Canada Boosts Border Security, Immigration System

To minimize unnecessary border volumes, we

• introduced an additional protocol to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), in partnership with the United-States (U.S.), to expand the application of the STCA to the entire land border, including internal waterways. The number of asylum claims from people crossing illegally has dropped from an average of 165 per day in March 2023 to 12 per day since then.
• implemented a partial visa requirement for Mexican nationals to reduce the high number of asylum claims, most of which were refused, withdrawn or abandoned. This change has reduced claims from Mexican citizens at airports across the country by 97%. At the same time, southbound illegal crossings by Mexican nationals from Canada into the U.S. also fell by 72% compared to 2023.
• ended the practice of "flagpoling", which happens when a temporary resident leaves Canada and immediately returns to a port of entry to get immigration services. This practice used significant resources at the border, detracted from U.S. and Canadian border enforcement activities, and slowed cross-border traffic. After the measure was implemented on December 24, 2024, there was an immediate decrease in flagpoling by around 86%, resulting in savings of 4,000 to 8,000 days of work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

To increase information-sharing, in 2025, we will

• enhance automated information sharing on all electronic travel authorization (eTA) applicants using a new source of data from the U.S. We will also expand our immigration information sharing to include data about U.S. and Canadian permanent residents. These advancements will help us to better identify and screen those who come into our countries and detect and prevent fraud.

To reinforce the integrity of our immigration system and reduce fraud, we

• heighted scrutiny of visitor visa applications from countries with the highest rates of abuse, based on a new system of fraud detection. Our swift actions have led to
  • an 89% drop in illegal U.S. crossings by foreign nationals in Canada from June to December 2024
  • a 61% increase in refusals for high-risk countries
  • an 18% drop in asylum claims by Canadian visa holders (from 7,174 claims in October 2024 to 5,832 in November 2024).
• ended the automatic issuance of 10-year multiple entry visas. We updated our guidelines for officers to consult when deciding whether to issue a single- or multiple-entry visa and its validity period, based on the applicant's purpose for visiting, finances, immigration history and other factors.
• cancelled the visitor-to-worker public policy, which has been used by bad actors to misinform and mistreat foreign nationals.
• removed the additional points that candidates receive under Express Entry for having a job offer. This measure is expected to remove the incentive for candidates to purchase a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), resulting in increased fairness and integrity of the Express Entry system.
• put in place measures to manage the volume of temporary resident arrivals and uphold the integrity of our immigration system, including
  • reforming the International Student Program and launching a system to verify every letter of acceptance directly with post-secondary learning institutions for each study permit application. This resulted in a 91% drop in illegal U.S. crossings of Canadian study permit holders from June to December 2024.
  • introducing new measures to address fraud in Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program
  • tightening eligibility requirements for
    • temporary foreign workers
    • post-graduation work permits
    • work permits for spouses of international students and temporary foreign workers
• launched two annual international ad campaigns delivered in over 10 languages to combat misinformation: one to address misinformation about the international study permits and application process and another targeting people seeking information on Canada's asylum system. These campaigns provide accurate information about Canada's immigration system and help prevent the exploitation of those seeking to come here. The goal of the campaigns is that Canadians, newcomers and visitors trust that the immigration system is effective and used as it was intended.
• proposed new regulations to address misconduct by paid representatives and strengthen the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. The draft regulations published in the Canada Gazette include
  • new penalties for paid representatives like consultants, lawyers, and unauthorized advisors, who break the rules while providing advice and representation on immigration or citizenship matters. This includes fines of up to a maximum of $1.5 million for advising clients to misrepresent themselves.
  • allowing the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants to conduct more effective disciplinary proceedings and set up a fund to compensate victims of unethical consultants.