Des Français désormais sans statut après avoir omis de fournir un test de français

2025/11/25 Leave a comment

All they had to do was provide proof of attendance at a French-language secondary or post-secondary institution:

…Mais un nouveau règlement d’Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada (IRCC) venait d’entrer en vigueur le 1er novembre 2024, au tout début du mois : les candidats au PTPD doivent désormais démontrer une compétence linguistique minimale en anglais ou en français.

« Étant de nationalité française — et ayant suivi des études en français, pour mon mari — , nous pensions être exemptés de cette condition », explique Sandrine Théron. Elle souligne aussi que, dans le portail d’IRCC où elle remplissait sa demande, il n’y avait aucun endroit prévu pour déposer le test de langue obligatoire. « Ce n’est toujours pas le cas d’ailleurs », ajoute-t-elle. Aucune attestation de réussite de test de français n’est donc déposée.

« Tout s’écroule »

L’été dernier, huit mois après l’envoi de leur demande, leur vie a basculé : le renouvellement des permis de Jacques et de Sandrine est refusé en raison de ce document manquant. Conséquence ? Ils perdent immédiatement le droit de travailler. « Quelque part, tout s’écroule », laisse tomber Sandrine Théron. « On se retrouve un peu démunis parce que sans activité professionnelle, on n’a plus de salaire. Alors, qu’est-ce qu’on fait ? »

La famille Villanueva-Théron est d’autant plus sous le choc qu’IRCC n’a pas envoyé de lettre d’intention de refus, comme c’est souvent le cas, pour donner une chance aux requérants de fournir les documents manquants. « Autour de nous, ça nous a été expliqué par le fait qu’il y a une volonté de durcir les règles et que, maintenant, dès qu’un dossier n’est pas [complet], quelle que soit la raison, il est rejeté. »

L’avocate en droit de l’immigration Krishna Gagné constate effectivement que le système « ne pardonne pas » même dans le cas d’une faute qui peut être en apparence mineure. « Demander un test de français à un Français d’origine… On est carrément en “Absurdistan”, mais c’est obligatoire », avance-t-elle.

Source: Des Français désormais sans statut après avoir omis de fournir un test de français

… But a new Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) regulation had just entered into force on November 1, 2024, at the very beginning of the month: PTDP candidates must now demonstrate a minimum language proficiency in English or French.

“Being of French nationality – and having studied in French, for my husband – we thought we were exempt from this condition,” explains Sandrine Théron. She also points out that, in the IRCC portal where she was completing her application, there was no place to submit the mandatory language test. “This is still not the case,” she adds. No certificate of success in the French test is therefore filed.

“Everything is collasing”

Last summer, eight months after sending their application, their lives turned upside down: the renewal of Jacques and Sandrine’s permits was refused because of this missing document. Consequence? They immediately lose the right to work. “Somewhere, everything collapses,” says Sandrine Théron. “We find ourselves a little destitute because without professional activity, we no longer have a salary. So, what do we do? ”

The Villanueva-Théron family is all the more shocked that IRCC did not send a letter of intent to refuse, as is often the case, to give applicants a chance to provide the missing documents. “Around us, it was explained to us by the fact that there is a desire to tighten the rules and that, now, as soon as a file is not [complete], whatever the reason, it is rejected. ”

Immigration lawyer Krishna Gagné indeed notes that the system “does not forgive” even in the case of a fault that may be apparently minor. “Ask a French test from a Frenchman of origin… We are downright in “Absurdistan”, but it’s mandatory,” she says.

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Saperia: Canada has lost control of its immigration system — and Canadians know it

2025/11/24 Leave a comment

Always interesting to see how advocates and organizations reinvent themselves by latching on to current issues. (Saperia previously was active in the post 9/11 Foundation for the Defence of Democracies which has morphed into Secure Canada with a similar focus on 9/11 victims.)

Some elements of that is proposed are in the process of being implemented in recent changes, others would run into charter and other legal challenges but the point of “endless” legal avenues is valid, as is the need for more effective enforcement.

