Border bill would create ‘in limbo’ foreign residents, refugee groups say 

2025/07/12 Leave a comment

Usual critique by advocates, with no analysis of numbers likely to be affected or recognition of previous abuses:

A federal crackdown on asylum claims would create a new “in limbo” class of foreign residents who couldn’t be returned home but who would be barred from asylum hearings and unable to work in Canada, refugee groups say.

They are warning government officials that the Strong Borders Act, which was introduced before MPs went on summer break, would lead to people living without status in Canada if their home countries are deemed too dangerous for them to be returned to.

The legislation, also known as Bill C-2, would tighten up Canada’s immigration and asylum system, barring people who arrived in Canada more than a year ago from having an asylum claim heard by the independent Immigration and Refugee Board. Applicants to the IRB can qualify for work permits and health coverage while they wait for assessments. 

The restriction would apply to people who entered the country after June 24, 2020, even if they have since left and returned.

Bill C-2 would also prevent people who crossed the U.S. border illegally from claiming asylum if they have been in Canada for at least 14 days, which is currently permitted under a provision of the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States….

Source: Border bill would create ‘in limbo’ foreign residents, refugee groups say

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L’immigration par réunification familiale pratiquement barrée au Québec d’ici juin 2026

2025/07/12 Leave a comment

Of note:

Les personnes souhaitant faire venir leur conjoint ou leur enfant de 18 ans et plus au Québec ne pourront plus en faire la demande jusqu’en juin 2026.

Le ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) a annoncé mercredi avoir atteint le nombre maximal de demandes de parrainage permises pour un époux, un conjoint, un partenaire conjugal ou un enfant à charge de 18 ans et plus. La voie du regroupement familial sera donc pratiquement fermée d’ici le 26 juin 2026, date à laquelle de nouvelles requêtes pourront de nouveau être émises.

Entretemps, « toute demande reçue par le MIFI après l’atteinte du nombre maximal de demandes pouvant être reçues et qui vise ces membres de la famille sera retournée aux personnes demandeuses sans être traitée », a précisé le ministère, mercredi. « Les frais exigés pour l’examen de la demande ne seront pas encaissés. »

À l’heure actuelle, la catégorie de la réunification familiale ne reste donc ouverte qu’aux personnes souhaitant parrainer leur père, leur mère, un grand-parent ou un autre membre de leur parenté.

Aucune limite n’est appliquée non plus aux demandes de parrainage d’un enfant de moins de 18 ans.

Source: L’immigration par réunification familiale pratiquement barrée au Québec d’ici juin 2026

People wishing to bring their spouse or child aged 18 and over to Quebec will no longer be able to apply until June 2026.

The Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) announced on Wednesday that it had reached the maximum number of sponsorship applications allowed for a spouse, spouse, conjugal partner or dependent child aged 18 and over. The route of family reunification will therefore be practically closed by June 26, 2026, when new requests can be issued again.

In the meantime, “any request received by the MIFI after the maximum number of applications that can be received has been reached and that targets these family members will be returned to the applicants without being processed,” the ministry said on Wednesday. “The fees required for the examination of the application will not be collected. ”

At present, the category of family reunification remains open only to people wishing to sponsor their father, mother, a grandparent or another member of their relatives.

There are also no limits for sponsorship requests for a child under the age of 18.

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Attorneys Say They Can’t See Immigration Clients At Alligator Alcatraz

2025/07/11 Leave a comment

Of note:

Immigration attorneys say they have been unable to see their clients sent to the Alligator Alcatraz detention facility in Florida. Donald Trump toured the state-run camp with Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and implied immigrants would be deterred from escaping because nearby alligators would eat them. In the haste to build and promote the facility, including by selling online merchandise, Florida and Trump officials neglected to provide access to attorneys and ensure detained immigrants could be located and meet with legal representatives to guarantee due process.

Attorneys with clients at Alligator Alcatraz, built in the Florida Everglades, criticize the lack of due process and access to counsel, and express concerns about the conditions. The Miami Herald described detainees suffering from mosquito bites, days without showers and “scant sunlight coming through the heavy-duty tents, making it difficult for them to know whether it is day or night.”

Two weeks have passed since a Florida Highway Patrol officer arrested the Honduran immigrant client of Magdalena Cuprys of Cuprys & Associates. “He was stopped at a weigh station in Tampa because he owns a construction company, and he was required to stop for his truck to be weighed,” Cuprys told me. “The client had a valid Florida driver’s license. The patrol officer called Customs and Border Protection on him. The client called me, and the officer took the phone from him and spoke with me.”

