Admissibility Hearing Before the Immigration Division: What Actually Happens, Step by Step

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IRB HearingsAdmissibility HearingImmigration DivisionSection 44CBSA

Karim opens the envelope at his kitchen table. It is not a refusal of an application. It is a Notice to Appear. The Canada Border Services Agency believes he is inadmissible, a report has been written, and now a member of the Immigration Division will decide whether he can remain in Canada.

He has lived here for years. He has a job, a family, a lease. And suddenly his whole life is a case file with a hearing date on it.

Karim is a composite, an illustrative example — not a real client. Client matters are confidential, and no real client's story appears in this article.

Look. If that letter has arrived for you, here is the part nobody tells you clearly enough: the hearing is not a formality, and it is not a trial where you are already condemned. It is a structured process with rules, with two sides, and with a decision at the end that follows the evidence. This article walks it, step by step.

What an admissibility hearing is — and what it is not

An admissibility hearing is a formal hearing before the Immigration Division (ID) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The ID is an independent administrative tribunal. Its member — the decision-maker — hears the case and decides whether the person concerned is inadmissible under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

It is adversarial. There are two opposing parties: the person concerned, and Minister's counsel for the CBSA. Minister's counsel argues why the person should not be allowed to enter or remain in Canada. The person concerned, or their counsel, responds. After considering all the evidence, the member decides whether the allegations are founded.

It is not the same as three things people confuse it with:

• An examination. An examination (at a port of entry or an inland office) is how an officer first assesses whether you may be inadmissible. The hearing comes after, when a report has been made and referred.
• A detention review. If you are detained, detention reviews are a separate process about whether detention continues. The admissibility hearing is about whether you are inadmissible.
• An appeal. An appeal (to the Immigration Appeal Division, in some circumstances) comes after a decision. The hearing itself is the first decision.

The grounds that can lead to a hearing are the inadmissibility grounds in sections 34 to 42 of the IRPA: security (s. 34), human or international rights violations (s. 35), serious criminality (s. 36), organized criminality (s. 37), health grounds (s. 38), financial reasons (s. 39), misrepresentation (s. 40), non-compliance with the IRPA (s. 41), and an inadmissible family member (s. 42). Each ground gets its own article later in this series.

How you get here: the Section 44 report

Everything starts with a report.

Under section 44(1) of the IRPA, an officer who believes that a permanent resident or foreign national in Canada is inadmissible may prepare a report setting out the relevant facts. That report is transmitted to the Minister.

Under section 44(2), if the Minister believes the report is well-founded, the Minister may refer the report to the Immigration Division for an admissibility hearing. There are two exceptions, and they matter: a permanent resident who is inadmissible solely because they failed to comply with the residency obligation under section 28 does not go to a hearing on that ground — the Minister may make a removal order directly. In circumstances prescribed by the regulations, a foreign national may also receive a removal order directly from the Minister, without a hearing. In the IRB's own words, this is for a limited number of simpler foreign-national cases.

One more threshold rule: under section 44.1, the Immigration Division must not hold an admissibility hearing if the person concerned is not physically present in Canada. Presence is not optional. It is a precondition.

Before the hearing: what to do with the time you have

Read the Notice to Appear. It gives the date, time, and place of the hearing (or the virtual-hearing details), and it carries instructions — including on witnesses and on any pre-hearing conference. The Division may schedule a pre-hearing conference to get additional information and discuss the case; your Notice to Appear will say so if one is set.

Get counsel early, not late. You may be represented by counsel at the hearing. The earlier counsel sees the report and the disclosure, the more of the case can actually be answered rather than improvised.

Gather and disclose your documents. Both sides present evidence. The CBSA discloses its case; you answer it. Bring the documents that prove what you say — and follow the Division's rules on how and when documents are filed.

Witnesses: the 5-day rule. You may invite witnesses to speak at your hearing. You must tell both the Immigration Division and the CBSA about any witnesses at least 5 days before the hearing. Miss that deadline and you risk losing the witness entirely.

