Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended September 30, 2025

On this page

• Introduction
• Basis of presentation
• Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year-to-date (YTD) results
• Risks and uncertainties
• Significant changes related to operations, personnel and program
• Attestation
• Statement of authorities (unaudited)
• Departmental budgetary expenditures by standard object (unaudited)

Introduction

This quarterly financial report has been prepared by management as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act and in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board. This report is consistent with the 2025 to 2026 Main Estimates, the 2024 to 2025 Quarterly Financial Report and the IRB's 2025 to 2026 Departmental Plan. The report has not been subject to an external audit or review.

The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) is an independent, accountable administrative tribunal established by Parliament on January 1, 1989, to resolve immigration and refugee cases fairly, efficiently and in accordance with the law. Through providing quick and fair administrative justice, the IRB contributes to Canadians' confidence in their democratic institutions and, therefore, the quality of life in Canada.

A summary description of the IRB's programs can be found in the 2025 to 2026 Departmental Plan.

Basis of presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the IRB's spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the IRB in a manner consistent with the 2025 to 2026 Main Estimates. This quarterly report has been prepared using a special purpose financial reporting framework designed to meet financial information needs with respect to the use of spending authorities.

The authority of Parliament is required before money can be spent by the Government. Approvals are given in the form of annually approved limits through appropriation acts or through legislation in the form of statutory spending authority for specific purposes.

When Parliament is dissolved for the purposes of a general election, section 30 of the Financial Administration Act authorizes the Governor General, under certain conditions, to issue a special warrant authorizing the Government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. A special warrant is deemed to be an appropriation for the fiscal year in which it is issued.

The IRB uses the full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual departmental financial statements that are part of the departmental performance reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year-to-date (YTD) results

This section highlights the significant items that have contributed to the net increase or decrease in use of financial resources available and actual expenditures for the year and for the quarter ended September 30, 2025, in comparison to the prior year.

Figure 1. Comparison of net budgetary authorities and expenditures for the quarter ended September 30 of fiscal years 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 (in millions of dollars)

Year to date, the total budgetary authorities available of $357.1 million represent a slight increase of 2.3% or $8.1 million above the same period in the previous fiscal year.

The 2025 to 2026 Main Estimates show an increase of $10.9 million in budgetary authorities, compared to the 2024 to 2025 Main Estimates. The increase is made up of $5.9 million for operating authorities and $5.0 million for statutory authorities. The change in operating authorities is due to small differences between temporary funding from Budget 2022, which has ended, and its renewal in Budget 2024, as well as the inclusion of amounts for recent collective agreement funding. The increase in Main Estimates is offset by the receipt of funding for collective agreements in Q2 of last year bringing the quarter-to-quarter increase to $8.1 million.

For statutory authorities, the increase is primarily due to a change in the employee benefits plan rate, which rose from 13.8% in fiscal year 2024 to 2025 to 15.2% in fiscal year 2025 to 2026.

In the quarter ending September 30, 2025, the IRB spent $80.8 million, representing a decrease of $6.5 million (7.4%) compared with the $87.3 million spent during the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. The reduction in spending was mainly due to a decrease in professional and special services, acquisition of machinery and equipment, and personnel.

The following table provides explanations of significant changes in expenditures compared to the previous fiscal year by standard object:

Risks and uncertainties

The IRB continues to operate in a highly dynamic environment. During Q2, the Board remained in a stable financial position and continued to manage ongoing uncertainties related to current and future spending authorities (e.g. declining authority levels and government-wide expenditure reductions).

The number of claims made to the Refugee Protection Division, which remains high, puts pressure on Canada's immigration and refugee system. Given this context, the IRB identified the risk that the intake of claims continues creating surplus inventory levels, beyond working inventory. Without sufficient or predictable funding, the Board may not be able to optimize operations and sustain productivity. In response, the IRB is proactively aligning divisional capacity and resources to address high inventory levels and maintain wait times for decisions at the most reasonable levels possible. Strategic workforce and resource planning remain critical to sustaining efficiency and responsiveness across all divisions. Recognizing its workforce as a core organizational strength, the IRB is enhancing productivity through targeted capacity-building initiatives. Efforts include expanding automation of low-complexity processes to expedite processes, such as intake and scheduling.

As an integral part of the broader immigration and refugee system, the IRB continued to work closely with its portfolio partners, service providers, and external stakeholders. However, system-wide capacity constraints across partner organizations may influence the IRB's ability to meet service demands and uphold processing efficiency.

To mitigate these risks, the IRB continued to advance its Horizon 2026–2027 Strategic Plan (the Plan), supported by continuous monitoring and adaptive governance. The Plan focuses on the optimization of operational capacity across all four divisions. This includes simplifying and standardizing processes, leveraging technology for efficiency gains, while maintaining quality decisions. Targeted investments in project management and IT infrastructure will enable the acquisition of digital tools and resources required to achieve these strategic objectives.

Significant changes related to operations, personnel and program

The following changes regarding senior personnel have taken place since the last report:

• Effective July 17, 2025, Julie Wellington departed from her position as Senior General Counsel at the Board.

Attestation

The original version was signed by

Ottawa, Canada

November 27​, 2025

* Includes only authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end.

* Includes only authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end.