows you don't need protection from Canada anymore. For example, you can lose your status if you return to your home country or if you get citizenship from another country.
3. Your protected person status can be cancelled or “vacated” if the Government of Canada believes that you received refugee status by giving untrue or incorrect information or by leaving out information that was relevant to your refugee claim.

If you were accepted as a Convention refugee in another country and you later resettled in Canada as a permanent resident, your protected person status can also be cessated or vacated.

In most cases, if you lose your protected person status, you will also lose your permanent resident status. If you lose your permanent resident status, you won't be allowed to stay in Canada. You can lose your status even if you have lived in Canada for many years.

It's very important to apply for citizenship as soon as you're eligible. Once you have received Canadian citizenship, you can't lose your protected person status, unless you said something in your application that was not true.

Legal help

It's very important to talk to a lawyer and have a lawyer represent you at the hearing with the Refugee Board. Minister's appeals, and cessation and vacation hearings, are very complicated and can have serious results, including being removed from Canada.