Canada’s Bill C‑12 Enacted
Canada’s sweeping immigration reform, Bill C‑12, has come into force — it tightens asylum timelines, expands executive powers over permits and PR cards, and increases data‑sharing between federal and provincial authorities. Critics warn the law could be applied retroactively to pending claims and will raise document and privacy demands for refugees, students and workers alike. (cbc.ca)
Bill C‑12 received Royal Assent and became law on March 26, 2026 as the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act. (canada.ca) The statute creates two new asylum‑eligibility bars that apply to “claims made on or after June 3, 2025”: a one‑year filing bar for anyone whose first entry into Canada occurred after June 24, 2020, and a rule barring referral to the IRB for claims made more than 14 days after irregular entry from the United States. (canada.ca) Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab told senators the government’s modelling showed roughly 37% of asylum claims filed between June 3 and Oct. 31, 2025—about 19,000 of roughly 50,000 applications—would have been rendered ineligible under the new one‑year rule. (cjme.com) People found ineligible under those new bars will still be eligible for a pre‑removal risk assessment (PRRA) rather than a full Refugee Protection Division hearing, and the government has said it will update the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations “over the coming months” to implement the modernized asylum process. (canada.ca) Parts of the Act expand intra‑governmental personal‑information sharing by authorizing the Minister to disclose departmental personal information to specified federal and provincial entities, and the legislation gives Governor‑in‑Council authority to suspend, cancel or vary classes of immigration documents in defined “public interest” circumstances. (publications.gc.ca) The Immigration and Refugee Board’s pending inventory was approaching 300,000 cases (about 298,230 pending as of February 2026), a backlog advocates say magnifies the practical impact of the new bars, and a broad coalition including Amnesty International Canada, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Council for Refugees issued a joint statement condemning the law as an attack on refugee and migrant rights. (canadaimmigration.news) Senate amendments forced an oversight requirement: Parliament must receive reporting on the new ineligibility rules and a Parliamentary committee review of the law’s effects is mandated five years after Royal Assent. (ipolitics.ca)
