Fixing a broken system – Canada’s immigration security screening: Adam Hummel

Suspect that there is likely more coordination. But security lapses undermine confidence in management of immigration and agree that tighter screening is not incompatible with non-discrimination, as long as care is taken with the procedures and criteria:

…The problem is straightforward: too many agencies, too little coordination, and no single point of accountability. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) conducts initial assessments. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) provides security screening recommendations. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) handles intelligence analysis. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) manages biometrics. Each maintains separate databases, uses different risk indicators, and operates on distinct timelines. When everyone is responsible, no one is accountable. The solution is equally clear: consolidate the process under unified leadership with integrated systems.

This isn’t about closing borders or abandoning Canada’s humanitarian commitments – it’s about fixing a bureaucratic structure that hasn’t kept pace with modern problems. A fragmented multi-agency model designed for a different era now buckles under increased applications, emerging security challenges, and information silos that allow dangerous individuals to slip through undetected.

The Mess: Four Agencies, No Clarity

Canada’s immigration security screening operates as a “trilateral program” involving IRCC, the CBSA, and CSIS. The RCMP are also engaged. In theory, this multi-layered approach provides thorough vetting. In practice, it creates confusion about who’s responsible when things go wrong….

Getting the Politics Right

Immigration is politically charged, and any discussion of enhanced screening triggers accusations of discrimination. But the alternative – a system that fails to protect Canadians while creating uncertainty for legitimate applicants – serves nobody’s interests.

This isn’t about cutting immigration or targeting specific communities. It’s about ensuring that whoever comes to Canada, through whatever pathway, has been properly vetted using modern tools and coordinated processes. Most applicants pose no security risk and deserve timely processing. But the small percentage who do, require effective screening that actually works.

This means resisting both extremes: those who want to gut immigration programs entirely, and those who dismiss any screening concerns as bigotry. Canadians broadly support immigration but expect competent administration. The Eldidi case damages public confidence not because people oppose refugee protection, but because basic screening failed.

Why This Matters Now

Canada faces a critical juncture on immigration policy. Public support has declined amid housing pressures, service strains, and high-profile security failures. The federal government has already reduced immigration targets and tightened temporary resident programs. The system is under stress, and it is getting close to its limits.

Getting security screening right is essential to maintaining the broad consensus that has made Canada’s immigration system work. If Canadians lose faith that the government can distinguish between legitimate applicants and security threats, political pressure to slash immigration will intensify, harming Canada’s economic prospects and international reputation.

The solutions outlined here are practical, achievable, and consistent with Canadian values. They require political will, adequate resources, and willingness to challenge bureaucratic silos. But they’re far preferable to the status quo: a system that fails to protect Canadians while creating unnecessary hurdles for legitimate applicants.

The Eldidi arrests should be a wake-up call, not a political football. Parliament should direct the government to implement comprehensive reforms before the next failure occurs. Canada can have both generous immigration policies and effective security screening – but only if we’re willing to fix the broken system we now have.

Adam Hummel is an estates litigator at Donovan Kochman LLP and the principal lawyer at Hummel Law PC practising immigration law. His recent book, Essays From Afar: 700 Days of the Diaspora Experience Since October 7, is available on Amazon.

Source: Fixing a broken system – Canada’s immigration security screening: Adam Hummel for Inside Policy