Interpreter. If you asked for an interpreter, the member will check at the start of the hearing that you and the interpreter understand each other. If you need one and have not asked, ask now — do not plan to struggle through a hearing in a language you do not fully command.

Step by step in the room

The IRB's published hearing order is as follows:

1. Introductions. The Division member is in charge of the hearing. The member starts by introducing everyone and explaining what is going to happen. If you have an interpreter, the member checks that you and the interpreter understand each other.
2. Each side presents its case. After the introductions, each side takes turns presenting its case to the member. You may be called as a witness and asked questions. The CBSA representative, your own counsel, and the member can all ask you questions.
3. The CBSA's case. A CBSA representative explains to the member why the CBSA believes you are inadmissible to Canada. This is the allegation, laid out with its evidence.
4. Your response. You or your counsel are then asked to respond. If you disagree with the CBSA's position, you or your counsel explain why — with evidence, not just denial.
5. The CBSA's reply. The CBSA is then allowed to reply to what you or your counsel said.
6. Witnesses. If there are witnesses to give information, the CBSA representative, you, your counsel, or the member may ask them questions.

Then comes the decision. Under section 45, at the conclusion of an admissibility hearing, the Division shall make one of the following decisions:

1. (a) recognize the right to enter Canada of a Canadian citizen, a person registered as an Indian under the Indian Act, or a permanent resident;
2. (b) grant permanent resident status or temporary resident status to a foreign national, if satisfied the foreign national meets the requirements of the Act;
3. (c) authorize a permanent resident or a foreign national, with or without conditions, to enter Canada for further examination; or
4. (d) make the applicable removal order.

For the person already in Canada facing an inadmissibility allegation, the fork that matters is inside (d): against a foreign national who has not been authorized to enter Canada, the Division makes a removal order if it is not satisfied that the foreign national is not inadmissible; against a foreign national who has been authorized to enter Canada, or a permanent resident, it makes a removal order if it is satisfied that the person is inadmissible. Read that twice — the wording is deliberate, and it is why preparation matters more than performance.

The two outcomes, plainly

If the Division finds you inadmissible, it makes a removal order. There are three kinds — departure order, exclusion order, deportation order — and they differ sharply in what they bar and for how long. That difference is the subject of the next article in this series (November 2). One consequence to know now: a permanent resident loses permanent resident status when a removal order made against them comes into force (section 46(1)(c)).

If the Division does not find you inadmissible, no removal order is made. The allegation fails, and you continue on the status you held.

Either way, the hearing is not the end of the road. In some circumstances, the person concerned or Minister's counsel may appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division — and the Minister may appeal a decision not to issue a removal order (section 63(5)). Judicial review at the Federal Court exists as a recourse path for IRB decisions. Appeals and stays are the subjects of later articles in this series (November 16 and 20). This article claims no representation before any body beyond the Division itself.

Practical steps: your hearing checklist

1. Read the Notice to Appear the day it arrives. Note the date, the place or virtual link, and every instruction in it.
2. Get counsel involved immediately — before you file anything or answer anything in writing.
3. Obtain the CBSA's disclosure and read it against your own documents. Know the case against you before you enter the room.
4. Disclose every witness to both the Division and the CBSA at least 5 days before the hearing.
5. Prepare your own testimony: what happened, in order, with documents behind each fact.
6. Confirm your interpreter, if you need one.
7. Attend. The Division cannot hold the hearing if you are not physically present in Canada — and your absence forfeits your chance to answer.

Frequently asked questions

A measured next step

This article is general information drawn from published law and the IRB's own process guidance. It is not advice about your case, and no article can be. If you want your own situation read properly — which ground, which evidence, which answer — that is what a session is for.

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Mohamed Aboud, RCIC-IRB · Licence No. R711498 · eBUDDY Immigration & Visa Services Inc.