Not surprising the focus on Iran, even though foreign interference seems to be a more substantive issue with respect to China, among others.

…1) End program-switching and restore security-first screening

Canada must close the loophole that allows individuals to enter as students, workers, or visitors — and then file asylum claims midstream or when their permits expire. This “program-switching” has turned temporary visas into back-door immigration streams, flooding the asylum system with what are often claims of convenience. Refugee protection should be reserved for those fleeing genuine danger, not for those seeking to extend their stay.

At the same time, Canada should return to a security-first approach by processing most immigration and refugee applications overseas, where proper vetting can occur before arrival. This would ensure that the system keeps track of who is entering before they arrive, preventing years-long appeals that erode public confidence. In-Canada processing should be reserved for genuine emergencies.

2) Enforce automatic deportation and end the culture of ‘compassionate’ leniency

Canadians should not need to debate whether a foreign national convicted of child abuse, domestic violence, or terrorism can remain in this country. Yet too often, the system allows offenders and their lawyers to game sentencing, strategically seeking reduced penalties to stay below deportation thresholds — and some judges accommodate this strategy, treating removal as an undue hardship rather than the natural consequence of committing a serious crime.

That mindset must change. Compassion must begin with protecting law-abiding Canadians, rather than shielding those who violate our laws. Conviction for any terrorism, espionage, violent or sexual offence, or crime against children should automatically trigger deportation, without plea bargains or discretionary exemptions that allow offenders to manipulate the system. Immigration is a privilege, not an entitlement — and decision-makers who mistake leniency for mercy compromise both justice and safety.

3) Address the CBSA Enforcement Crisis

Even the strongest laws mean nothing if no one is there to enforce them. Canada Border Services Agency officers face staggering caseloads, managing hundreds of complex security files each while navigating outdated procedures and chronic understaffing. Hundreds of veteran officers are now eligible for early retirement under new pension rules, threatening an enforcement vacuum at the precise moment that migration pressures are surging. Ottawa should immediately implement retention bonuses for experienced staff, fast-track recruitment of law-enforcement and military veterans, and establish a CBSA Reserve Corps to deploy trained retirees during processing, vetting and enforcement surges. Security capacity cannot be an afterthought; it is the foundation of the entire system.

4) Cancel the plan to fast track asylum claimants

Canada’s 2025 budget allocates $120.4 million to fast-track hundreds of thousands of asylum claimants into permanent residency, ostensibly to address processing backlogs. The government’s lack of clarity has created confusion about who qualifies as an “eligible protected person,” what mechanism will be used. Will this program resettled refugees, those accepted by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), or those granted protection through Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA)? This opacity obscures a fundamental security problem: in Canada’s immigration system, “clearing processing backlogs” has historically meant compromising security screenings in favour of processing speed and volume.

5) Close loopholes exploited by foreign regime operatives

Among the most urgent security gaps are those exploited by affiliates of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian regime. Despite Iran’s designation as a state supporter of terrorism, its operatives have used Canada’s immigration and refugee pathways to establish presence, intimidate dissidents, and launder funds. Dedicated IRGC investigation units within CBSA and CSIS — supported by enhanced intelligence sharing and clear legislative authority for deportation — are overdue. Canada’s openness must never shelter those who abuse it to commit foreign repression.

Throughout Canada’s history, immigration has been central to our success — but only when coupled with healthy realism, careful screening, rigorous enforcement, respect for the rule of law, and a firm commitment to a shared civic identity. The immigration reforms that Canada needs are significant, urgent, and essential to preserving public trust, public safety, and Canada’s standing as a nation that takes immigration seriously.

Sheryl Saperia is CEO of Secure Canada, where Sophie Milman is strategic advisor. Ches W. Parsons is a retired Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP and its former Director General of National Security. Secure Canada’s mission is to combat terrorism and extremism by creating innovative laws, policies, and alliances that strengthen Canada’s national security and democracy. 

