3. Gather and file evidence to support your claim

The you need to respond to the Minister depends on:

why the Minister is involved, and
the facts of your case.

You must respond directly to the Minister's concerns. You also need to provide evidence to support your refugee claim overall.

Every case is different, so legal advice is very important. A lawyer or other licensed representative can:

represent you at your hearing
tell you what evidence you need
review your documents before you submit them
help you prepare to answer questions at your hearing

If any documents you want to file are not in English or French, make sure you get them properly translated and include the translator's declaration.

Status in another country

The Minister may say you have legal status in a country other than your country of nationality. And that you can be safe there.

If that happens, you can provide evidence showing that your status is not the same as citizens of that country.

For example, you might:

have trouble entering or leaving the country
need permission to work
have to renew your status often

You can also give evidence that you might be treated unfairly or harmed in that country.

Or the Minister may say that you were allowed to get status in another country and rights similar to citizens there, but you never did. In that case, it may be helpful to gather evidence about how you never actually had access to that status.

Or, if the Minister says you had this status but lost it, it may be helpful to gather evidence that shows why you lost your status.

Security issues

The Minister might claim that:

you committed a serious non-political crime outside Canada,
you broke international human rights laws, or
there are other security concerns

You can submit evidence to challenge these claims.

These cases can be complicated. It's important to get legal help.

How to submit your evidence

If the Minister is intervening in your case, then before you send your evidence to the (RPD), you must send a copy to the Minister's Counsel. Their address is on the Notice of Intent to Intervene.

You must send all the evidence you plan to file to the Minister, not just the evidence that responds to the Minister's argument.

After you send your evidence to them, you must send the RPD:

the same evidence, and
a written statement explaining when and how you sent it to Minister's Counsel.

You must do this at least 10 days before your refugee hearing.

If your evidence is responding to the Minister's evidence, then you have until 5 days before the hearing to send your evidence to the Minister and the RPD.

If you get or receive evidence only after the deadline, you can still ask the RPD to accept it by completing and submitting the form.