Volunteer Research Entries

By Haaris Rana

[Version française à venir]

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada’s 2040 Accessibility Plan

Canada as a country has come a long way in its goal to provide a safe and equitable environment for people from all across the world, but discrimination and biases still exist. In Canada, people with different backgrounds, races, disabilities, beliefs, cultures, etc., all face societal barriers and limitations. This is no different for immigrants and refugees. However, Canada further plans to reduce societal barriers via The Accessible Canada Act (ACA), and The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) further plans to implement this act to help refugees and immigrants.

The IRB is an independent administrative board that is responsible for making decisions concerning immigration and refugee matters in accordance with the law. The IRB overlooks many of the major decisions and services that impact the lives of immigrants and refugees in Canada. These include immigration services, refugee protection services, and immigration/refugee appeal services.

The ACA is a legislative act that was implemented in 2019. It focuses on addressing these barriers faced by people with any form of impairment/disability defined as physical, mental, cognitive, emotional, or functional impairment. The key principle behind the act is “Nothing without us”, which means to highlight the importance and necessity of consulting persons with disabilities/impairments when designing laws, policies, or government programs that could impact them. It aims to make Canada “Barrier-free” by 2040. Together, the IRB plans to implement the ACA to help increase accessibility for all Canadians.

The IRB plans to implement the ACA to help increase accessibility for all Canadians, however, the IRB also realizes the significance with which societal barriers exist for immigrants and refugees. Along with the impairments listed above, the IRB believes that the discrimination and limitations towards people based on different cultural backgrounds and races (which may include refugees and immigrants) is also a barrier to their opportunities in society. Thus, as the ACA aims to remove barriers and involve persons with disabilities in developing new policies and programs, the IRB believes that people of different cultural backgrounds should also be consulted and have their input be considered. This is a method that has already been seen in practice in other aspects of society, with medicine being one example. Certain administrative boards and hospital boards in charge of public and community health have realized the importance of incorporating the cultural views of their target audience when developing policies and programs. This input is gained through consulting the community and its respective representatives from different cultures/backgrounds.

Barriers can also impact refugees and immigrants directly in the manner of impacting their entry to Canada or ability to gain citizenship status. The IRB recognizes that societal barriers can impact the fairness or even ability of refugees/immigrants to participate in hearings that determine their entry into Canada, or their eligibility to receive citizenship status. Removing these barriers are another way the IRB shows commitment towards justice for everyone.

Overall, as the ACA continues to implement policy changes to reduce societal barriers, the IRB follows along and ensures that these changes are also suited to the growing population of immigrants and refugees in Canada.

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References:

Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 2023. IRB Accessibility Plan 2023 to 2025. Accessed February 27, 2023. https://irb.gc.ca/en/transparency/accessibility/Pages/2023-2025-accessibility-plan.aspx#s12

Government of Canada. 2019. Accessible Canada Act. Accessed February 28. 2023. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-0.6/page-1.html#h-1153392

Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 2023. About the Board. Accessed February 28, 2023. https://irb.gc.ca/en/board/Pages/index.aspx