Founder and Principal Consultant
What a Pre Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) means for you
A pre removal risk assessment, or PRRA, is your opportunity to show that you would face risk if you were removed from Canada. If you have been told you are eligible for a pre removal risk assessment, the deadline to respond is short and the evidence you submit is critical.
A pre removal risk assessment looks at whether you would face persecution, torture, or a risk to your life if you were returned to your home country. Because it is decided largely on the written submission and supporting documents, how the application is prepared matters enormously.
We can help you assess your risk in a pre removal risk assessment, gather the right evidence, and prepare a strong submission before the deadline. Book a free 10 minute call on our consultation page or see our refusals and appeals hub, and read the official overview below.
Do not face a pre removal risk assessment alone. A well prepared pre removal risk assessment can be the difference between staying in Canada and removal, so get experienced help before the deadline.
Official overview from IRCC.
What this page covers
- What is the twelve month bar?
- Which deadlines can you not miss?
- What does a PRRA stop, and what does it not?
- What actually moves a PRRA?
- Who handles your PRRA?
The fifteen day deadline decides whether you get a stay of removal. Miss it and the assessment still happens, but you can be removed while it is pending.
A pre-removal risk assessment is the last statutory look at risk before Canada removes someone. It asks a narrow question: would removal to your country expose you to persecution, torture, a risk to life, or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. It is not an appeal, it is not a second refugee hearing, and it is not an opportunity to re-argue what the Board has already decided.
It has also become more important than it used to be. People whose claims are now ineligible under the 2026 rules are diverted here, and a PRRA can result in refugee protection being granted.
You may not apply within twelve months of a negative decision on the merits. The period runs from the decision date to the day before the anniversary, and it is triggered by any of the following.
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A decision by the Immigration and Refugee Board on a refugee claim
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A decision by IRCC on a previous pre-removal risk assessment
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A decision by the Federal Court on judicial review of a refugee or PRRA decision
The bar is triggered only by decisions on the merits. A procedural dismissal, such as a failure to perfect an application, does not trigger it. That distinction matters more often than people expect, and it is worth having someone check which kind of decision you are actually holding.
The Minister may also exempt nationals of countries where conditions have changed. IRCC maintains a list of exempted countries with effective dates, which has included Venezuela, Afghanistan, Iran and Syria among others.
The fifteen day figure is not a guideline or a target. It is the line between having a statutory stay of removal and not having one.
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Notified in person by CBSAfifteen days to submit the application
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A further fifteen days after that to provide your written submissions
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Notified by mailthe fifteen day period begins seven days after CBSA mails the notice
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Apply on day sixteen and there is no statutory stay of removal at all
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A second or subsequent application does not carry the regulatory stay in any event
Under section 232 of the Regulations, a removal order is stayed when you are notified that you may apply, but the stay attaches only if you apply within that initial fifteen day window. A second or subsequent application does not carry the regulatory stay at all.
The stay ends on the earliest of several events.
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You confirm in writing that you will not apply
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You fail to apply within the time allowed
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Your application is rejected
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A decision is made on a permanent residence application where protection was granted
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The stay is cancelled under section 114(2)
It is normally decided on paper, and the evidence you can put forward is restricted. That restriction is the whole design: the Board has already heard your account, so this is about what has changed or what could not have been said before. What succeeds is preparation.
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Identifying the narrow evidentiary opening that the restriction actually leaves you
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Country evidence that is current and specific to you, rather than general reporting
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Documenting a change in your own circumstances since the refusal, properly and with corroboration
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Material that has only now come to light, and an explanation of why it was not available before
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Filing within the window that preserves the stay, because a strong application filed late has lost most of its value before anyone reads it
A note on who does what. Judicial review at the Federal Court, refugee hearings before the Immigration and Refugee Board, pre-removal risk assessments and stays of removal are legal services that fall outside the scope of practice of a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant under IRPA section 91. SAAB Immigration has a working relationship with Dr. Pallavi Kataria of Pallavi Law Office, and where a matter crosses that line she takes it over seamlessly. She is retained directly by the client under her own retainer, and we continue to work the immigration side of the file alongside her. It is a rare combination: an experienced RCIC and a lawyer on the same case.
Is a PRRA an appeal of my refugee decision?
No. An appeal goes to the Refugee Appeal Division and looks for error in the Board’s decision. A pre-removal risk assessment looks at risk as it stands now, on evidence that was not before the Board. They are different questions decided by different people.
When can I apply?
Not within twelve months of a decision on the merits from the Board on a refugee claim, from IRCC on a previous PRRA, or from the Federal Court on judicial review of either. The period runs from the decision date to the day before the anniversary. Importantly, the bar is triggered only by decisions on the merits. A procedural dismissal, such as failing to perfect an application, does not trigger it.
I missed the fifteen day window. What now?
You may still be able to apply, but you will not have the statutory stay of removal, which changes the strategy entirely. At that point this becomes urgent rather than merely important, and it should be looked at the same day.
Does applying stop my removal?
Only if you apply within the initial fifteen day window after being notified. Apply on day sixteen and there is no statutory stay. A second or subsequent application does not carry the regulatory stay at all.
What evidence can I put forward?
It is normally decided on paper and the evidence is restricted, which is the point of the process. If you had a refugee hearing you are generally limited to evidence that arose after the rejection, was not reasonably available at the time, or that you could not reasonably have been expected to present. New country conditions, a change in your own circumstances, and material that has only now come to light are what succeeds.
What are the realistic chances?
We would rather tell you this than have you discover it later. Grant rates are low. The most recent public figures put failed refugee claimants at roughly six per cent on a five year average reported to Parliament in 2022, people ineligible for referral to the Board at roughly thirty per cent on 2019 IRCC data, and applicants who were never refugee claimants at roughly one per cent. Those numbers are dated and IRCC has not released a more recent breakdown, so treat them as context rather than a prediction.
Can I get a work permit while waiting?
In some circumstances, yes. A temporary public policy in force since 27 March 2026 covers open work permits for certain foreign nationals whose claims are ineligible for referral, including the window after an ineligibility finding but before PRRA notification. It is not automatic.
Can I apply for a PRRA and an H&C at the same time?
They are separate applications with separate tests and separate bars, and one does not substitute for the other. Whether both make sense depends on your facts and on what is actually driving the removal.
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