C-12 (45-1) - Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act
Chamber
commons
Stage
3rd Reading
Introduced
Oct 8, 2025
Progress
This bill strengthens border security, reforms the refugee system, tightens anti-money laundering rules, and updates sex offender registration requirements.
Key Changes
- Two new grounds of ineligibility for refugee claims: entering Canada more than one year before making a claim, or crossing the land border illegally outside a port of entry after a set deadline
- Governor in Council gains power to pause, cancel, or terminate immigration applications and documents when deemed in the public interest
- Refugee hearings must be suspended if the claimant is not physically present in Canada
- The 'designated countries of origin' regime for refugee claims is eliminated
- Anti-money laundering penalties are significantly increased and a mandatory compliance agreement system replaces the old optional one
- Sex offender reporting obligations are updated and the Canada Border Services Agency can share travel information about sex offenders with law enforcement
- The Coast Guard's mandate is expanded to include security patrols and intelligence collection
- A faster process is created for the Minister of Health to temporarily schedule dangerous drug precursor chemicals
Gotchas
- The new one-year rule for refugee ineligibility (paragraph 101(1)(b.1)) applies retroactively to claims made after the date Bill C-2 was introduced in the same Parliament, meaning some people who already filed claims could be affected before this bill even received Royal Assent.
- Orders cancelling or suspending immigration documents are exempt from parts of the Statutory Instruments Act, meaning they face less parliamentary scrutiny, though they must be published in the Canada Gazette within 23 days.
- The bill gives the Governor in Council broad 'public interest' powers to cancel visas and stop processing applications without defining what 'public interest' means, leaving significant discretion to the executive branch.
- Refugee hearings are automatically suspended if a claimant leaves Canada, which could affect claimants who travel abroad for family emergencies or other reasons.
- The mandatory compliance agreement regime for anti-money laundering violations removes the previous option for businesses to avoid entering such agreements, and non-compliance with a compliance order becomes a new separate violation with penalties up to $30 million for entities.
Who's Affected
- Refugee claimants and asylum seekers, especially those who entered Canada irregularly or waited more than a year to file
- Immigrants holding visas, work permits, study permits, or permanent resident status (subject to new cancellation powers)
- Financial institutions and businesses subject to anti-money laundering rules (banks, money services businesses, etc.)
- Sex offenders subject to registration requirements
- Border infrastructure operators (airports, bridges, tunnels) required to provide facilities to CBSA
- Law enforcement agencies involved in drug investigations
- The Canadian Coast Guard and related security agencies
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The new one-year rule for refugee ineligibility (paragraph 101(1)(b.1)) applies retroactively to claims made after the date Bill C-2 was introduced in the same Parliament, meaning some people who already filed claims could be affected before this bill even received Royal Assent.
- Orders cancelling or suspending immigration documents are exempt from parts of the Statutory Instruments Act, meaning they face less parliamentary scrutiny, though they must be published in the Canada Gazette within 23 days.
- The bill gives the Governor in Council broad 'public interest' powers to cancel visas and stop processing applications without defining what 'public interest' means, leaving significant discretion to the executive branch.
- Refugee hearings are automatically suspended if a claimant leaves Canada, which could affect claimants who travel abroad for family emergencies or other reasons.
- The mandatory compliance agreement regime for anti-money laundering violations removes the previous option for businesses to avoid entering such agreements, and non-compliance with a compliance order becomes a new separate violation with penalties up to $30 million for entities.
Summary
Bill C-12 is a wide-ranging security and immigration bill introduced in October 2025. It makes changes to over a dozen federal laws to tighten Canada's borders, reform how refugee claims are processed, crack down on money laundering and drug trafficking, and improve tracking of sex offenders. The bill was introduced by the Minister of Public Safety and reflects the government's stated priority of strengthening national security and the integrity of the immigration system. On the immigration side, the bill makes it harder to file refugee claims in certain situations — for example, if someone entered Canada more than a year ago or crossed the border illegally and didn't claim within a set time. It also gives the government new powers to pause, cancel, or terminate immigration applications and documents when it believes it is in the public interest. The refugee hearing process is also changed so that hearings are paused if the claimant is not physically in Canada. On the security and financial side, the bill gives the Coast Guard new security responsibilities, allows faster scheduling of dangerous drug precursors (like fentanyl-related chemicals), strengthens anti-money laundering enforcement with higher fines and mandatory compliance agreements, and expands information sharing between government agencies. Sex offender reporting rules are also updated, including allowing border officials to share arrival and departure information with police.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses
Recorded Votes
| Date | Description | Yeas | Nays | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 2026 | Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act – C-12 – Third Reading – Amendment (Sen. Coyle) | 24 | 41 | Defeated |
| Mar 12, 2026 | Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act – C-12 – Third Reading – Amendment (Sen. Woo) | 19 | 38 | Defeated |
| Mar 12, 2026 | Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act – C-12 – Third Reading – Amendment (Sen. McPhedran) | 14 | 35 | Defeated |
| Mar 11, 2026 | Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act – C-12 – Third Reading – Amendment (Sen. Youance) | 31 | 47 | Defeated |
| Mar 11, 2026 | Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act – C-12 – Third Reading – Amendment (Sen. Simons) | 23 | 48 | Defeated |
| Mar 11, 2026 | Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act – C-12 – Third Reading – Amendment (Sen. Mohamed) | 25 | 41 | Defeated |
| Dec 11, 2025 | Bill C-12, An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of Canada's borders and the integrity of the Canadian immigration system and respecting other related security measures (report stage amendment) (Motion No. 48) | 327 | 8 | Agreed To |
| Dec 11, 2025 | Bill C-12, An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of Canada's borders and the integrity of the Canadian immigration system and respecting other related security measures (report stage amendment) (Motion No. 22) | 327 | 8 | Agreed To |
| Dec 11, 2025 | Bill C-12, An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of Canada's borders and the integrity of the Canadian immigration system and respecting other related security measures (report stage amendment) (Motion No. 2) | 8 | 327 | Negatived |
| Dec 11, 2025 | Bill C-12, An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of Canada's borders and the integrity of the Canadian immigration system and respecting other related security measures (report stage amendment) (Motion No. 1) | 147 | 188 | Negatived |