A40 — misrepresentation, and the five-year bar

You can ask IRCC for your own notes yourself, free. Or we can do it for you: CAIPS Notes, ₹499C$29US$19, GST includedthe total we charge. See what is included.

What does A40 say?

IRCC tells its officers that refusal letters “should refer to the appropriate legislative provision(s)”. So the code on your letter points to a rule in the law. These are its exact words.

You may also see it written as: A40 · A40(1)(a) · 40(1)(a) · section 40 of the IRPA · IRPA 40 · misrepresentation

What does A40 mean for you?

Take this one seriously. A40 is not a normal refusal. It is a finding about you. It follows every application you make for five years.

“Inadmissible” means not allowed to enter or stay in Canada. A40(2)(a) says this lasts five years. For a finding made outside Canada, the five years run from the final decision. For a finding made in Canada, they run from the day the removal order is enforced. A40(3) says you cannot apply for permanent residence in that time.

The Act covers facts misrepresented or withheld “directly or indirectly”. Its words do not mention whether you meant to deceive.

What if an agent put a false paper in your file? IRCC says: “The Federal Court has held that an applicant may be found inadmissible for misrepresentation even when the fraudulent information was provided by their representative.”

IRCC also says: “You’re responsible for all the information in your application even if your representative completes it for you.”

IRCC adds that, according to the Court, an applicant may be excused only for an “innocent mistake”. It calls this exception “narrow”.

Not every mistake counts. The fact must be “material”. The Act's words are “induces or could induce an error”. So the fact does not need to have changed the decision. It is enough that it could have led the officer into an error.

A small typo that could not mislead anyone is unlikely to count. A hidden past refusal, or a false job letter, can.

If your notes show A40, do not just apply again. Speak to a Canadian immigration lawyer or a licensed Canadian immigration consultant (RCIC) first.

What might your notes show?

Every file is different. Your decision note or GCMS notes may record:

• Which answer or document the officer treated as false or hidden
• Whether a procedural fairness letter (PFL) was sent, and what you replied
• Some lines may be held back by IRCC

IRCC may hold back some lines.

What might the officer write?

An example of the kind of wording, not a real note. Officers write in their own words. The shape follows the rule quoted above. Square brackets stand for details that differ in every file.

Why do officers write A40?

These situations can lead to it. Your notes, or the officer's decision note, may name the one in your case.

• Not declaring a past visa refusal from any country
• Work experience letters that overstate duties, dates or salary
• Family members left off the forms, or marital status given wrongly
• Documents an agent prepared that you never checked before signing
• Bank statements or education records that cannot be verified
• Facts that differ between this application and an earlier one

What evidence is often missing?

Three gaps that can sit behind A40. They are not ranked: we have no IRCC figures to rank them by.

• A past refusal left off the form. Your earlier Canadian applications are on IRCC's record. IRCC also says that when you give fingerprints it may receive information from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. A refusal you did not declare can be treated as a fact withheld.
• A document the issuer cannot confirm. Officers check documents with the people who issued them. If an employer, bank or college cannot confirm a letter, the officer may treat it as not genuine. The Act asks whether the fact could induce an error. It does not require that it did.
• The fairness letter went unanswered, or the answer missed the point. IRCC's own instructions say you must be told the concern and given a meaningful chance to answer it. A reply that argues about something else, arrives late, or never comes leaves the concern standing. If a representative was on your file, the letter may have gone to them.

What can you fix before you apply again?

Answer the concern the officer actually named. Changing everything else at once can make a file look staged.

• Read the decision note and get your GCMS notes first. See which statement the officer treated as misrepresentation (IRCC may hold back some parts)
• Take advice from a Canadian immigration lawyer or an RCIC. This is beyond what a consultancy can responsibly handle alone
• If a procedural fairness letter came and you have not replied, watch its deadline. It is the most important date in your file
• Never file a fresh application hoping the finding will not come up. It is on your IRCC record

What does the next step need?

Nothing here promises a result. These are things a file can show that the first one did not.

• Advice before anything else. A Canadian immigration lawyer or an RCIC can say whether the finding can be challenged, and what the five years mean for you
• Your GCMS notes and the fairness letter: the exact fact or document the officer relied on, and what your reply said
• If a representative put the false paper in your file without your knowledge, proof of that: the agreement, the messages, any complaint you made. IRCC calls the innocent-mistake exception narrow, so this is for your adviser to weigh, not a refile on its own
• In any later file, every document verifiable at its source: the employer, the bank, the college
• The finding declared in every later application, to any country. Hiding it would be a new fact withheld

What could this look like in practice?

How can you see the officer's real reason?

IRCC now sends the officer's decision note with most refusals. That covers most temporary-resident refusals since 29 July 2025. It also covers most permanent-residence refusals since 26 May 2026.

IRCC sends the note with the refusal letter, to you or to your representative. It may remove some parts.

Your GCMS notes can show more. GCMS is IRCC's case system, and the notes are what officers wrote in it. They can include the case history and earlier notes. IRCC may hold back some lines.

You can ask IRCC for your own records yourself. It is free, from anywhere in the world, under Canada's Privacy Act. Since 13 July 2022, that right is “extended to include all individuals outside Canada”. See how to do it yourself.

Or we can file the records request for you: CAIPS Notes, ₹499C$29US$19, GST includedthe total we charge. Already have your notes? We can give you a plain-English written reading for ₹699C$39US$25, GST includedthe total we charge.

General information, not legal advice.Every file is different, and nothing here predicts the result of an application. We are not Canadian lawyers or RCICs. Our licence is from Punjab, India; it is not a Canadian licence. For a misrepresentation finding (A40), speak to a Canadian immigration lawyer or an RCIC first.