Latest news with #studypermits
BBC News
8 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Canada uncover case of bribery to approve study permit, ova 60 oda misconducts within dia immigration system
Di Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) say dem don uncover series of misconduct cases within dia department, wey include employee wey dey solicit bribes to approve study permits for Canada. IRCC bin release one misconduct report wey dem say go help dem achieve transparency and to put eye for di integrity of Canada immigration system. Di report find say some employees dey breach privacy by accessing sensitive files and di act dey against di code of conduct of Canada immigration department. According to di report, dem find 62 cases of misconduct out of 76 investigations and e include harassment and violations of IRCC Code of Conduct. Di IRCC na department wey dey responsible for processing millions of immigration applications annually, wit ova 11,000 employees. Also dis report wey cover from 2023 - 2024 dey affect department wey dey process applications for study permits, work permits, permanent residency, and refugee claims. Meanwhile, dis investigation dey come for time wen Canada dey cut numbers of international students, foreign workers and asylum seekers wey dey enta di kontri. Di report bin give categories of di kain misconduct wey di employees bin involve in. According to di IRCC investigation, one case processing agent bin ask anoda employee through dia work messaging application if dem go accept money in exchange to approve a study permit. Di processing agent bin quickly change di story say na anoda individual wey e dey owe money bin use im laptop to request di bribe. Dis don raise serious concerns about how vulnerable di Canada immigration system dey and becos say International students dey contribute billions to Canada economy, any tori of corruption for di study permit process fit affect plenti applicants wey dem catch. According to IRCC, dem find three employees wey breach dia code of conduct. Di case include employee wey dey speak negatively about clients from a specific kontri. Also, di investigation find say one employee bin form a social relationship wit an asylum claimant wey e meet for IRCC Asylum Hotel. E give am preferential treatment and tell am how to engage wit di Department, and co-sign on di claimant car loan. Dis dey against IRCC code of conduct and e cause conflict of interest- e chop suspension witout pay. Canada say dem also dey aware of some marriage fraud wey pipo wey dey apply to enta dia kontri dey engage in. "Immigration officers sabi how to detect false marriages, and e get serious criminal charges." Dem say na crime for foreign applicant to set up wetin dem know as "marriage of convenience" to allow spouse to immigrate to Canada. IRCC say some of di disciplinary measure wey IRCC bin take against dia own employee wey dey involved for dis misconduct include written reprimands, suspensions witout pay, terminations, and security status revocations. Canada government say dem dey committed to transparency, and dem go serve corrective measures so odas fit learn and grow from wahala of any wrongdoing. Dem go begin training and awareness campaigns, to actively create an environment wit strong ethical standards. Di Immigration department say dem want make dia immigration process dey safer, transparent and free from misconduct. "Di objective of dis report is to increase confidence for our systems of accountability, becos IRCC play a key role both for Canada and internationally to facilitate di entry of temporary residents; manage di selection, settlement, and integration of newcomers; grant citizenship; and issue passports to citizens." Meanwhile, dis dey come afta Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney and im Liberals party say e dey important to implement policies wey go address challenges wey di kontri dey face in terms of immigration. Although for 2024, Canada govment bin announce new immigration plan wey go reduce di number of international students and foreign workers, PM Carney say im govment dey take action to bring immigration to "sustainable levels" by 2027. Di plan na to reduce temporary residents wey include international students, foreign workers, amongst odas as well as keep permanent resident admission for less dan 1% of Canada population.
National Post
5 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Jamie Sarkonak: New Liberals offer more of the same old attitude on immigration
Article content Hence a question from Saskatoon MP Brad Redekopp: 'How can you set immigration targets, minister, if you do not know how many people have left the country.' The reply: border services and the public safety department are responsible for exit numbers. It's as if Diab views immigration as a force of nature rather than a completely human-controlled process, under the complete responsibility of elected officials in Ottawa. Article content And while the new plan projects less extreme inflows than the post-COVID years, they're still uncomfortably high. It aims, for example, to issue 437,000 study permits in 2025. That's more than twice the number of new international students who came to Canada in 2017 (196,400), and quadruple that of 2012 (106,250), per Statistics Canada. Article content For permanent residents, the target number for this year is now 395,000 — better than the previous 485,000, but still vastly greater than 2014's 260,000. And yes, the Liberals are now looking to close some asylum-seeker loopholes with the proposed Bill C-2, but to actually pull off meaningful change, they will need a minister who's actually willing to say 'no.' Article content Whether Diab has that capacity, we've yet to see. Her words are little consolation for those who are currently feeling the most heat due to Canada's rapid population growth: last year, banks were warning that youth unemployment was under pressure from large inflows of unskilled workers; now, even the Bank of Canada admits that high immigration from low-income countries has depressed wages. Article content 'Does the minister believe that the large influx of foreign workers is depressing wages for young Canadians?' asked Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan MP Garnett Genuis. 'Immigration is our strength,' responded Diab. Article content Quebec MP Bernard Généreux noted the nationwide housing shortage in a question, which was met with moralizing from the minister. 'Once again, it is not the fault of immigrants,' Diab said, attempting to malign the observation that immigration is linked to housing pressures. Article content In 2023, the country saw 240,000 housing starts — relative to 1.2 million newcomers, per the Aristotle Foundation. That's one house for every five newcomers. Back in 2015, we built one home for every two-or-so new entrants. Anyone with a basic awareness of the real estate and rental markets will know that there have been real, painful consequences to this widening ratio. Article content Article content Even the Liberals are aware: Diab's department was warning in 2022 that immigration was outpacing construction, to the detriment of affordability, and their latest immigration plan explicitly aims to reduce the housing shortage. There's nothing wrong with understanding the critical, and obvious, link between these two factors. Article content
