Access to Justice for Refugees: How legal aid and quality of counsel impact fairness and efficiency in Canada’s asylum system

CERC Migration hosted a report launch for a new study that examined how refugee legal aid and the quality of representation affect the fairness and efficiency of Canada’s asylum procedures.

Individuals seeking asylum in Canada present their claim for protection at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). The majority rely on legal aid to prepare their claims and present them at the IRB. Representation by high-quality counsel helps guarantee fair and efficient outcomes, and impacts the likelihood that a claimant is granted protection in Canada. Recurring funding cuts, budget shortfalls, and unequal access to high-quality legal aid across Canada leads to major questions about the equity of outcomes, and potentially the resilience of Canada’s asylum system.

Researchers from the Centre for Refugee Studies, York University; Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, Osgoode Hall Law School; and the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration (CERC Migration) program, Ryerson University, undertook an in-depth study to understand barriers to justice through funding for refugee legal aid and poor-quality or abusive counsel, and propose policy changes to strengthen Canada’s asylum system to ensure access to justice for vulnerable refugee claimants.

The report includes original data from a range of stakeholders, including refugee claimants, lawyers, representatives of legal aid plans, front-line refugee support staff, and a first of its kind survey with IRB decision-makers.

Authors and presenters include: 

• Craig Damian Smith, Senior Research Associate, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration program, Ryerson University, and Research Affiliate, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University
• Sean Rehaag, Director, Centre for Refugee Studies, Founding Director of the Refugee Law Laboratory, York University, and Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
• Trevor Farrow, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School and Chair, the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice

• Sharry Aiken,  Associate Professor and Academic Director, Graduate Diploma in Immigration & Citizenship Law, Faculty of Law, Queen's University