Source: Opinion: Canada has lost control of its immigration system — and Canadians know it

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FIRST READING: Migrants are being screened on the honour system, MPs told

2025/11/24 Leave a comment

Would be nice if there was government reaction included in this article. Will await committee transcript to see if any substantive response but does contribute to undermining confidence in immigration and asylum:

Canada is so overwhelmed by refugee claimants that it is now standard practice to conduct security screenings on the honour system, the head of Canada’s border patrol union told Parliamentarians this week.

To speed things up, because we are short-staffed, we are allowing people into the country without first doing … security screening,” Mark Weber, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, told a meeting of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

Right now, any foreign national showing up at a Canadian border post and claiming to be a refugee will be required only to fill out a security questionnaire via a smartphone app.

After that, the foreigner is cleared to enter Canada as a refugee claimant, a status that entitles them to free health care, access to public schools and work permits. In some cases, claimants can even receive taxpayer-funded lodgings.

In 2024, numbers released by the federal government’s Interim Housing Assistance Program showed that some claimants were receiving free meals and hotel rooms to the tune of $224 per claimant, per day.

And given the current backlog in processing refugee claims, even a false refugee claimant can expect to enjoy protected status in Canada for up to two years until their case is reviewed by immigration authorities.

As Weber told Parliamentarians on Tuesday, the only way to head off hostile actors abusing the system is to hope that they will “self-declare that they’re here for no good.”

“Our goal at the border is to build the file to be able to identify non-genuine claims, and right now we’re kind of relying on people to self-declare that they’re a non-genuine claim,” he said.

Weber said that border guards are no longer able to watch for “patterns and flags” that would show up in an individual posing a security threat to Canada.

Rather, their job is simply to collect basic personal and biometric data (such as fingerprints) before sending refugee claimants on their way.

Border guards aren’t even allowed to review the self-reported answers given by refugee claimants; that all gets sent to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

“Claimants spend significantly less time meaningfully interacting with officers, with the result of reduced security for the sake of expediency,” said Weber….

Source: FIRST READING: Migrants are being screened on the honour system, MPs told

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Immigration minister extends pause on new private refugee sponsorships to 2027

2025/11/24 Leave a comment

Unfortunate, one of the more successful programs, in terms of both outcomes and support of Canadians:

Immigration Minister Lena Diab has extended the pause on new applications through the Private Sponsorship for Refugees Program for another 12 months as the department works to clear its backlog.

New ministerial instructions were published in the Canada Gazette on Friday, along with a notice on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website.

The pause was to be lifted at the end of December but will now be in place for another year, until Dec. 31, 2026.

This pause applies to refugee sponsorships submitted by community organizations or groups of five or more individuals. These sponsors have to support the refugee for one year after they arrive or until they can support themselves, whichever comes first.

Applications that were submitted before the pause took effect on Nov. 29, 2024 will still be processed, according to the notice.

Gauri Sreenivasan, Canadian Council for Refugees co-executive director, called the extension a “cruel blow for refugees” in a phone interview with The Canadian Press.

“This decision basically denies Canadians the ability to exercise our own generosity. And in that way, it’s really tone deaf to who we actually are as a country,” she said.

“I mean, government’s really losing touch with who we are.”

Sreenivasan said refugee sponsors were preparing to submit new applications in 2026, when the pause was originally scheduled to end….

Source: Immigration minister extends pause on new private refugee sponsorships to 2027

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Conservatives plan to try and amend asylum system rules in border security bill

2025/11/21 Leave a comment

Will be interesting to what role the Bloc plays in committee. May well end up with the committee making amendments and the government and NDP rejecting all as was the case with C-3:

Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said Thursday she plans to try and “amend the heck” out of the government’s border security bill, Bill C-12, with a host of measures targeting the asylum system. 

Her proposed changes include disallowing asylum claims from people who transited through Europe or another G7 country on their way to Canada and denying access to social benefits, except emergency medical treatment, for those with a failed asylum claim.

“I think Canadians want some change in this regard. Canada’s system for allowing and accepting asylum claims is pretty generous,” Rempel Garner said at a press conference on Parliament Hill.