She asked why CBP was alerted. “I was advised that the client looked Hispanic, had a Hispanic name, and now they are collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP, and their orders are to call CBP any time they encounter anyone they suspect is an immigrant,” said Cuprys. “I asked if they would have followed the same process if it had been me driving, and the response was it depends if you look Hispanic.”…

Source: Attorneys Say They Can’t See Immigration Clients At Alligator Alcatraz

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Immigration caps are contributing to lower asking rents in Canada, CMHC says

2025/07/10 Leave a comment

Just after a webinar with the Diversity Institute minimizing the link (StatsCan notes greater correlation, albeit relatively small, in larger cities than smaller centres, with interest rates being greater factor):

Canada’s caps on foreign students and new residents have contributed to reduced demand for rental housing and lower average asking rents in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax, according to a new study from the national housing agency.

Over the past year, the average asking monthly rent fell between 2 per cent and 8 per cent in condos and rental-only apartments – also known as purpose-built rentals – said the report released Tuesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC).

The drop was due to a surge in new condos and apartment buildings hitting the market along with limits on temporary foreign residents such as students and new permanent residents.

As of April, temporary residents accounted for 7.1 per cent of the country’s total population, according to Statistics Canada. That compared with the peak of 7.4 per cent in October of last year. 

“It is quite evident on the demand side that there have been signs of weakening,” said Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, CMHC’s deputy chief economist, adding that there were stronger rental declines in regions with slower population growth….

Source: Immigration caps are contributing to lower asking rents in Canada, CMHC says

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Newcomers vs. born-and-raised Albertans: Turns out, they’re not all that different

2025/07/10 Leave a comment

Would be interesting to also have data contrasting political affiliation to see if same pattern holds (it may well). Measure of political integration:

….Conservatives have long fretted that international and interprovincial migrants will bring with them a tidal wave of views — and votes — at odds with traditional, right-leaning Alberta values. Some progressives, meanwhile, have been wishing and hoping for the day that happens.

So far, it hasn’t.

And it likely won’t, says pollster Janet Brown, even with the latest wave of people moving to the province.

“It’s a widely held belief that newer Albertans are different, but the data has never borne that out,” said Brown, who recently conducted a wide-ranging survey for CBC News that examined the beliefs and perspectives of people in this province.

The results were in line with polls she had done in years past; overall, Brown has found very little difference in opinion between Albertans who have lived all or most of their lives in the province and those who have moved here from elsewhere.

When it comes to many beliefs, in fact, the two groups are virtually indistinguishable.

Value statements

This most recent poll asked Albertans whether they agreed or disagreed with a series of value statements on a range of topics and issues.

You can see for yourself in the chart below just how similar the responses were.

Albertans who have always or mostly lived in the province are seen in the left-hand column, while Albertans who moved here from elsewhere are in the right-hand column.

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/wuJvs/1/

These results may come as a surprise to many Albertans, but not Brown.

As a pollster, she says the lack of difference between these two groups has been apparent for some time, even if others didn’t believe it.

“In the past I’d have liberal friends and they’d say, ‘Well, if we just wait for enough people to move from Ontario, then Alberta will become liberal,'” Brown said.

That has yet to materialize, she said, because “the people who move from Ontario aren’t a random, representative sample of people who live there.”

“Sometimes we find that new Albertans are more stereotypical than people who were born here,” Brown said.

Search: Newcomers vs. born-and-raised Albertans: Turns out, they’re not all that different

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Su | Canada shouldn’t follow Donald Trump’s ICE surge into a Fortress North America

2025/07/09 Leave a comment

Of note. But perceived unmanaged migration is viewed more as a threat than managed immigration and regular arrivals in Canada and it is unlikely that Canadians would accept large scale refugee flows from the USA. C-2 arguably recognizes this reality without going to the well demonstrated excesses of the USA:

…Earlier this year, Ottawa tabled the Strong Border, Safe Communities Act (Bill C-2). The bill closes loopholes in the Safe Third Country Agreement, restricts irregular crossings, grants sweeping new detention and removal powers to the Canadian Border Service Agency, expands cross-border surveillance with the U.S., and fast-tracks inadmissibility decisions. At its core, Bill C-2 borrows from the same logic that underpins Trump’s ICE surge: that migration is a threat best met with force, surveillance and deterrence.

