Can I ask IRCC to reconsider a decision and file for judicial review at the same time?

Yes, and in many cases this is exactly the safer approach. A reconsideration request and a leave application for judicial review are separate processes, and filing one does not pause or extend the strict statutory deadline that applies to the other. The judicial review clock keeps running regardless of whether IRCC is considering a reconsideration request, and regardless of how promising that request might seem.

Because reconsideration is discretionary and IRCC is not required to respond within any set timeframe, relying on it alone while letting the judicial review deadline pass is a common and serious mistake. Many practitioners file the leave application to protect that deadline as a precaution, while a reconsideration request proceeds separately in parallel — if the reconsideration succeeds first, the judicial review can simply be discontinued.

Anyone considering reconsideration after a refusal should treat protecting the judicial review deadline as the priority, not an afterthought, since a successful reconsideration is a bonus if it happens, but the judicial review deadline will not wait for IRCC to decide whether to reconsider at all.