It varies a lot. To begin with, the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board, the CIRB, makes its decision. If the claim is successful, the problem is resolved. If not, the claimant can ask for a judicial review by the Federal Court but the Court refuses 89% of the applications. Going that route suspends the file for two or three months. Many claimants simply do not have the resources to appeal to the Federal Court. It varies a great deal. It is an interesting point because people often say that the process is too long. They say that the CIRB, for example, takes too much time. The longest timeframe is one between the CIRB's decision and the pre-removal risk assessment, or PRRA. I know files that have dragged out for a year and a half before people have their PRRA, although, as I mentioned, it can be done within two or three months. Then there is the pre-removal risk assessment. There is a 30-day period for the request. The answer can come after one or two months, and the date of departure may be set right away, or it can drag out for six months or a year.
So basically, the length of the process that starts with a refugee claim and ends with removal from Canada—if that is the result—can vary from one year and three months to two or three years. The longest steps in the process are at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, first with the initiation of the PRRA and then with the decision resulting from the PRRA.