Blog Post.
A deportation letter in Canada is not one single document. It is one of six letters that the CBSA or IRCC sends at different stages of the removal process, and what to do next starts with identifying which one you hold, because each carries its own deadline and opens a different set of options.
The letter in your hands is likely to be one of the following:
Kingwell Immigration Law is a Toronto-based firm that handles removal and enforcement matters at every point on that list. The sections below set out what each document says, who sends it, and what happens after it lands.
There is no document called a “deportation letter” in Canadian immigration law. The phrase covers six different letters, each issued at a different stage of the enforcement process, and our lawyers can usually tell you which one you have from the heading and form number alone.
A procedural fairness letter tells you that an officer is considering a decision that could go against you, and gives you a chance to respond first. It is a warning, not an order.
These letters set out the officer’s concern in one or two paragraphs and give a response deadline. The concern stated in the letter defines what a reply has to answer, which is why we work from its exact wording rather than general submissions.
Under section 44 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, an officer who believes you are inadmissible writes a report setting out why. That report goes to a more senior officer, called the Minister’s delegate, for review.
The Minister’s delegate has two choices:
If your matter is referred, you will receive a notice to appear. Hearings for people in the Toronto area are heard by the Immigration Division in Toronto, and our lawyers attend them remotely.
A removal order is the legal document that requires you to leave Canada. The form number identifies which of the three types you hold, and each one carries a different bar on returning.
Once your removal order is in force and there is nothing left holding it up, a CBSA inland enforcement office will send you a notice to attend an interview. This letter names an office, a date, and a time.
At that interview, an officer checks for anything that would prevent your removal and takes you through the next steps. If you are eligible for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment, this is usually where you are served with the notification.
A direction to report is the last document in the sequence. It is served after your removal date has been set, and it names the date, the time, and the place you must present yourself.
You have a legal obligation to attend as directed. By the time this letter arrives, the available time is measured in days, and we would want to hear from you the same week.
A direction to leave Canada, form IMM 1217B, is not a removal order at all. It is issued when an officer at a port of entry is unable to complete your examination.
If this is the document you received, no authorization to return to Canada is needed. You can come back subject to a normal examination at the border.
Our lawyers take on these files at any stage, whether a procedural fairness letter has just arrived or a flight is already booked. We tell you plainly what the document is, how much time it leaves, and which remedy gives you the strongest position on the facts.
As Daniel Kingwell puts it: “I’m sort of the fire department.”
That framing matters, because enforcement work is not the same as filing an application and waiting. Practically, our team will:
We never apply a one-size-fits-all approach to these cases. Daniel founded the firm in January 2024 after two decades in practice, and our team of three lawyers and three registered consultants acts for clients across Canada, with all meetings and appearances conducted remotely.
The letterhead on your envelope tells you a great deal about how urgent your situation is. IRCC decides applications and status, while the CBSA enforces removal, and confusing the two is one of the most common sources of unnecessary panic our lawyers are asked to settle.
An IRCC refusal letter, on its own, is not a removal order. A refused work permit, study permit, or permanent residence application means you may lose status, but no one has yet ordered you to leave.
A letter from the CBSA is different. The CBSA writes section 44 reports, issues removal orders, calls people in for interviews, serves directions to report, and makes arrest and detention decisions.
💡 Additional reading: Canada deportation
Five details on the page determine how much time you have before removal can be enforced. They separate a situation with several weeks left from one that is now measured in days.
Our lawyers work through these five points in the first few minutes of a call, and will tell you straight away how much room there is to work with.
Which of the types of removal orders you hold determines how long you have, how long you are barred from Canada, and whether you will need special permission to return. The time limits and re-entry rules below are set out in full in IRCC’s guidance on authorizations to return to Canada.
Order type | Time to leave | Bar on returning | Authorization to return needed? |
Departure order | 30 days from the day the order becomes enforceable | None, if you leave on time and confirm your departure | No, provided you hold a Certificate of Departure (IMM 0056B) |
Exclusion order | Immediately, confirming your departure with the CBSA | 1 year, or 5 years where the order was issued for misrepresentation | Yes, if you want to return before the bar expires |
Deportation order | Immediately, confirming your departure with the CBSA | Permanent | Yes, in every case |
One detail on that table causes more damage than any other. If you hold a departure order and you do not confirm your departure with the CBSA within 30 days, the departure order automatically becomes a deportation order.