But how does this affect Canada and Canadians? If we care about our global reputation, let alone our Charter values of due process, freedom from arbitrary detention, and equal treatment, we should demand nuance, not mimicry. We shouldn’t allow our leaders to spend billions in taxpayer money to just “keep up” with the Kardashians.

Because once we normalize the framing of immigration as a miliary threat rather than a human reality, the outcome is inevitable and costly. It means bigger detention centres, longer removal backlogs, and growing human rights challenges at the border.

True protection demands funded reception capacity, legal aid and rigorous refugee determination processes alongside border enforcement. History tells me, deterrence doesn’t solve migration, it just hides it. Walls and raids don’t erase the reasons people move, be it conflict, persecution, or economic desperation.

The more the U.S. tightens the screws, the more people seek pathways elsewhere. And if Canada’s only answer is to mirror that escalation, we risk becoming complicit in a Fortress America mentality that abandons the very ideals we claim to defend.

I have spent over a decade studying forced migration. I know these policy waves don’t just impact people in abstract ways. They decide whether children are reunited with parents. Whether survivors of violence are protected or pushed back into danger. Whether Canada remains a place where refugee claims are heard with fairness and due process, not filtered by quotas or political optics.

Acting in concert with a U.S. mandate that’s fuelling mass detention and deportation risks shifting our nation’s stance from refuge to refoulement. But we can’t let that happen. We need to hold on to what makes us different. Canada’s refugee system, while imperfect, has long balanced order and compassion. At a time like this, we need to strengthen that legacy, not weaken it under the shadow of Trumps’ ICE megabudget.

Canada faces a choice: do we build a taller fence because our neighbours did and hide the problems, or do we invest in solutions that uphold dignity and fairness while protecting security? The billions now being spent south of the border should be a cautionary tale, not a blueprint.

Source: Opinion | Canada shouldn’t follow Donald Trump’s ICE surge into a Fortress North America

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Premières coupes à l’aide sociale versée aux demandeurs d’asile

2025/07/09 Leave a comment

Of note:

Le gouvernement Legault a commencé à réduire le soutien social offert aux demandeurs d’asile présents au Québec en abolissant une allocation de quelques dizaines de dollars par mois offerte à ceux qui reçoivent de l’aide sociale. Des dizaines de milliers de personnes seront touchées.

L’aide supprimée consiste en un « ajustement » offert aux demandeurs d’asile pour compenser le fait qu’ils n’ont pas accès au crédit de solidarité comme les autres prestataires de l’aide sociale. La somme accordée oscille entre 15 $ et 30 $ par mois, selon la situation du prestataire (en couple, en colocation ou pas).

La ministre responsable de la Solidarité sociale, Chantal Rouleau, a adopté à la fin de mai un règlement qui prévoit l’abolition de cette mesure à compter du 1er octobre.

Cette coupe survient alors que le gouvernement Legault menace de sabrer l’aide sociale aux demandeurs d’asile si Ottawa refuse de réduire leur nombre au Québec. La semaine dernière, le premier ministre François Legault déclarait de nouveau ne rien exclure en la matière, y compris « revoir l’aide sociale pour certaines personnes immigrantes temporaires »….

Source: Premières coupes à l’aide sociale versée aux demandeurs d’asile

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Canada’s immigration system must put national security ahead of applicants: Expert

2025/07/08 Leave a comment

Understandable call which of course will prompt some equally understandable pushback. But strong security vetting is essential to maintaining public support for immigration. And while the examples cited pertain to immigrants from the Mid-East and Islamic countries, also applies more broadly to India, China and elsewhere:

Canada’s immigration framework needs to put national security ahead of the interests of applicants.

That’s among many issues experts say need to change as Canada wrestles with what they say is decades of ineffective and damaging immigration policy, as the country deals with increased global security threats from bad actors.

“We need to get back to a system that’s sane, we need to get back to a system that’s secure,” Toronto Immigration Lawyer Sergio Karas, of Karas Immigration Law, told the Toronto Sun.

“Security for Canadians and Canadian residents should be the first priority, not the last priority. Security should be first and the applicant’s application should be second.”

As Iran’s Islamic theocratic regime staggers under Israeli and American attempts to dismantle the terror state’s nuclear weapons program, reports of officials and members of the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) taking refuge in Canada are growing.

