2. Check that you meet the eligibility requirements

If you make a refugee claim and you're not eligible, you:

will not have a refugee hearing
can never make another refugee claim in Canada

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will usually start the process of removing you from Canada.

You're not eligible to make a refugee claim if:

you have status in another country you can return to,
you entered Canada on a date after June 24, 2020, and more than one year has passed since that entry,
you made a refugee claim in Canada before that was rejected, withdrawn, , or found ineligible,
you committed a serious crime or broke international human rights laws, or
you started a refugee claim in a country that has an information-sharing agreement with Canada and Canada has confirmation that you made a claim from that country. These countries are the United States (U.S.), Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom

And you may not be eligible if you already have a .

If you made a refugee claim in Canada on or after June 3, 2025, or if you're planning to make one, a new law called Bill C-12 may affect you. Use this tool from the Migrant Rights Network to check if your claim could end. If your claim ends, you usually have the right to apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment. It's important to get legal help.

It's important to get legal help if you're not eligible to make a claim. There might be other ways to prevent or delay your removal. For example, you might be eligible to apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) to explain why you're afraid to return to your country.

Arriving from the U.S.

You're also not eligible to make a refugee claim if you arrive in Canada from the U.S. at a location where the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) applies, and you do not meet an exception. In this case, you cannot apply for a PRRA, and you will be returned to the U.S. immediately.

Irregular entry

If you enter Canada irregularly by crossing the U.S.-Canada land border between official ports of entry, and make your refugee claim:

more than 14 days after entering, you're not eligible to make a refugee claim. But you can usually stay in Canada to apply for a PRRA.
14 days or less after entering, unless you meet an STCA exception, you will be returned to the U.S. and cannot apply for a PRRA.

If you're arriving from the U.S. read, Can I make a refugee claim in Canada if I’m coming from the U.S.?

Detention

You might be detained while immigration officials arrange to remove you from Canada. You have the right to:

know why you're detained
have a hearing within 48 hours of being detained
get help from a lawyer or other licensed representative