The federal government has granted border agents additional powers to cancel temporary resident visas and electronic travel authorizations.
The change comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has reversed course on their approach to immigration policy as high levels of immigration and population growth have become increasingly unpopular.
In a notice published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the government announced updates to the immigration and refugee protection regulations to crack down on illicitly held visas by foreign residents.
The new regulations give border service officers the authority to cancel electronic travel visas and temporary resident visas on a case-by-case basis.
Border agents are encouraged to cancel a temporary resident visa if their documents are lost, stolen, or abandoned, if the officer is convinced the visa holder will overstay their authorized period of stay, and if a visa holder becomes inadmissible or ineligible to hold the document.
A visa holder is deemed to be inadmissible for security reasons like espionage, subversion, violence, or terrorism, if the visa holder commits a crime including driving under the influence, or participating in organized crime.
A visa holder is also inadmissible if the individual poses a public health risk, if they are unable to support themselves financially if the applicant provided false information to obtain the visa, and if they have an inadmissible family member.
While border agents have also been granted the authority to cancel work permits and study permits, the criteria for revocation are far stricter.
Officers are only permitted to revoke said documents if the visa holder is upgraded to permanent resident status, if the document was issued based on an administrative error, or if the visa holder dies.
The regulations published on Wednesday by IRCC came into effect on Jan 31, 2025.
These regulations mark another step by the Trudeau government to amend its approach to immigration policy and tighten immigration controls.
In Oct. 2024, Trudeau announced that the government would be welcoming fewer immigrants into the country, cutting the annual number of new permanent residents from 500,000 a year to 395,000 in 2025, and 380,000 in 2026, before reaching a target of 365,000 in 2027.
In a recent interview with Juno News founder Candice Malcolm, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said that as prime minister he would return Canada’s immigration rates to levels seen during the previous Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
In a Nov. 2024 opinion poll from Focus Canada, 58% of Canadians agreed that Canada accepts too many immigrants, receiving sizable levels of support across all parties.