National Post
24-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
What the data show about the state of immigration in Canada since cuts were announced
Article content Twenty-five per cent fewer people on IMP permits came to Canada in the first quarter of 2025 (176,805) compared to the first quarter of 2024 (230,405). There were 53,600 fewer IMP permits issued, but this can mostly be attributed to the fact that 45,610 fewer Ukrainians came to Canada in that period. In the first quarter of 2024, between Jan. 1 and March 31, 66,720 Ukrainians came to Canada on an IMP permit, compared to 21,110 in the first quarter of 2025. Article content The number of temporary foreign workers actually grew between the two quarters. In the first quarter of 2024, 42,730 permits were granted, compared to 44,675 in the first quarter of 2025. Article content Article content Article content Only Quebec (with a five per cent decline) and Alberta (with a 12 per cent drop) saw the number of new temporary foreign workers decline. Article content Study permits declined by 20 per cent between the two periods, from 121,070 approved in the first quarter of 2024 to 96,015 in the first quarter of 2025. In Ontario, in the first quarter of 2024, there were 58,470 new study permit holders; in the first quarter of 2025, there were 44,185. While other provinces remained relatively stable — albeit on an entirely different order of magnitude than Ontario — British Columbia also saw a significant drop, from 27,735 new study permits to 18,850. Article content The largest declines in new study permit holders were seen among those from Hong Kong (a 40 per cent drop), Ghana (a 39 per cent drop) and India and Brazil (both saw a roughly 31 per cent drop). Article content Article content Article content The number of new permanent residents dropped across the country, when comparing the first quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. However, the effects ranged widely by province: Manitoba saw a five per cent decline in the number of permanent residents, while Prince Edward Island saw a 39 per cent drop. Nova Scotia and Quebec both saw a 29 per cent drop, New Brunswick a 19 per cent drop, Ontario an 11 per cent drop, Saskatchewan an 18 per cent drop, Alberta a 12 per cent drop and British Columbia a 16 per cent drop, while Newfoundland and Labrador actually saw a 12 per cent increase. Article content For the first time, Quebec's share of new permanent residents in Canada dropped below 10 per cent of the total. In the first quarter of 2025, just nine per cent of them settled in Quebec. In comparison, Ontario took 45 per cent of new permanent residents while Atlantic Canada took eight per cent. Around nine per cent of new permanent residents went to Manitoba and Saskatchewan, while Alberta took 13 per cent and B.C. took 14 per cent. Article content The largest reduction among classes of new permanent residents was seen among refugees. Article content 'When looking at what happened over the first quarter, by analyzing the data made available by (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada), is that the disproportionate cut in the reduction of numbers when comparing the first quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year was to refugees,' said Jedwab. 'We do have an important humanitarian tradition in Canada, the government continues to reiterate that. And so those disproportionate cuts, we need to know what those disproportionate cuts in refugees imply for our humanitarian commitments.' Article content In the first quarter of 2024, around 15 per cent of new permanent residents in Canada were refugees; in the first quarter of 2025, just 11 per cent were. The proportions of other classes of newcomers remained fairly stable: almost 63 per cent of new permanent residents in the first quarter of 2024 were economic migrants, and in 2025, 65 per cent were. In 2024, 20 per cent of all new permanent residents came into the country via sponsored family resettlement, compared to 21 per cent in 2025. Article content When it comes to economic migrants, Ontario was the outlier. Between the first quarter of 2024 and 2025, Ontario experienced only a 1.5 per cent drop. Quebec saw a nearly 28 per cent drop and the Prairies saw a nearly 23 per cent drop. Article content However, Ontario saw a fairly significant decline in the number of refugees who were granted permanent residence (a 40 per cent drop). Quebec experienced a nearly 58 per cent drop. Newfoundland and Labrador had the most significant decline (72 per cent), while Manitoba saw a 27 per cent drop, B.C. a 37 per cent drop and Alberta a 7.5 per cent drop. Article content Newfoundland and Labrador was another outlier: While economic resettlement figures declined by 13 per cent across the country, the easternmost province actually gained 36 per cent more economic migrants in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the first quarter of 2024. Article content 'There are going to be regional effects for those cuts,' said Jedwab. 'They don't all get implemented evenly across all the regions. That may be the theory, the idea may be to see those cuts distributed equally across regions. But, in practice, that isn't what happens.' Article content Article content Canada has also seen a major decline in the number of asylum claims made at the border. Canada saw a 75 per cent drop in asylum claims made at airports, from 13,400 to 3,340, between the first quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. There was a 10 per cent drop in claims at other borders, from 4,575 to 4,125, and a 24 per cent drop in those making claims at inland borders, from 28,135 to 21,415. Article content Claims dropped the most among people coming from Mexico (a 72 per cent drop) and Bangladesh (an 82 per cent drop)The most claims came from India, but those also saw a significant drop (22 per cent), from 6,760 to 5,260. Article content The only two countries that saw growth between the two quarters were Haiti (a 22 per cent increase) and Iran (a five per cent increase).
