My Case User Guide

My Case is a secure, online, self-service portal that allows registered users to send forms and documents to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) as well as receive correspondence from the IRB.

On this page:

• Registration process
• Technical problems
• Changing your contact information
• Document submission
• Delegation
• Requesting audio files of proceedings

Registration process

Who can register for My Case

Registration for My Case is available to

• All counsel who are authorized representatives

  These are lawyers, Ontario paralegals, immigration consultants, and Quebec notaries. They must be a member in good standing of one of these regulatory bodies: the bar of a province or territory, the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, or the Chambre des notaires du Québec. In the future, it will be possible for other types of counsel, including those who do not charge a fee, to register.

• Contracted designated representatives
• Delegates

  Counsel have the ability to add delegates to their My Case accounts. Delegates must be added by counsel and cannot register for My Case independently. For more information, see Delegation.

Over the coming months, we will expand registration to claimants and appellants.

Protection of personal information

The personal information you provide to the IRB is secure. The IRB takes the protection of your privacy seriously and takes every precaution to ensure the continued protection of personal information in accordance with legal requirements.

Cellphone numbers and email addresses will be stored as part of your contact information and updated at your request.

To ensure that your personal information is protected and that you have secure access to online information and services through My Case, you will need to prove your identity.

First step

To register, contact the IRB at one of the email addresses provided at My Case portal registration and submission of documents.

Access code

An access code is a unique code issued by the IRB. It is required to confirm the identity of first-time users of My Case and to ensure the security and confidentiality of their personal information.

The registration process requires you to provide your cellphone number on the registration form that we send you at the beginning of the process. You will receive your access code at that number, and it will expire after 24 hours.

You will use your access code only once, to complete the registration process for My Case. The code will become invalid after it is used. Do not share your access code or your personal information with anyone.

Register only once

You only have to register for My Case once. Therefore, if you have previously registered but have a new case before the IRB, you don't need to register again. For technical issues related to a GCKey or Sign-in Partner, go to Technical problems.

Using log-in services

You will be able to log in to My Case by using a Sign-In Partner or a GCKey. Go to Log-in Services for more information on both services.

Once you have registered, always log in to My Case from the My Case home page, as other government websites have similar log‑in pages to the IRB’s Sign-In Partner and GCKey log‑in page.

Sign-In Partner log‑in

A Sign-In Partner log‑in allows users to log in to My Case using log‑in information they already have with a participating financial institution (e.g., a card number and password). Go to Who are the Sign-In Partners to find out which financial institutions are participating in this service.

Logging in with your GCKey

GCKey is a unique log‑in solution that allows users to communicate securely with online‑enabled government programs and services. GCKey is offered as another choice for users who cannot or choose not to log in to My Case using their financial institution’s log‑in process. Go to What is GCKey for more information.

Everyone who accesses My Case via a GCKey must set up 2FA. See Registering for two-factor authentication (2FA) for information on this process.

Email notifications​

Once you have set up your My Case account, you will receive confirmation emails

• when the IRB receives a form or document from you
• when you make a change to your profile information
• when your account information changes
• when the IRB sends you a document

If you are a counsel, you will also receive an email notification

• when it is time to renew your delegation(s)

If you are a delegate, you will also receive an email notification

• when counsel chooses to delegate the management of their mailbox to you
• when counsel renews your delegation
• when counsel ends your delegation

See Delegation for additional information on this feature.​

Technical problems

Browser or device problems

My Case works best in the latest versions of Windows, using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

The following known issues can occur when using other devices or browsers.

On iOS devices

• You will not be warned about unsaved changes if you move away from your current page, and
• You will need to refresh your page after downloading a document from your inbox.

In Safari for Windows

The My Case portal cannot be accessed using Safari for Windows.

In other browsers and operating systems

Dates may be displayed in the format mm/dd/yyyy, instead of the standard yyyy-mm-dd format.

Log‑in problems

If you are locked out of My Case during the registration process, write down the lock code and call the My Case help desk.

If you have forgotten your Sign-In Partner credentials, contact your financial institution.

If you have forgotten your GCKey password, go to What if I have a technical issue with GCKey to find out how to recover it.

If you enter the wrong password too many times, your GCKey will be locked and you’ll need to wait 24 hours to try again.

If your GCKey has been revoked, go to Where can I find more information about GCKey for information. You will need to create a new GCKey. Once you have done so, go to Resetting a My Case account for the final step of the process.

Resetting a My Case account

If you would like to use a different GCKey or Sign-In Partner, call the My Case help desk and ask us to reset your account.

Problem viewing documents

If, after downloading a document shared via My Case, you are unable to view it or it opens as a web page with encrypted text, follow these instructions:

1. Locate the file on your computer (it may be in your Downloads folder, unless you specified otherwise).
2. Right‑click on the file and open it in a PDF reader.
3. You can also rename the file: If the file looks like “filename.pdf.html”, delete the “.html” portion and hit Enter to apply the change.
4. Try opening the file again. It should open in the default PDF application.

Case file problems

Cases will no longer appear in My Case after 45 days following the date of a final decision.​

Cases may also not appear because of a data entry error in our case management system. Call the My Case help desk if:

• You have active cases that do not appear in My Case.
• Information on active cases you have before the IRB is not accurate.
• The person you are representing received a document from the IRB that you were also supposed to receive.

