A pre-removal risk assessment is a written application assessing whether you would face risk if removed from Canada. It is decided by an officer on the documents rather than at a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board, so the quality and completeness of the written submissions and country evidence carries the whole application. Timelines are short and set out in the notification you receive.
How is a PRRA different from a refugee hearing?
There is normally no hearing. An officer reads what you file and decides. You do not get to explain, clarify or answer questions, which means every point has to be made in writing the first time and supported by evidence.
This is the opposite of a hearing, where a member can ask you to expand on something. On a PRRA, silence in the file is simply silence.
What makes a strong application?
Current, specific country evidence tied directly to your personal circumstances. Generic conditions reports rarely move an officer. The link between what is happening in that country and what would happen to you is the application.
Why does this matter more now?
Because Bill C-12 moved a large group of people out of the hearing process and into this one. For them, the written assessment is not a backstop. It is the whole case.
Common questions
Is there a hearing for a pre-removal risk assessment?
Normally not. A PRRA is decided by an officer on the written application, which is why the submissions and the country evidence have to be complete when filed.