Child Refugee Claimants: Why They Need a Designated Representative

A refugee hearing is a formal legal proceeding, and a child cannot be expected to navigate it the way an adult would. When a minor makes a child refugee claim, Canadian procedure requires someone to be appointed to stand alongside them — instructing counsel, making decisions on their behalf, and looking out for their best interests throughout the process. That person is called a designated representative.

This article explains what a designated representative is, when one is required, who can take on the role, and what it actually involves day to day.

What a Designated Representative Is

A designated representative (often shortened to "DR") is an adult appointed to act on behalf of a refugee claimant who is under 18, or who is an adult unable to appreciate the nature of the proceedings because of a mental health condition or similar vulnerability. The Immigration and Refugee Board requires this appointment before a claim involving a minor can proceed to a hearing.

The DR is not simply a chaperone. They stand in the child's shoes for procedural purposes — retaining or instructing a lawyer, deciding whether to accept certain evidence, and making choices the child is not legally positioned to make alone.

When One Is Required

A designated representative is needed any time the claimant is under 18 years old at the relevant stage of the process, regardless of how mature the child seems or how well they can express themselves. It is also required for an adult claimant whose ability to understand the proceedings is genuinely in question.

This applies whether the child arrived with a parent, arrived unaccompanied, or is making a claim jointly with a parent whose own interests might not perfectly align with the child's — for example, if the child has an independent basis for fear that differs from the parent's claim.

Who Can Serve as a Designated Representative

The Immigration and Refugee Board looks for someone who:

• Is at least 18 years old
• Understands the nature of the proceedings
• Has no conflict of interest with the child
• Is willing and available to fulfil the role for the length of the process

In practice, this is often a parent or close relative already in Canada, but it doesn't have to be. Where no suitable family member is available, the Board can appoint someone else — sometimes a representative connected to a child welfare agency or a community organization with experience in this role.

What the Designated Representative Actually Does

1. Retains or works with a lawyer for the child, or confirms the child is otherwise properly represented.
2. Explains the process to the child in an age-appropriate way, to the extent the child can understand it.
3. Makes procedural decisions, such as whether to call certain evidence or how to respond to scheduling issues.
4. Attends the hearing alongside the child and, where appropriate, may be asked questions by the tribunal.
5. Advocates for the child's best interests throughout — which is not always the same thing as what the child says they want in the moment.

The DR's role continues for as long as the claim is active, including through any appeal, unless the Board formally ends the appointment — for example, because the claimant turns 18 partway through the process and the Board determines a DR is no longer needed.

How a Designated Representative Is Appointed

If a parent who might otherwise serve as DR has a competing interest — including because the parent's own refugee claim rests on facts that could conflict with the child's — the Board will look elsewhere rather than appoint that parent.

Frequently asked questions