Today, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney introduced legislation that would streamline the citizenship revocation process, crack down on crooked citizenship consultants and better protect the value of Canadian citizenship.

“Canadian citizenship is highly valued around the world and today we are taking steps to ensure it stays that way,” said Minister Kenney. “These changes will help prevent citizenship fraud. As promised in the Speech from the Throne, these amendments will streamline the process to take citizenship away from those who have acquired it by fraud, including by concealment of their war crimes. And it would take decision-making away from politicians and give it to the courts.”

The full package of amendments would strengthen the process of applying for citizenship and crack down on citizenship fraud. Bill C-37: Strengthening the Value of Canadian Citizenship Act proposes to:

• Add legal authority to regulate citizenship consultants and to crack down where they help people gain citizenship fraudulently, in line with the recently proposed amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – The Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act – aimed at immigration consultants.
• Increase the penalties for citizenship fraud to a maximum of $100,000 or up to five years in prison or both.
• Strengthen citizenship residence requirements to specify in the law that people applying for citizenship would have to be physically present in Canada for three of the previous four years. [Note: Citizenship and Immigration Canada ("CIC") has applied this physical presence requirement for some time, despite the fact that the current Immigration and Refugee Protection Act does not clearly define “residence” for the purposes of citizenship eligibility. A number of federal court cases have found that residence does not necessarily equate to physical presence but CIC has previously chosen to ignore them. This amendment appears to be the Canadian Federal Government’s attempt to supercede this line of cases.]
• Improve the government’s ability to bar criminals, including violent foreign criminals, from becoming Canadian citizens.
• Streamline the revocation and removal process and make revocation more transparent by shifting the decision making on revocations from the Governor in Council to the Federal Court.
• Ensure that the law supports the implementation of the first generation limit to passing on citizenship, ensure that the law does not unintentionally bar applicants who are eligible for citizenship, and ensure that the children of people serving Canada aboard – children of Crown servants – are not disadvantaged by their parent’s service to Canada and are able to pass on citizenship to their children.

“Canadian citizenship is more than a legal status, more than a passport,” said Minister Kenney. “We expect citizens to have an ongoing commitment, connection and loyalty to Canada.”

We have previously reported that the Canadian Federal Government is in the process of introducing new legislation to crack down on fraudulent Canadian immigration consultants. One such operation was described in an article published by MacLeans.ca on May 29, 2010.

The article describes Mr. Ehab Lotfi’s website, which promoted the “Canadian Immigration Lottery.” Of course, no such lottery exists in Canada. For $115.00, applicants paid for their chance to win Canadian permanent residence. In reality, they were entering a lottery to win a free visa application, which would be prepared without charge to the “lucky” winners.

At the time, Lotfi insisted that his site was an innocent “marketing tool,” and not a scam to trick the naive and the desperate into thinking they could really win a spot in Canada. But when industry regulators launched an investigation, Lotfi opted for a name change – the “Canadian Immigration Lottery” became “CIFA” (Canadian Immigration Financial Assistance).

Today, the controversial website is called “canadagreencard.org.” Of course, Canada does not give out green cards either – that is a term used to describe United States permanent residence.

The full article appears here.

According to the Globe and Mail, Mr. Alykhan Velshi (communications director for federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney) has stated that the federal government will introduce legislation to “crack down on crooked consultants” by the end of the parliamentary session next month. He would not comment on the specifics, but said the government is taking aim at several issues, including barriers to sharing information on problematic consultants, the lack of specific sanctions, and the regulatory loophole that has led to an increase in unlicensed consultants, nicknamed “ghost agents.”

Under the six-year-old system, an immigration consultant must be accredited with the federal regulator, the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (“CSIC”), to present an application, including appearing before an immigration tribunal. However, if consultants limit their tasks to filling out paperwork and providing advice, no credentials are required and CSIC has no jurisdiction over them. That leaves ghost agents free to make promises that licensed consultants cannot make, said Phil Mooney, past president of CSIC.

“They make false promises about everything,” said Mr. Mooney, an immigration consultant in Burlington, Ont. The RCMP could pursue fraudsters, but that rarely happens, he said. Two years ago, the House of Commons standing committee on immigration and citizenship recommended replacing CSIC with a regulator similar in structure to a provincial law society with added powers, including authority over currently unlicensed consultants.

