The House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration met to study Canada’s immigration system, hearing from officials from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration (IRCC), the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), the Department of Public Safety, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Harpreet S. Kochhar, Deputy Minister of IRCC, stated the department has modernized systems to be more efficient but faces pressure from high asylum claims and temporary resident growth. He noted caps on temporary residents have reduced new arrivals by over 235,000 compared to last year, and that Bill C-12 would make claims ineligible if filed more than a year after arrival or after crossing between ports of entry. He said the immigration levels plan for 2026-2028 will be tabled before November 1, and that the target to reduce temporary residents to 5% of the population is set for 2027, not 2026 as some members suggested. He also said over 140 Uyghurs have arrived under a special program, with 740 more applications in process, and that processing times for humanitarian categories depend on limited spaces in the annual levels plan.
Manon Brassard, Chairperson of the IRB, reported the board issued 102,000 decisions last year, a historic level, with 78,000 from the refugee protection division. She noted 176,000 claims were referred last year and 155,000 the year before, leaving a caseload of 296,000 claims as of September 30, with an average wait time of 22 months for a decision. She said the IRB expects around 100,000 referrals this fiscal year and aims to finalize up to 85,000 cases, but that it is too early to specify organizational changes needed if Bill C-12 passes, as many details depend on regulations.
Pemi Gill, Assistant Deputy Minister at IRCC, clarified that the 2025 target of 673,650 temporary residents is for new arrivals physically in Canada, not permits issued, and that permits approved this year may count against future years’ arrivals. She said data on student and worker arrivals is published monthly on the department’s website.
Jean-Marc Gionet, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister at IRCC, said the department must balance commitments across various pathways, including for Hong Kong, Sudan, and United Nations refugees, when setting immigration levels.
Mike McGuire, Director General at Public Safety Canada, outlined the Minister of Public Safety’s responsibilities under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, including security screening for inadmissibility on grounds such as national security, war crimes, and organized crime. He said the government’s Border Plan has reduced illegal crossings from Canada to the U.S. by 99% since July 2024, and that over 18,000 removals were enforced last fiscal year, the most in a decade.
Aaron McCrorie, Vice-President at CBSA, said the agency screened 37,465 cases this fiscal year, with 394 non-favourable recommendations, and stopped 2,480 inadmissible individuals from coming to Canada in 2025. He reported 18,000 removals last fiscal year, with a goal of 20,000 annually for the next two years, and noted the agency has 30,000 active removal cases. He said a new contract was signed with a company owned by Pierre Guay, a Liberal donor, for land near Lacolle due to increased asylum claims at the port of entry, but he could not provide details on prior contracts or whether similar contracts exist elsewhere. He also said the CBSA is working to improve transparency in security screening but cautioned against setting deadlines for complex cases.
Richard Baylin, Assistant Commissioner at the RCMP, said the RCMP processed over three million fingerprint-based criminal record checks for IRCC in the 2024-25 fiscal year, with results returned within minutes. He noted the RCMP supports CBSA in investigating human smuggling and organized crime related to immigration, and that Bill C-12 would enhance information sharing under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and other provisions. He could not provide information on RCMP activities related to Pierre Guay’s land.
During the meeting, members questioned officials on temporary resident targets, processing delays, and security screening. Some members pressed on whether the government had exceeded its 2025 temporary resident target, but officials maintained the target is based on arrivals, not permits issued. There was also debate over contracts with Pierre Guay, with one member noting the government’s response indicated the leases remain in force until 2027, though officials from multiple agencies said they lacked details on the contracts. No motions or procedural votes were recorded.
AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.