Degrading Admission-to-Canada Standards

"Canada's system of temporary migration has always relied pretty heavily on the honour system. Every international student, every long-term visitor, every temporary foreign worker; they all sign a contract agreeing to exit Canada when their visa expires, and Canadian border security is mostly built around the premise they will."

"In 2025, a particularly busy year for the Canada Border Services Agency, officers carried out 22,576 'enforced removals', of which 10,795 were deportations."

"This might be sufficient when Canada's population of non-permanent residents stood at 700,000, as it did in 2015 [under the Conservative-led government of PM Stephen Harper]. But Canada's population of non-permanent residents now stands at 2.6 million [Thanks to the Liberal-led government of Justin Trudeau]."

"This year alone, 1.4 million permit-holders are set to see their Canadian visas expire. And of the majority who likely won't be able to obtain a renewal or secure alternative immigration status, the Government of Canada expects them to leave. But if less than two percent of those decide not to, they've already overwhelmed the ability of the CBSA [Canadian Border Security Agency] to find and deport them."

Tristin Hopper, journalist, National Post [parenthesis inserts mine]

Broadbent Institute

 

From 2022 forward, Canada admitted over three million people in the space of three years, representing an immigration rate far higher than any other country anywhere at the time. Now, the entrance of 2,800 daily has been stopped in tardy recognition by government that the influx of so many people strained Canada's social services and its housing and rental markets beyond toleration. The very prospect of achieving a home of their own for younger Canadians was out of reach of most people with good, stable employment as a result of sky-high home costs and rentals. Hospitals were stretched beyond the capacity to serve the needs of a fast-growing population, with emergency rooms being closed down and those that remained open posting wait times up to 12 hours.

 

In the last year of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, 2014 saw permanent residents numbering 260,400 admitted to Canada, the highest in 100 years, according to 
Statistics Canada. In 2026, even accounting for the diminished rate of admissions under that category, acceptance stands at 50 percent higher than in 2014.

 

Currently, non-permanent residents number double the number of five years ago, with one in every 15 people in the country representing a temporary migrant. The federal government plans by 2027 to see that five percent of the population, representing one in 20, will be a temporary migrant. The number of non-permanent residents identified by the last census in 2021 was 2.5 percent, at a time when the total population numbered 37 million, quite a bit lower than the 41 million of the present.

 

Broadbent Institute

 

Entry to Canada is readily accommodated under the country's current system of welcome to all...where a foreigner who crosses into Canada illegally can approach a police officer to declare "I am seeking asylum". The result of which will be immediate status as an 'asylum claimant', allowing them to obtain a work permit, free shelter and access to the Interim Federal Health Program, a package greatly more beneficial than what is available to Canadian citizens themselves.  Under the IFHP there are provisions for free dental care, free counselling and subsidized pharmacare. Benefits good for two years at minimum, representing the current backlog for an application of asylum to be reviewed.  

 

At the present time, 300,000 claims for asylum are being handled in Canada, a record high, realizing a cost of $1 billion yearly in providing benefits for those awaiting results of their applications, where the approval rate is currently 79.8 percent. This, against a backdrop in 2024 of 20,000 foreign students studying in Canada claiming asylum as their student vivas were expiring. Immigration and Refugees and Citizenship Canada revealed that 47,175 foreigners on student visas had failed to register at a school, last year, their whereabouts unknown to authorities.

 

Council on Foreign Relations

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in 2022 processed no fewer than745,279 applications for student visas; over double the 2020 number of 316,400. Hard pressed to deal with that number, the IRCC dropped application review standards for the efficiency of automation, where mandatory in-person citizenship ceremonies were cancelled and recipients swear an Oath of Allegiance 'virtually' through a computer and the citizenship test normally held in person now is a self-administered 20-question quiz.

 

Foreigners are now able to claim asylum in Canada with the use of an app -- "To speed things up, because we are short-staffed, we are allowing people into the country without first doing ... security screening" stated Mark Weber, head of Canada's border guard union. in parliamentary testimony.  

"The Government of Canada today released a summary of its recent border-strengthening and modernization efforts, marking a year of unprecedented action and results as it continues to protect communities, strengthen trade, and uphold the integrity of the immigration system."

"Through a coordinated whole-of-government approach, Canada successfully implemented key technological and operational measures that underscore the government's resolve in securing our shared border with the United States, while also tackling transnational organized crime that knows no borders."

"Key milestones were achieved across all priority areas, from immigration and trade to combating auto theft and the flow of illegal drugs, including fentanyl and its precursors, into Canada. These achievements were made possible through close collaboration between the key federal departments and agencies, demonstrating that when it comes to the safety and prosperity of Canadians, the federal government is united and effective."

News Release, December 31, 2025  Public Safety Canada