Presenter: Preeti Adhopia, MA, Board Member, Immigration & Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada
Date: August 16th, 2017

Summary

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) is the tribunal responsible for making decisions on who needs refugee protection, decisions about detention, and hears immigration appeals. Refugee claimants present their cases to the IRB. Claimants with a mental illness, however, may have unique difficulties in presenting their cases to the IRB. How does the IRB process the cases of claimants who may have mental health concerns?

In this webinar, Preeti Adhopia, Board Member of the  Immigration & Refugee Board of Canada, discusses the IRB’s efforts to give due consideration to refugee claimants’ individual situations when it comes to mental illness. She will discuss policy guidelines as they relate to claimants with mental health concerns and accommodations used in actual cases.

Presenter biography

Preeti Adhopia has over 20 years of public service experience in criminal justice and administrative law. Since 2009, she has been a Board Member for the Immigration & Refugee Board of Canada where she decides refugee claims in quasi-judicial hearings. Prior to this, she was a Senior Manager at the Information & Privacy Commissioner of Alberta and investigated privacy breeches by private companies. As the Public Complaint Director of the Calgary Police Commission, Preeti audited internal affairs cases and investigated complaints against the chief. She spent a number of years as a Strategic Crime Analyst and Tactical Analyst for the Calgary Police Service and worked in fraud investigation for the Toronto Housing Authority. Preeti holds a Masters in Criminology from the University of Toronto and completed her undergraduate degree with Honours in Sociology from McGill University.