In addition, concerns are also being raised over properly screening thousands of Palestinian refugees expected to stream into Canada, and if they hold undisclosed links to Palestinian terror groups like Hamas and the far-left Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) — the mother organization of Canadian terror group Samidoun.

Karas pointed to the case of Palestinian terrorist Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad, who took part in the deadly 1968 hijacking of an El Al airliner in Athens.

Convicted and imprisoned in Greece, he was soon freed after a different Palestinian terror group hijacked another plane and threatened to kill everyone on board if Mohammad wasn’t released.

Mohammed immigrated to Canada in 1987, without disclosing his criminal history and ties to Palestinian terrorism.

After his lies were discovered, he filed a refugee claim before deportation proceedings could commence — sparking a nearly 25-year legal battle to stay in Canada, insisting he wasn’t a terrorist but a “freedom fighter” in battle with Israel….

Source: Canada’s immigration system must put national security ahead of applicants: Expert

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Immigrants to Canada have long found their qualifications questioned and careers crushed. Things were supposed to have changed — but barriers persist

2025/07/07 Leave a comment

Perennial issue that has been raised for years. I always found the federal initiatives were more talk than action, given the regulatory bodies are all provincial.

One can only hope that the work underway to reduce barriers to internal trade includes mutual recognition within Canada among provincial bodies and that governments at both the political and official level also consider reducing the impact on those with foreign equivalent certification:

….The result is a system that still underutilizes skilled immigrants, leaving many in precarious work — despite critical labour shortages and an aging population — and is estimated to cost Canada $50 billion in lost GDP each year.

“Are we actually recognizing foreign credentials better? Not really,” said Rupa Banerjee, associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and Canada Research Chair of economic inclusion, employment and entrepreneurship of Canada’s immigrants.

Rather than addressing barriers newcomers face that prevent them from applying their existing qualifications, “we’ve circumvented this issue of foreign credentials as much as possible by really prioritizing people with Canadian education and experience.”

There is no “convincing evidence that credential recognition has gotten demonstrably better” said Tricia Williams, director of research at the Future Skills Centre.

“For every example of a regulated profession that’s gotten better, there’s others that have stayed the same.”…

Source: Immigrants to Canada have long found their qualifications questioned and careers crushed. Things were supposed to have changed — but barriers persist

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Québec révise ses critères de résidence permanente pour les immigrants économiques

2025/07/07 Leave a comment

A noter:

Il est de nouveau possible, depuis cette semaine, d’emprunter une des principales voies d’accès vers l’immigration permanente au Québec. Et le gouvernement Legault a fixé de nouveaux critères de sélection mercredi.

Comme annoncé le mois dernier par le ministre de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration du Québec, Jean-François Roberge, le Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés du Québec (PSTQ) est rouvert. Dès ce mois-ci, Québec transmettra de nouveau des invitations à présenter une demande de sélection permanente par le biais de ce canal, la principale porte d’entrée pour l’immigration économique au Québec.

Suspendu depuis l’automne dernier, le PSTQ a été revu de fond en comble par le ministre Roberge le printemps dernier. Il en a publié les critères et le système de pointage dans la Gazette officielle du Québec mercredi.

Les travailleurs déjà installés avantagés

Comme il l’avait affirmé précédemment, le gouvernement priorisera les profils d’immigrants déjà établis au Québec dans sa sélection des futurs résidents permanents québécois. Une personne qui a travaillé plus de 48 mois au Québec obtiendra 160 points, le maximum atteignable, alors qu’une personne qui travaille en territoire québécois depuis moins d’un an n’en obtiendra aucun.

Auparavant, un immigrant commençait à accumuler des points après six mois de travail en territoire québécois. Le total maximal de points, accordé à ceux qui avaient occupé un emploi au Québec sur une durée d’au moins quatre ans, était de 100.

Avec ce nouveau système, le gouvernement de François Legault souhaite favoriser l’accession au statut de résident permanent de davantage de travailleurs déjà installés au Québec.

Ceux qui parlent français et qui habitent à l’extérieur du territoire de la Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal auront aussi de meilleures chances d’être sélectionnés.

Un ressortissant étranger pourra en effet se voir accorder jusqu’à 200 points selon sa compréhension et sa production écrites et orales en français. S’il choisit d’immigrer avec un époux ou un conjoint de fait, ce dernier pourra contribuer au pointage, qui sera toutefois de 160 au maximum. Une compréhension du français de niveau 1 à 4, sur 12 paliers, ne produira aucun point.