That conversion happens by operation of law, and nobody sends you a letter to tell you it has occurred. We check this point early, because it changes what we are able to argue for you.
💡 Additional reading: removal order vs. deportation order in Canada
The removal process moves through a set sequence, and the step you are on determines which remedies are realistically available. The stages below run from the day your removal order comes into force through to the day a direction to report is served.
Our lawyers can usually establish where the CBSA has reached on your file, and will advise you on what is realistically achievable from that point rather than leaving you to guess.
A date on a letter is not always the date you leave. Several things can hold enforcement up, and the CBSA is required to postpone removal where one of them applies.
A stay is rarely something that simply arrives. Our lawyers create the conditions for one where the facts support it, and press the point with the officer or the Court.
Removal to some countries is paused entirely. The CBSA maintains an administrative deferral of removals for places in humanitarian crisis, and the Minister of Public Safety can impose a temporary suspension of removals where conditions threaten a whole civilian population.
Both lists change, sometimes at short notice.
Measure | Countries and regions currently listed |
Administrative deferral of removals (ADR) | Bahrain, Central African Republic, Gaza Strip, Haiti, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Qatar, Somalia (Middle Shabelle, Afgoye and Mogadishu), South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen |
Temporary suspension of removals (TSR) | Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq |
The lists above reflect the CBSA’s published position as at 31 March 2026.
Two limits matter. Neither measure protects people found inadmissible on serious grounds such as national security or criminality, and both are lifted once conditions in the country stabilize.
Where a pause applies to your destination country, we can advise on whether a work permit or study permit is open to you in the meantime, and on what happens when the pause is lifted.
The options available to you depend on which letter you received and what your status is. Some remedies are only open to permanent residents, and some are only open for a matter of days.
If you have a procedural fairness letter or notice of a section 44 report, no order exists yet. This is the point at which a well-evidenced response can prevent a removal order rather than fight one.
A deferral request asks the removals officer to postpone your removal. The officer’s discretion here is narrow, because the IRPA requires that enforceable removal orders be carried out as quickly as possible.
A PRRA asks IRCC to assess whether removing you would expose you to persecution, torture, risk to your life, or cruel and unusual treatment. You cannot apply on your own initiative.
Once notified, you have 15 days to apply, with 7 additional days if you were notified by mail, and a further 15 days to file written submissions. Applying inside that first window is what triggers the automatic stay of your removal.
Permanent residents may have a right of appeal against a removal order to the Immigration Appeal Division, generally within 30 days of receiving the order. Appeals from the Toronto area are handled by the division’s Central regional office on St. Clair Avenue East.
The IAD hears the matter fresh, which means new evidence can be put before an independent board member. It can also grant relief on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, including the best interests of a child.
That right is not universal. There is no IAD appeal where the finding is one of security, organized criminality, or human or international rights violations, or where serious criminality was punished in Canada by imprisonment of at least six months.
Foreign nationals have no IAD appeal against a removal order at all. For them, the Federal Court is the only route.
Where there is no appeal, the route is an application for leave and judicial review at the Federal Court, which sits in Toronto and hears immigration matters remotely. For decisions made in Canada, that application must generally be filed within 15 days.
Filing for judicial review does not stop your removal. A separate motion for a stay must be brought, and the judge applies a three-part test: a serious issue to be tried, irreparable harm if you are removed, and a balance of convenience favouring the stay.
Which of these routes is open to you is rarely obvious from the letter itself. We assess them together and advise on sequencing, because more than one can often run at the same time.
💡 Additional reading: how to stop a removal order
Deferral requests are frequently filed and frequently refused. Two factors do most of the work when one succeeds, and Daniel Kingwell assesses every request against them before advising a client to proceed.
Several arguments do not succeed on their own. Separation from a spouse, family, or community is not enough, because the courts have repeatedly described this as the normal result of removal.
A pending spousal sponsorship application is not enough by itself either. Lengthy processing of around a year or more can be raised, but irreparable harm still has to be demonstrated.
One misconception is worth correcting directly. Having a Canadian-born child does not prevent a parent’s removal, although the CBSA is required to consider the best interests of the child before acting.
Where neither children nor risk is present, Daniel will say so. He would rather turn a request away than take money for an application he does not believe in.
Almost every option in the removal process is governed by a short, fixed deadline. The table below sets out the ones that most often close before people realize they existed.
