Section 161 — RPD — jurisdiction
Text of provision
(1) Subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, and in consultation with the Deputy Chairpersons, the Chairperson may make rules respecting
(a) the referral of a claim for refugee protection to the Refugee Protection Division;
(a.1) the factors to be taken into account in fixing or changing the date of the hearing referred to in subsection 100(4.1);
(a.2) the activities, practice and procedure of each of the Divisions of the Board, including the periods for appeal, other than in respect of appeals of decisions of the Refugee Protection Division, the priority to be given to proceedings, the notice that is required and the period in which notice must be given;
(b) the conduct of persons in proceedings before the Board, as well as the consequences of, and sanctions for, the breach of those rules;
(c) the information that may be required and the manner in which, and the time within which, it must be provided with respect to a proceeding before the Board; and
(d) any other matter considered by the Chairperson to require rules.
(1.1) The rules made under paragraph (1)(c) may distinguish among claimants for refugee protection who make their claims inside Canada on the basis of whether their claims are made at a port of entry or elsewhere or on the basis of whether they are nationals of a country that is, on the day on which their claim is made, a country designated under subsection 109.1(1).
(2) The Minister shall cause a copy of any rule made under subsection (1) to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the approval of the rule by the Governor in Council.
Plain English
Section 161 provides that the RPD has exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide claims for refugee protection made in Canada under s 99. The Minister may make submissions in any RPD proceeding and may intervene to apply for cessation or vacation of a previous refugee protection decision.
The RPD's jurisdiction is limited to persons who have made an eligible claim in Canada — it does not have jurisdiction over resettlement applications, which are processed abroad by IRCC.
Practical effect
The RPD is the primary adjudicative body for in-Canada refugee claims. Its decisions are the first — and usually the last — substantive assessment of whether a person is a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection. The RAD hears appeals. Judicial review by the Federal Court is available but typically limited to questions of law or procedural fairness. The RPD's caseload has grown substantially with the increase in irregular arrivals, creating significant processing delays.