“So somebody who’s failed a review, I think it’s fair that the only federal benefits that they receive is emergency health care and I think a lot of Canadians would agree.”

Rempel Garner said she also plans to propose changes to speed up the deportation of non-citizens if they are convicted of a crime or if their pre-removal risk assessment isn’t successful.

This includes clarifying the definition of “serious criminality” in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to be a conviction of an indictable offence, or a hybrid offence where the Crown proceeded with an indictable charge. 

Rempel Garner also said she will propose a ban on repeat pre-removal risk assessments if the initial one fails unless new evidence of changed circumstances is presented. 

She said increased rates of permanent and temporary immigration, in addition to increased asylum claims, have “broken” Canada’s system and contributed to declining support for immigration.

“I think everybody in Canada, (of) every political stripe, should be deeply concerned with public polling data that shows that Canadians are losing faith in the immigration system,” Rempel Garner said. …

Source: Conservatives plan to try and amend asylum system rules in border security bill

Some initial reactions:

…Fen Hampson, president of the World Refugee & Migration Council, said “there are arguments to be made for tightening up the system to prevent abuses but by the same token you don’t want to swing wildly in the opposite direction.”

He said banning people from claiming asylum who had passed through an EU or G7 country would bar Canada from accepting people fleeing war-torn states who, for practical reasons, have to pass through Europe to get to Canada. 

“You are likely going to have to stop somewhere on your way to Canada and it may be a few days or it may be more than that,” he said. “Few asylum seekers can book a ticket to fly directly to Canada.”

The border and immigration bill – known as Bill C-12 – will be considered clause by clause next week by MPs on the public safety committee. 

Ms. Rempel Garner told a press conference on Thursday that her party will table their amendments then. One would end federal benefits for failed claimants of asylum, beyond emergency health care…

Source: Conservative amendments to borders bill would make sweeping changes to asylum system, I’m going to amend the heck out of C-12 to fix Canada’s broken immigration system. (Rempel Garner’s substack post)

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Ontario cancels fast-track immigration program for skilled trades

2025/11/20 Leave a comment

Sigh…. Will see if the minister responsible, Piccini, resigns or not:

Ontario has quietly suspended a fast-track immigration stream for skilled tradespeople and is cancelling all current applications to the stream, leaving candidates who were awaiting decisions in limbo − and at risk of losing their right to live and work in the province.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) allows the province to recruit and retain foreign workers by granting permanent residency to those with in-demand skills, and has previously been touted as a critical means of filling labour shortages.

Qualified workers can be nominated by employers or invited by the province to apply based on their skill set. Last year, the province nominated about 4,100 candidates through its skilled worker stream − with the Labour Ministry describing the OINP as the “best tool the province has” to fill job gaps. The government has previously forecast that it will need 100,000 skilled tradespeople over the next decade to meet its infrastructure goals.

But the Labour Ministry’s oversight of the program has also attracted scrutiny from the province’s Auditor-General’s office, which last year identified weaknesses in detecting “integrity concerns.”

On Friday, an update posted to the OINP website said an internal review of the skilled trades initiative had “identified systemic misrepresentation and/or fraud,” prompting the Labour Ministry to suspend the stream.

That afternoon, candidates were notified by a director at the Labour Ministry that their applications had been terminated, according to a ministry e-mail obtained by The Globe and Mail.

Source: Ontario cancels fast-track immigration program for skilled trades

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Highly skilled immigrants are twice as likely to leave Canada, report shows

2025/11/20 Leave a comment

Makes sense, given the more educated have more mobility possibilities. But nevertheless highlights the retention issue:

The more educated an immigrant is, the more likely they are to leave Canada, a new report on immigration data and patterns suggests.

It comes as the federal immigration and health ministers testified on barriers to attracting immigrants to work in the health care sector on Tuesday.

New immigrants are leaving Canada “at near-record rates, with highly educated and highly skilled immigrants leaving Canada at twice the rate of those with less education and lower skills,” a new report by the Institute of Canadian Citizenship and the Conference Board of Canada found.