Step | Deadline | What happens if you miss it |
Respond to a procedural fairness letter | The date stated in your letter, commonly between 7 and 30 days | The officer decides without your explanation on file |
Apply for a PRRA after notification | 15 days, plus 7 more if you were notified by mail | You lose the automatic stay of removal |
File PRRA written submissions | A further 15 days after the application | Your supporting evidence may not be assessed |
Appeal a removal order to the IAD | Generally 30 days from receiving the order | The removal order stands |
File for leave and judicial review at the Federal Court | Generally 15 days for a decision made in Canada | You must ask the Court to extend the time |
Some of these deadlines can be extended and some cannot. Our lawyers will tell you which category your file falls into, and where a late filing can still be salvaged.
💡 Additional reading: PRRA eligibility in Canada
Ignoring a removal letter removes your options rather than delaying them. The consequences are administrative, and they follow automatically.
Files often reach us after a date has already been missed, and that position is usually still recoverable. We re-engage with the CBSA on your behalf and put the explanation forward properly, rather than leaving you to make it alone.
The following are reported matters our lawyers have taken to the Federal Court and the Immigration Appeal Division. They are set out as decided.
⚖️ A.M. v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2019 FC 270)
Pre-Removal Risk Assessment applicant from Iran. He maintained that he was at risk in Iran for attending political demonstrations.
IRCC refused his application, finding that he had not provided sufficient evidence of risk.
We appealed to the Federal Court and the decision was overturned, the Court agreeing that the officer had improperly rejected new evidence of ongoing danger. The Court ordered IRCC to reconsider the PRRA application.
⚖️ O.J. v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2019 FC 684)
Pre-Removal Risk Assessment applicant. She claimed to be threatened in Nigeria due to her LGBT identity.
IRCC rejected her application, rejecting her evidence.
We appealed the decision to the Federal Court, and the Court overturned the decision, finding that the officer had failed to consider important evidence of threats to her from her husband, and had also failed to hold a PRRA interview. Her application was returned for review.
⚖️ J.R. v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2018 CanLII 54731)
Family of permanent residents from Iran. After acquiring PR status, they were only in Canada for a few weeks to a year in their first four years, and so IRCC issued removal orders against them for failure to meet their residency obligation.
We successfully appealed the decision to the Immigration Appeal Division, explaining that Canada would benefit from their professional experience, and they would suffer hardship in Iran, in particular the children who faced disruption of their education and required military service. They were allowed to remain in Canada as permanent residents.
Each of those files arrived with a decision that looked settled. Our role was to find the error in it and put that argument before the Court or the Division.
Three patterns cause most of the avoidable damage, and all three happen in the first 48 hours before anyone has read the letter properly.
Daniel Kingwell’s advice on the first of those is direct: “Live in the real world. If you’ve got a problem, present it. Be upfront and deal with it.”
His reasoning is practical rather than moral, because information sharing between government systems means concealment almost always surfaces later. It is also why so much of his work arrives already damaged, or as he describes it: “A big part of my practice is really cleanup.”
Our lawyers deal with these letters every week, including on the day a removal is scheduled. We will read your document, engage with the officer or the tribunal on your behalf, and put the strongest available remedy in motion inside the window that remains.
Our firm was built to find a path forward even where others could not, and to act as a pillar of strength for people whose lives in Canada are on the line. The reported cases above all began with a letter that looked final.
Bring every letter you have received from the CBSA or IRCC, your passport or travel document, proof of your current address, and details of any dependants in Canada. Kingwell Immigration Law also advises telling the officer you are represented and giving them your lawyer’s contact details.
Not usually, because the CBSA does not remove people while criminal charges remain outstanding, although a warrant may be issued so that the agency is notified as soon as the court has dealt with the matter. Kingwell Immigration Law handles these overlapping criminal and immigration cases regularly.
No, the CBSA normally removes you to the country you last came from, your country of citizenship, or your country of birth, and sometimes to another country that agrees to accept you. Kingwell Immigration Law checks the destination early, because it shapes any risk argument.
Yes, you must pay your own travel costs, and where you cannot, the CBSA covers them and later recovers the amount if you seek permission to return. Kingwell Immigration Law notes that anyone under 18 when their removal order was issued is exempt from repaying those costs.
Give someone you trust written authority to handle your lease, bank accounts, and belongings, because the CBSA does not manage your personal affairs. Kingwell Immigration Law advises arranging this well before your reporting date, since access to these becomes far harder once you have left the country.
