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RPD is changing its scheduling approach for refugee hearings and will now be primarily hearing claims in the order they were received https://t.co/QuzAUi3wJj — IRB Canada (@IRB_Canada) February 20, 2018

Instead, they will hear claims primarily in the order in which they were received.

“Many refugee claimants have been waiting a long time for their hearing,” said Shereen Benzvy Miller, deputy chairperson of the board’s refugee protection division.

“Given the current situation, focusing on hearing our claims in the order in which they were referred, while making room for efficiencies, is the right thing to do.”

Over 47,000 new claims for asylum were referred to the IRB in 2017, a record-setting number, due in part to a surge of asylum seekers at the Canada-U.S. border. Over 18,000 people crossed illegally into Canada last year to claim asylum, according to statistics from the board.

As of the end of December, there were 43,000 cases awaiting a decision, and as of Feb. 1, the projected wait time for claims was 20 months.

View full pending refugee claims by country here.

Rising numbers of new claims have a domino effect, the board said Tuesday. With the increase, comes an increase in people appealing decisions. If they win those appeals, their claims must be reheard.

“With the significant increase in new refugee protection claims, the waiting time for other matters such as older claims and returns from the Refugee Appeal Division and the Federal Court that must be reheard has also increased,” the board said.

“In order to be able to hear all these other matters in a reasonable period, the (refugee protection division) must remove new referrals from its current schedule at this time due to operational limitations.”