Evaluation of the Pre-Removal Risk Assessment Program

'The evaluation of the Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) Program was conducted in fulfillment of the 2009 Treasury Board Policy on Evaluation to evaluate all direct program spending on a five-year cycle. The period covered was the time since the previous evaluation (2007) to the end of 2014, with the biggest emphasis placed on the period since the implementation of the reforms to the in-Canada asylum system in December 2012. Part of Canada's humanitarian tradition is to ensure that individuals being removed from Canada are not returned to a country where they would be in danger or face the risk of persecution. The 2002 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides that, with certain exceptions, persons in Canada, who are subject to an in-force removal order and who allege risk of torture, risk to life, or risk of cruel treatment or punishment if removed, are eligible to apply for a PRRA. A PRRA is an assessment of an individual's risk that they would face if removed from Canada. As part of the reforms to the in- Canada asylum system, the PRRA program was to be transferred to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in December 2014. The transfer of the PRRA function to the IRB was postponed in 2014”--Executive summary.