Changing your contact information

It is your responsibility to inform the IRB without delay when your contact information changes. To update your contact information or correct inaccuracies:

• Log in to your My Case account.
• Go to your profile and select Update your contact information.
• Select which information you wish to change or add.
• Update your information.
• Submit the change by clicking on Submit.

Allow two working days for the information to be processed after it is received, then check your My Case profile again.

Document submission

For more information about submitting documents electronically, consult the Practice Notice – Electronic Exchange of Documents Using My Case and My Case portal registration and submission of documents on the IRB website.

Submitting forms online

You can complete and submit the following forms directly in My Case.

As a counsel:

• Counsel Contact Information
• Notification of Client Contact Information
• Notice of Appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD)
• Notification of New Client (specific to the My Case portal, where you can tell the IRB that you are representing a new client)

As a delegate:

• Notification of Client Contact Information
• Notice of Appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD)
• Notification of New Client (specific to the My Case portal, where you can tell the IRB that you are representing a new client)

As a designated representative:

• Designated Representative Contact Information
• Notification of Client Contact Information

Submitting documents

There are two ways to submit documents. To begin, go to My Cases. From there, you can either click on the appropriate button in the Actions column and then select Submit documents, or you can click on the file number and then on the Submit documents button on the Overview screen.

You will receive an email notification with a confirmation number for your submission. There is no need to mail a paper copy once you have submitted the document electronically. You may be required to present original documents at a later date or at the hearing.

To view details of your document submissions, go to My Cases, select your case, then click on Submission History. This screen provides certain information, but not access to the document itself. You should save all documents on your personal computer.

Receiving documents

An email notification will be sent to the email address you provided in your profile. Log in to your My Case account, go to your Notifications, click on the appropriate button in the Actions column and choose Download to view your new mail. You can also view your mail by selecting the case in My Cases and looking at its inbox.

From the Notifications section, you can remove items you no longer need. They will remain available in the case’s inbox as long as the case is available to you.

Delegation

Counsel have the ability to include delegates in their My Case accounts.

For counsel

Delegating case access and document submission

You may register up to four delegates at a time. To do so, go to My Profile, select Delegates, then click on “Add a new delegate”. Fill in the required information and agree to the conditions. Your delegate will receive an invitation by email to register for My Case.

Responsibilities regarding delegates

You are the sole manager of your delegates. For security reasons, you must extend their delegation every two months, or it will expire. You will receive an email notification when it is time to do so. If you wish to continue the delegation, log in to your My Case account and go to My Profile. Click on the button in the Actions column beside the delegate’s name and select Extend delegation. Your delegate will receive an email once you have extended the delegation. Since they have already registered, they won’t need to register again.

When your delegate no longer works for you or manages your cases, it is your responsibility to end the delegation. To do so, log in to your My Case account, go to My Profile, click on the button in the Actions column next to the delegate’s name and select End delegation.

Supervising a delegate

You will see when your delegate has read mail or sent correspondence to the IRB for any of your cases. Further, both you and your delegate will receive email notifications when correspondence is received for cases that you represent.

Renewing expired delegations

If you have not extended a delegation within 10 days of receiving the reminder email, the delegate’s access to your cases will be blocked. See Responsibilities regarding delegates, above. The delegate’s name will disappear from your account and you won’t be able to extend the delegation. You will need to reinvite the delegate.

Managing your notifications

As the primary holder of the mailbox, it is your responsibility to remove items from the Notifications view. When an item is removed from your notifications, it is also removed from your delegate’s notifications. Note that the item remains in the case view, in your Inbox.

For delegates

Registering

Counsel will enter your email address and other information in their profile and submit an invitation. You will receive an email notification with instructions. Follow the instructions and answer the questions, which are based on shared secret information. Once the process is completed, you will have access to the cases your counsel represents. A delegation lasts 60 days and will then expire. Counsel can extend or end your delegation at any time.

Managing your caseload

You can submit documents on your counsel’s behalf. Only the person submitting the document will receive an email confirming receipt. When the IRB sends you or your counsel a document, both you and your counsel will receive an email notification.

Managing your counsel’s notifications

As a delegate, you cannot remove items from the Notifications section. This mailbox is not shared; rather, you have a view of your counsel’s notifications. In their Notifications section, counsel will see when you have read correspondence. In their Submission History section, counsel will see when you have sent correspondence on their behalf.

Being delegated by more than one counsel

In the top banner of your main page, you can see the name of the counsel you are acting for as a delegate. If you are a delegate for more than one counsel, you can toggle between them by selecting a name from the Choose a counsel dropdown list in the top banner of your main page, or you can go to My Counsel in the left‑hand navigation pane to choose which counsel’s cases you wish to view.

Expired delegations

Counsel will receive a reminder email to either extend or end your delegation. You will receive an email once your delegation has been extended. Log in to My Case as usual.

If your delegation has been expired for more than 10 days, counsel will need to reinvite you. You will receive a new invitation email with instructions. You will be able to log in using your existing My Case credentials.

Requesting audio files of proceedings

To request an audio file (.mp3) of the recording of a proceeding, click on a case, then click on Request audio files at the bottom of the page to see a list of past proceedings.

You will receive an email notification with a confirmation number for your request. Allow 4 working days for your request to be processed. You will receive an email notification once your audio files are available. If the proceeding was not recorded, the email will tell you this. If a recording was too large to be uploaded to My Case, the email will say that you can expect to receive a CD by mail.

To download and listen to your audio files, log in to your My Case account and go to Notifications. You can then listen to the audio file using Windows media player.