Les personnes immigrantes ayant séjourné, travaillé ou étudié à l’extérieur de Montréal toucheront également des points supplémentaires, selon la durée de leur implication.

Comme c’était le cas auparavant, les personnes plus jeunes se verront récompensées avec un pointage plus élevé (100 points ou plus pour les moins de 33 ans). Celles qui ont un diplôme universitaire également, et d’autant plus s’il a été obtenu au Québec (200 points pour un diplôme universitaire québécois de troisième cycle).

Ni PEQ ni parrainage collectif

Toute personne souhaitant accéder à la résidence permanente par le biais du PSTQ doit déposer une « déclaration d’intérêt » à travers le système d’immigration Arrima. Une fois reçue, celle-ci est classée selon le système de pointage en vigueur.

À l’heure actuelle, le PSTQ est une des rares portes d’entrée accessibles vers l’immigration permanente.

Le Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ), qui vise lui aussi à accélérer l’accession de diplômés et de travailleurs temporaires à un statut permanent, fait l’objet d’un moratoire. Il est donc impossible de déposer de nouvelles demandes. Même chose pour le programme de parrainage collectif.

Jean-François Roberge affirme que ces gels permettront « de respecter les cibles de sélection prévues au plan d’immigration du Québec pour 2025 ».

Après avoir accueilli autour de 67 000 immigrants permanents en 2025 (soit le seuil attendu), le gouvernement souhaite réduire radicalement ses cibles en 2026. Cet automne, il soumettra à la consultation des scénarios de cibles à 25 000, 35 000 et 45 000 nouveaux arrivants permanents.

Source: Québec révise ses critères de résidence permanente pour les immigrants économiques

It is again possible, since this week, to use one of the main access routes to permanent immigration in Quebec. And the Legault government set new selection criteria on Wednesday.

As announced last month by Quebec’s Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, Jean-François Roberge, the Quebec Skilled Worker Selection Program (QPS) is reopening. Starting this month, Quebec will again send invitations to apply for permanent selection through this channel, the main gateway for economic immigration to Quebec.

Suspended since last fall, the PSTQ was thoroughly reviewed by Minister Roberge last spring. He published the criteria and the score system in the Gazette officielle du Québec on Wednesday.

Already installed workers at an advantage

As stated earlier, the government will prioritize immigrant profiles already established in Quebec in its selection of future Quebec permanent residents. A person who has worked more than 48 months in Quebec will get 160 points, the maximum attainable, while a person who has worked in Quebec territory for less than a year will not get any.

Previously, an immigrant began to accumulate points after six months of work in Quebec territory. The maximum total of points, granted to those who had held a job in Quebec for a period of at least four years, was 100.

With this new system, the government of François Legault wishes to promote the access to permanent resident status of more workers already settled in Quebec.

Those who speak French and who live outside the territory of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal will also have a better chance of being selected.

A foreign national may indeed be awarded up to 200 points according to his written and oral understanding and production in French. If he chooses to immigrate with a spouse or common-law partner, the latter may contribute to the score, which will however be a maximum of 160. An understanding of French from level 1 to 4, on 12 levels, will not produce any points.

Immigrants who have stayed, worked or studied outside of Montreal will also receive additional points, depending on the duration of their involvement.

As was the case before, younger people will be rewarded with a higher score (100 points or more for those under 33). Those who also have a university degree, and even more so if it was obtained in Quebec (200 points for a Quebec postgraduate university degree).

Neither PEQ nor collective sponsorship

Anyone wishing to access permanent residence through the PSTQ must file a “declaration of interest” through the Arrima immigration system. Once received, it is classified according to the current pointing system.

Currently, the PSTQ is one of the few accessible gateways to permanent immigration.

The Quebec Experience Program (QEP), which also aims to accelerate the access of graduates and temporary workers to permanent status, is subject to a moratorium. It is therefore impossible to submit new applications. Same thing for the collective sponsorship program.

Jean-François Roberge says that these freezes will make it possible to “meet the selection targets set out in Quebec’s immigration plan for 2025”.

After welcoming around 67,000 permanent immigrants in 2025 (the expected threshold), the government wants to radically reduce its targets in 2026. This fall, it will submit target scenarios to 25,000, 35,000 and 45,000 permanent newcomers for consultation.

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