Thousands of refugee hearings that had been scheduled for this year have been abruptly cancelled so officials can roll out a “first-in, first-out” scheduling system amid a backlog that has been growing with no end in sight, the Star has learned. While the board had been prioritizing the most recent claims to meet timelines, it stopped rescheduling cancelled and adjourned hearings — and the backlog has snowballed. The refugee board has confirmed to the Star the cancellations of the hearings for new claims and said it has notified key stakeholders about the changes, which would be publicly announced in detail later. The “new approach will yield some efficiency gains, thus helping to reduce pressure in Canada’s refugee determination system,” said the board’s spokesperson Anna Pape. Instead, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen ordered a review of the board to look for “efficiencies and higher productivity” last summer.

Source: thestar January 26, 2018 11:08 UTC