Ottawa’s proposed immigration reforms will restrict asylum seekers access to hearings

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The federal government’s proposed immigration reforms will restrict some asylum seekers’ access to formal refugee hearings, a move critics say undermines Canada’s legal commitments to asylum claimants and may serve to drive migrants underground.

The new powers aim to tackle “rising migration pressures,” according to the federal immigration department, including by improving border security and making Canada’s asylum system more “resilient.”

The ministry has struggled to cope with mounting backlogs in recent years, as has the country’s independent tribunal tasked with ruling on refugee cases.

Ottawa has also faced criticism in recent years over its increased reliance on temporary foreign workers and international students to fill low-wage jobs. It must now navigate added pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to make assurances on border security.

But researchers and advocates say the proposed legislation risks creating more inefficiencies in an already strained system – while incentivizing risky border crossings and exploitation in the underground economy.

“These new policies are very likely to increase undocumented migration in Canada,” said Idil Atak, a professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University.

If passed, the measures will also grant the government the right to terminate immigration applications if it is deemed in the “public interest,” which Migrant Rights Network spokesperson Syed Hussan said raises significant concerns about government overreach.

“They’ve given themselves a carte blanche,” he said. “There’s zero checks and balances.”

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada did not respond by deadline to questions from The Globe and Mail about the proposed reforms.

Amongst the most significant proposed changes include barring access to the refugee determination system for people who fail to make a claim within a year of their first date of entry to Canada, retroactive to June 2020.

That means anyone who came to Canada after that date – for example, a student on a visa – but claimed asylum after the legislation was tabled, would not be entitled to a hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).

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The legislation, known as Bill C-2 or the Strong Borders Act, would also further tighten the Safe Third Country Agreement, a refugee treaty with the United States that requires most asylum seekers to seek protection in the first safe country they enter. This means they cannot pass through the U.S. to claim asylum in Canada and vice versa.

Under the current terms of the agreement, individuals who cross into Canada undetected for 14 days can make refugee claims here. Bill C-2 would eliminate that exemption if passed.

Instead, these asylum seekers – as well as those who miss the one-year filing deadline – would be granted a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) by the immigration ministry, a process that is triggered when someone is to be deported from the country.

The risk assessment looks at whether the person would be in danger of persecution or torture if returned to their home country.

But these proceedings offer a lower level of protection for asylum seekers, said Gauri Sreenivasan, co-executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees.

Claimants at the refugee board cannot be turned away from Canada without a hearing, due to a seminal legal case that ruled doing so would be unconstitutional.

However, people who go through risk assessment proceedings can sometimes be removed from the country based on paper submissions alone.

“It’s a significantly weaker process that doesn’t provide access to justice,” said Ms. Sreenivasan.

“We feel firmly that Canadians fully expect that those who come to Canada seeking protection will get a fair hearing. It’s a charter protected right, and all of that is under attack in this bill.”

There are valid reasons why someone might file a refugee claim beyond a year deadline, because circumstances in their home countries’ may change unexpectedly, said Prof. Atak.

Experts agree that significant backlogs undermine Canada’s immigration system.

But diverting some claimants from the IRB’s long queue may simply create longer wait times for pre-removal risk assessments, said Ms. Sreenivasan.

Yvonne Su, an assistant professor at York University and the director of its Centre for Refugee Studies, said the measures – particularly the new filing timeline – appear to target international students.

Last year, then-immigration minister Marc Miller raised concerns about the growing number of international students claiming asylum in the wake of a decision to cap the program, and suggested some students were being coached by “third parties” to provide false information to the refugee board.

Prof. Su’s analysis of asylum data between 2018 and 2024 shows that while there was an increase in refugee claims from international students, the overall proportion of students claiming asylum was low, and was not a major contributor to claims volumes at the IRB.

The proposed asylum restrictions may push people to make riskier border crossings and “exacerbate the risk of more organized criminality in the form of migrant smuggling,” said Prof. Atak.

Combined with a proposed expansion of the federal government’s power to share information about people’s immigration status to provincial bodies, the reforms could also push workers and families underground, said Mr. Hussan of the Migrant Rights Network.

“It fundamentally creates a parallel society of the super exploited,” he said.