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About this tool
Translate the ticked boxes on an IRCC refusal letter into the regulation behind them and a checklist of what to fix.
This explainer translates the checkboxes on an IRCC refusal letter into the regulation behind them and a checklist of what to fix. Nearly every refused visitor visa or study permit ends with the same sentence - the officer is not satisfied you will leave Canada at the end of your stay, under section 179(b) or 216(1)(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations - followed by ticked factors such as travel history, purpose of visit, family ties or financial status. Select the factors on your letter to see what each one means, how serious it is, and what evidence answers it.
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Each ticked factor is mapped to the IRPA or IRPR provision it comes from, so you can read the source.
The template letter says little; the officer's Global Case Management System notes say everything, and this explains how to get them.
Tick off each remedy and see how much of the refusal you have actually closed before paying the fee again.
It is the standard conclusion under section 179(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations - for study permits, section 216(1)(b) - that the officer was not satisfied you would depart when your authorised stay ended. It is a balance-of-ties judgement, not a finding of dishonesty. The ticked sub-factors underneath it, such as travel history, purpose of visit, family ties or employment prospects, tell you which part of the balance failed.
There is no appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division for a refused visitor visa, study permit or work permit. Your options are to reapply with the ticked factor properly addressed, or to apply for leave and judicial review in the Federal Court under section 72 of IRPA - the filing window is 15 days if the matter arose in Canada and 60 days if it arose outside Canada, and the court reviews whether the decision was reasonable rather than making a new one.
You request them through an access-to-information request to IRCC. The notes contain the officer's actual reasoning, which is far more specific than the checkbox letter and is the only reliable basis for deciding what to change. Applicants outside Canada normally authorise a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to file the request on their behalf, and processing typically takes several weeks.
Section 40(2)(a) of IRPA makes a person found to have misrepresented inadmissible for five years from the date of the final determination, and during that period they cannot apply for permanent residence. Materiality is judged by whether the misstatement could have induced an error in administering the Act, so an omission counts even where it would not have changed the outcome. Get legal advice before responding to a procedural fairness letter raising it.