Respondent's record

The notice of intent to respond and the respondent's record are the main documents you must provide for your response to the Minister's appeal. You can provide these documents to the Minister and the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) in person, by mail or by courier. If you have fewer than 20 pages in total, you can also provide them by fax.

You must provide your respondent's record at the same time as your notice of intent to respond. The respondent's record must have consecutively numbered pages (i.e. 1, 2, 3...) and contain the following documents, in this order:

  1. All or part of the transcript of the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) hearing, if you want to use it in support of your response. Note that you are not required to submit a transcript. However, if you want to use one in support of your response, you must first ask the RPD for a copy of the recording of your hearing. Then, you must arrange to have a transcript produced from the recording. You also need to provide a statement that the transcript is accurate, signed by the person who made it.
  2. A written statement that states:
    • whether you are asking for an oral hearing to be held under subsection 110(6) of the IRPA;
    • whether you are asking to change the location of the hearing under rule 66 of the RAD Rules; and
    • if you need an interpreter, the language and dialect, if any, to be interpreted.
  3. Any other documentary evidence that you want to use in support of your response to the Minister's appeal.
  4. Any law, case law or other legal authority that you want to use in support of your response to the Minister's appeal. For legal cases that are publicly available, you can provide references and links (for example, links from CanLII instead of hard copies. If the case is not publicly available (for example, because it is from a foreign jurisdiction or is very recent), you must provide a hard copy with the relevant portions highlighted.
  5. A memorandum, which is a document that gives as many details as possible about:
    • the reasons why you do not agree with the Minister;
    • what decision you want the RAD to make; and
    • if you are asking for an oral hearing, how the evidence in your respondent's record meets the requirements of subsection 110(6) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), which requires that the evidence raises a serious issue about your credibility, that it is central to the RPD decision on your refugee protection claim, and that, if accepted, would justify allowing your claim.

Your memorandum must not be longer than 30 pages if single-sided or 15 pages if double-sided.

All of the documents in your respondent's record must be typed (not written by hand) in 12-point or larger font, on letter-size paper (216 mm by 279 mm or 8½ inches by 11 inches). All photocopies should be clear and made on letter-size paper.

Where and when must I send the documents for my response?

After receiving a supporting document from the Minister, you must first send a copy of your notice of intent to respond and your respondent's record to the Minister. You must then provide both documents to the RAD Registry in the regional office that sent you your RPD decision, along with proof that you gave a copy of these documents to the Minister.

The RAD must receive your notice of intent to respond and your respondent's record no later than 15 days after the day on which you received a supporting document from the Minister. If the RAD granted the Minister an extension of time to perfect the appeal, the RAD must receive your documents no later than 15 days after the day on which you received the RAD's decision to extend the time.

What is the Minister's address?

You must use the address of Minister's counsel shown on the notice of appeal you received from the Minister.

Can the Minister reply to my response?

Yes, the Minister can reply to your response. If the Minister decides to do so, the Minister must give the reply to you first and then to the RAD. The reply will include any documents that the Minister wants to use to support the reply and did not provide with the notice of appeal or the appellant's record.

Additional documents from the Minister

The Minister has a 15-day time limit for filing the notice of appeal and a 30-day time limit for filing supporting documents to perfect the appeal. However, the Minister can file other documents or submissions at any time before the RAD decides the appeal. If the Minister does file additional documents, you will have 15 days to reply to those documents.