Auditor-General Karen Hogan's report concluded that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not effectively investigate international students identified as not complying with the terms of their study permit.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The Immigration Department failed to investigate more than 149,000 international students flagged as not complying with the terms of their study permits, raising concerns about the department’s anti-fraud controls, a report by the Auditor-General found Monday.
The report by Karen Hogan into the international student program run by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada concluded there were “critical weaknesses” in its integrity controls. They included “how the department responded to suspected cases of study permit non-compliance and immigration fraud.”
Ms. Hogan’s report found IRCC did not effectively investigate international students identified as not complying with the terms of their study permits, for example, by not attending the college they were enrolled at.
In 2023 and 2024, more than 153,000 cases of students thought to be breaching the terms of their study permits were flagged, but IRCC only had enough funding to investigate 4,000 of them.
Ontario cancels fast-track immigration program for skilled trades
The audit also found that IRCC did not follow up on 800 international students who had received permits between 2018 and 2023 but were later found to have lied or used fraudulent documents with their applications. It said 710 of these applicants claimed to have attended educational institutions overseas that were found not to exist or to be institutions selling qualifications for immigration purposes.
Most of the 800 later applied for other immigration permits, including 124 for permanent residence, so they could remain in Canada, and more than half of those applications were approved. The report said that 110 of the 800 had applied for asylum.
The Auditor-General found that although IRCC had discretion to pursue enforcement actions, it “did not consider acting in any of the 800 cases.”
Her report recommended that IRCC follow up on all applications where potential fraud has been identified.
In 2023 and 2024, the department launched 4,057 investigations into students potentially not complying with study permit conditions. But in about 40 per cent of cases, amounting to more than 1,600 students, there was no response from students to requests for more information.
RCMP staff shortage worsening after force misjudged number of recruits needed, A-G report says
At a press conference, Ms. Hogan said that although the Immigration Department has made improvements to the integrity of its international student program, she is concerned it is not “acting on the information that it has.”
“There are so many things that were raised by the department themselves, and then no follow through,” she said.
“Closing a file because a student stops communicating with you is not uncovering whether or not they are actually following the conditions of their permit,” Ms. Hogan added.
The report also expressed concerns that IRCC did not track which students, expected to leave Canada each year, had actually departed. It recommended that IRCC and the Canada Border Services Agency work together more closely to determine which international students with expired permits were still in the country.
The audit also found that IRCC had “employed a ‘light touch’ approach” to processing applications to extend international students’ study permits “and did not consistently apply eligibility requirements.” It recommended that IRCC strengthen its controls over applications from international students to continue their studies here.
The report raised concerns that although IRCC had committed in 2024 to increasing the diversity of the international student population, it had no clear goals to achieve this.
It found a sharp drop in the number of international students after a two-year cap on their numbers was introduced by the federal government in January, 2024. The drop was greater than many projected, with decreases of 59 per cent or more in approval rates of study permits in 2024 compared with 2023, the report said.
The scale of the reduction was larger than expected in Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba.
Thousands of former international students’ visas will expire soon. What happens next is murky
In 2024, the IRCC forecast approving 348,900 new study permits. It approved just 149,559, less than half. In 2025, it forecast 255,360 approvals; by September, only 50,370 had been approved.
Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, said in a statement that her department accepted the Auditor-General’s recommendations and will “strengthen follow-up where suspected fraud or non-compliance is identified.”
She said the report only captured an early phase of reforms and not the full impact of changes now underway.
The minister faced a barrage of questions from Bloc Québécois and Conservative MPs at the Commons immigration committee Monday, about the Auditor-General’s report and other issues.
Brad Redekopp, Conservative associate critic on immigration, asked about departmental funding to municipalities to help house asylum seekers that he said had been used by the City of Ottawa to buy a $40-million hotel to shelter claimants. IRCC has stopped block booking hotel rooms to house asylum seekers directly.
In a sometimes fractious meeting, Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner accused Ms. Metlege Diab of being a “bad minister.” The minister retorted that Ms. Rempel Garner was conducting a “performance” accusing her of being a “bad performer.”
Julie Dzerowicz, the chair of the committee, asked Ms. Rempel Garner more than once to “please calm down.” Ms. Rempel Garner told the chair: “Don’t tell a woman to calm down. That’s very sexist.”
At Question Period, in the Commons chamber, Ms. Rempel Garner increased the pressure on Ms. Metlege Diab, including over the Auditor-General’s findings, asking her why she was still in her job.