CSIC chair Nigel Thomson said he strongly agrees with any move to bring ghost agents under regulatory scrutiny, particularly since his organization estimates that ghosts account for more than half of all immigration consultants in Canada. But he said the immigration committee didn’t fully understand his organization’s limited mandate, and that instead of being wound down, it should be granted investigative authority to pursue ghost agents, among others. Mr. Thomson said the government has not consulted CSIC.

The Globe and Mail article is available here.

Human Resources Skills Development Canada (“HRSDC”) has announced that on September 30, 2010, the IT Worker Program will come to an end, except for employers wanting to hire foreign workers for positions in Quebec, where the program will remain in place for a limited time after September 30, 2010.

Effective October 1, 2010, employers who wish to hire temporary foreign workers previously eligible under the IT Work Program will be required to apply for a labour market opinion. As of this date, work permit applications received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada or by the Canada Border Services Agency at a port of entry will require a copy of the labour market opinion for the seven specific IT occupations that were previously under the program.

My article on the IT Worker Program has been revised to reflect this change.

In May 2010, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (“HRSDC”) revised its minimum advertising requirements applicable to labour market opinion applications. These revisions include the following changes (among others):

1. Reference to Newfoundland and Labrador’s job bank;
2. For Skill Level B occupations, a requirement that recruitment activities performed in addition to the job bank posting be for a minimum of 14 days;
3. A more detailed list of what information must be included in the job bank advertisement;
4. The addition of 3 new variations to minimum advertising requirements; and
5. More detailed information regarding advertisement criteria specific to Quebec.

My article on Labour Market Opinions has been updated to reflect these revisions.

On April 21, 2010, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney offered his appreciation to the Windsor detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) for their ongoing efforts to investigate immigration fraud. The official press release is available here.

“Unscrupulous consultants heap misery upon their victims and pose a serious threat to the reputation of Canada’s immigration system,” said Minister Kenney. “All levels of government and law enforcement must work together to ensure that those who commit fraud are dealt with appropriately.”

“I commend the outstanding work of the Immigration and Passport Section of the Windsor RCMP which resulted in these charges being laid,” said the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety. “This government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and we will continue to provide law enforcement with the tools it needs to disrupt criminal activity and protect innocent victims.”

The week before, an investigation by the Immigration and Passport Section of the Windsor RCMP resulted in criminal charges against an unlicensed Ontario immigration consultant. Francesco Salvatore Burgio, 45, of Amherstburg, has been charged with eleven counts of fraud. It is alleged that the head of the firm Burgio and Associates was paid by clients to submit on their behalf appropriate applications and accompanying fees to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, though victims later discovered that no immigration applications or fees had been submitted. The RCMP has identified eleven victims but believe there may be more who have not yet come forward.

Only members of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (“CSIC”), a provincial or territorial bar, or Quebec notaries can advise, represent or consult clients on immigration matters before the Government of Canada for a fee. Mr. Burgio was a member of CSIC until 2006.

Minister Kenney noted his intention to pursue further measures on this issue. This reflects the Government of Canada’s Speech from the Throne commitment to take steps that would shut down unscrupulous immigration consultants.

Despite the recent crackdown on the worst offenders, there are still many unscrupulous and/or incompetent, unlicensed immigration consultants operating with impunity, both in Canada and abroad. We would once again recommend that any potential applicant read our article on choosing a Canadian representative.

According to the Toronto Star, while countless visitors and returning Canadians are met with courteous, professional service at land crossings and airports, others complain of autocratic behaviour and humiliating treatment by CBSA officers. The complaints, obtained through an Access to Information request, include accounts of officers cursing and yelling at Canadians and visitors, and threatening them with sniffer dogs or arrest for seemingly minor infractions. There were 1,421 complaints filed with the CBSA in 2008-09, down slightly from 1,607 the previous year.