The ICC releases an annual report which studies the causes of onward migration — or migration of people first into, then out of Canada using data from Statistics Canada.

The likelihood of leaving Canada goes up as the level of education increases, the report found….

Source: Highly skilled immigrants are twice as likely to leave Canada, report shows

Report link: https://forcitizenship.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Leaky-Bucket-2025-Nov.-17.pdf

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Les immigrants réclament une clause de droits acquis pour le PEQ

2025/11/18 Leave a comment

Understandable. Always creates problems when rules and regulations change without grandfather clauses or other transition measures:

Le ministre de l’Immigration, Jean-François Roberge, a provoqué une onde de choc dans la communauté immigrante en annonçant la semaine dernière l’abolition du Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ), une voie rapide pour accéder à la résidence permanente. Appelant à une vaste mobilisation à Québec lundi, des candidats à l’immigration réclament le rétablissement du PEQ et une clause de droits acquis (communément appelée clause « grand-père » sous l’influence de l’anglais) pour ceux et celles qui sont déjà sur le territoire, et dont le rêve québécois est désormais menacé….

Au cabinet du ministre Roberge, on dit comprendre les inquiétudes, mais on indique qu’aucune clause de droits acquis n’est envisagée. Les demandes reçues avant la suspension du programme seront traitées et toutes les nouvelles demandes devront être transmises par l’entremise du nouveau PSTQ, où « les diplômés du Québec qui ont une expérience de travail et les travailleurs étrangers déjà sur le territoire » seront favorisés.

Source: Les immigrants réclament une clause de droits acquis pour le PEQ

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Illegal migration tearing UK apart, Mahmood says

2025/11/18 Leave a comment

Will see what today’s announcement and details reveals:

Illegal migration is “tearing the country apart”, the home secretary has said, as she prepares to unveil major plans to overhaul asylum policy.

New measures set to be announced by Shabana Mahmood on Monday will include people granted asylum needing to wait 20 years before they can apply to settle permanently.

The plans will also see those granted asylum have their refugee status regularly reviewed and those whose home countries are then deemed safe told to return.

Mahmood told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme she saw tackling illegal migration as a “moral mission”.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Conservatives would deport illegal migrants “within a week”, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for asylum seekers to have the right to work.

The changes are aimed at making the UK a less attractive destination for illegal migrants, leading to reduced small boat crossings and asylum claims.

Mahmood is also to announce the UK will stop granting visas to people from Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo if their governments do not rapidly improve co-operation on removals.

A Home Office source said the countries were being targeted “for their unacceptably low co-operation and obstructive returns processes”.

As first reported in the Times the threat of the visa ban for certain countries comes after thousands of illegal migrants and criminals from the three nations were said to be in the UK.

Many specific details and practicalities of the sweeping changes to asylum policy are yet to be made clear, and will be set out by Mahmood on Monday…..

Source: Illegal migration tearing UK apart, Mahmood says

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Globe editorial: Canada’s muddled immigration plan won’t bring in the world’s best talent

2025/11/17 Leave a comment

Sometimes being too cute in presenting numbers attracts more attention….

…The federal government’s claim that the plan “stabilizes targets for permanent resident admissions” is misleading. The nominal target for new permanent residents next year is 380,000, slightly lower than this year’s 395,000. 

But if the 148,000 from the one-off initiatives were included over the next two years, as they should be, the number given permanent resident status would jump to 454,000, assuming an even split. The Liberal government is creating superficial distinctions to blur reality, much as they are doing with “capital” and “operating” spending in the budget. The reality is that the government is increasing permanent resident targets for the next two years.

The federal government should focus on bringing the bulk of economic migrants through its national programs. And Ottawa should resist the urge to micromanage the labour market, and instead focus on restoring the skills-driven approach that will identify people most likely to prosper, and to help Canada prosper.

Source: Canada’s muddled immigration plan won’t bring in the world’s best talent

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