Bill C-2 contravenes Canadian core values and undermines the right to refuge

The Strong Borders Act will disproportionately impact queer and trans people seeking protection, seriously jeopardize their safety, and risk deportation to countries of persecution.

The arbitrary eligibility bar ignores the realities of LGBTQI+ persecution

Bill C-2 draws an arbitrary line that will deny many LGBTQI+ migrants access to a fair hearing before Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). If passed, the Bill would bar access to the IRB for anyone who first entered Canada over a year ago, regardless of their status on entry, how long they stayed, how old they were when they first arrived, and their reasons for entry. These individuals will lose access to a full and fair hearing before an independent, expert decision-maker who specializes in the assessment of refugee claims.

The one-year limit ignores the lived experiences of LGBTQI+ refugees and the rapidly shifting global context of LGBTQI+ persecution. Last year, Rainbow Railroad received 13,402 requests for help from around the world. Anti-LGBTQI+ crackdowns and crises dominated these requests for help, and are increasingly defining our international work. In recent years: Russia expanded its 2013 "gay propaganda" law to ban any public expression of LGBTQI+ identities in 2023, Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023, and Ghana and Georgia passed their own Family Values Bills in 2024. In 2025, the Trinidad and Tobago Court of Appeal reversed the 2018 decriminalization ruling in the lower court, reinstating pre-independence sodomy laws in the country. So far in 2025 in the US alone, almost 1,000 anti-trans bills have been introduced across the country. Developments which underscore the escalating risks faced by LGBTQI+ individuals around the world.

The imposition of this rigid time bar disregards the ongoing and evolving nature of persecution and violence faced by LGBTQI+ individuals, which instead requires a refugee determination process that is flexible and responsive, and which accounts for the unique risks and barriers these claimants face.

In addition, for many LGBTQI+ individuals, identity is a fluid process that reveals itself over time. Queer and trans people may not be able to disclose their identity immediately due to trauma, fear of reprisal, or ongoing family surveillance, while others, including children and youth, may only come to understand or name their sexual orientation or gender identity many years after their first arrival in Canada. These realities make the blanket, one-year bar especially dangerous and unjust for LGBTQI+ asylum seekers who may be forcibly returned to countries where they will face anti-LGBTQI+ persecution.

Removal of critical procedural protections and right of appeal

For those who are prevented from presenting evidence before the IRB, the only recourse may be a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) — a paper-based risk assessment with significantly weaker procedural protections and no right of appeal. Rainbow Railroad echoes the concerns of the Canadian Council for Refugees that “the PRRA is inadequate to protect the rights of refugees. It lacks the procedural protections of a hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board. PRRA decision-makers (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada officials) do not have the independence nor the expert resources available at the IRB, a specialized quasi-judicial tribunal.”

This failsafe mechanism lacks robust procedural protections such as the right to an oral hearing, and the right to a decision made by an independent and highly trained decision maker, all of which will severely impact LGBTQI+ refugees. This is because SOGIESC-based claims often have unique considerations, including specific challenges faced by claimants in obtaining corroborating evidence, and complexities inherent to assessing the credibility of SOGIESC identity. Refugee claimants relegated to the PRRA process will lose their right to appeal, and can be deported from Canada immediately after their PRRA is rejected by an IRCC Officer. This will put LGBTQI+ claimants at an increased risk of being refouled to persecution. Bill C-2 erodes the rights of refugee claimants to due process and access to justice, and represents a gross violation of Canada’s international obligation to uphold the right to seek asylum.

Denying access to asylum under the guise of increased border security

Bill C-2 will also remove a key exemption under the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). This will apply to asylum seekers entering Canada from the US, further closing doors to LGBTQI+ people in need of protection. Currently, if a person crosses irregularly and is not exempt under the STCA, they can still make a claim after 14 days. Bill C-2 removes that possibility, effectively barring most irregular arrivals from seeking asylum unless they meet the STCA exemption criteria. LGBTQI+ people are not exempt under the STCA. Amidst ongoing reports of refoulement and worsening conditions facing LGBTQI+ asylum seekers in the United States, Rainbow Railroad continues to voice our opposition to the STCA, and is particularly concerned about Bill C-2’s provisions to make the STCA even stricter.

Sharing personal information about LGBTQI+ persons can put them in grave danger

Rainbow Railroad is also deeply concerned about broad and vaguely worded provisions contained within this omnibus bill that would authorize the disclosure of sensitive, identifying information about refugee claimants by Canadian immigration authorities to foreign governments, regardless of whether it would expose them to persecution. This change constitutes a serious violation of privacy and must be revised with a view to its potential added risk to LGBTQI+ people in particular.

Bill C-2 contravenes the core values and fundamental principles of asylum and represents a significant regression in Canada’s proud legacy of refuge for persecuted LGBTQI+ people. We urge the government to withdraw Bill C-2 and uphold Canada's commitment to protect people fleeing persecution.