“We felt harassed and belittled by what happened,” wrote one American woman, who said her initial crime was to eat pretzels while a border official was talking to her husband on a Toronto-bound Amtrak train in Niagara Falls on June 7, 2007. She said the officer told her to, “Stop eating those pretzels. That’s very rude when we come on board.” The writer said that’s when the trouble began. The agent accused the elderly couple and their 50-year-old friend of several things, including being on drugs or drunk. That was too much for America trio; they caught the next train back to Rome, NY, forgoing the trip to Toronto they had planned for a year.

In another case, not having a job landed a Canadian man in hot water. “He was as asked if he was unemployed and why he was not looking for a job and what was the problem why he hadn’t found a job … I don’t think being unemployed is a crime … but he (the officer) made us feel it was,” said his partner in her complaint letter of September 2005, after crossing back into Canada at Sarnia.

When a vacation-bound American family showed up at the Pigeon River crossing southwest of Thunder Bay in August 2008 without all the necessary identification, the Canadian border officer lashed out, according to the complaint: “I guess you didn’t realize you were coming to (a) whole other country … I guess you just didn’t give a s—t, did you?” The complainant was backed up by a senior CBSA official who said the officer “admitted that his comments and behaviour on that day were uncalled for.”

The full article appears here.

On April 21, 2010, Opportunities Ontario (Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Program) announced that International PhD graduates who have graduated from a publicly-funded Ontario university will now be permitted to apply without a job offer. Opportunities Ontario has created the International PhD Graduate Stream for this purpose.

In order to apply to Opportunities Ontario as an international PhD graduate in Ontario, students must:

1. Have graduated from an existing PhD program at an eligible publicly funded university in Ontario or have successfully completed all degree requirements for the program (i.e completion of course work and successfully defended their thesis and are awaiting the granting of their degree);
2. Have completed at least two years of their PhD studies at an eligible publicly funded university in Ontario;
3. Apply within two years of the date on which their PhD degree was granted; and
4. Have legal status, if the international PhD graduate applicant is in Canada.

International students subsidized through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) grants or home country scholarship with return obligations will not be eligible for Opportunities Ontario unless such obligations have been fulfilled.

Ontario international PhD students may apply for the program from within Canada or from overseas.

According to the Globe and Mail, Federal officials have occasionally quoted a questionable source in bids to kick foreigners out of Canada – Wikipedia – and immigration judges are not amused. “Wikipedia is an internet Encyclopedia which anyone with Internet access can edit,” wrote one exasperated Federal Court judge, criticizing Ottawa’s filings in a case to remove a family of Turkish asylum seekers. “It is an open-source reference with no editorial control,” scoffed another judge, as he took federal agents to task for consulting Wikipedia before sending an immigrant back to Iran.

As it happens, magistrates often fight the encroachment of dubious encyclopedia entries into courts. After all, many undergrads would be flunked if they quoted Wikipedia in term papers, so why would bureaucrats let such an impeachable source slide into submissions? Officials say that while federal agencies “discourage” use of Wikipedia as a reference resource, they don’t outright prohibit it. That means, in rare cases, the articles end up in court filings.

This is proving controversial, especially in immigration cases. Because hundreds of thousands of foreigners flock to Canada each year, federal agents who hope to pick out the bad apples become quick studies in global affairs. Plenty of credible journals help Ottawa’s officials make sense of the world. But in a pinch there’s always the temptation of instantaneous information, which can be found at www.wikipedia.com.

The Globe and Mail article may be found here.

On April 21, 2010, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced that the Government of Canada would be making special accommodations for foreign nationals whose Canadian immigration status may be at risk because of the recent delays in air travel.

“Temporary residents whose status in Canada expired on or after April 15, but who have been unable to leave because of the interruptions to air travel over the Atlantic, will have their status automatically extended up to 30 days at no charge,” said Minister Kenney.

Temporary residents outside of Canada who were unable to complete their firm travel plans, and whose purpose of travel remains valid, will be able to obtain a temporary replacement document at no charge upon application.

Immigrants who were unable to move to Canada before their permanent resident visa expired will also be given a reprieve upon application, subject to certain conditions. For example, if their medical certificate has expired, a new medical assessment will be required.

In all cases, new extensions will cease to be granted once regular travel resumes on a sustained basis, and all extensions will expire on June 30 at the latest.

The official press release appears here.