CIMM – CIMM 71.1 – Scale of the Investigation of Exploited International Students – November 07, 2023

IRCC’s response to a request for information made by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on June 14, 2023

Question

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Have you done any investigating? We talked today about the students, and it's very important that we deal with them. The other issue is preventing this from happening again. Have you investigated and have you initiated investigations to stop that from happening again?

Ms. Christiane Fox: I think it's important to know that this particular investigation was launched by the CBSA as a result of a tip. However, the Department actually has ongoing investigations all the time. Right now, at this particular time, there are over a hundred investigations through the various lines of business.

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Thank you. Minister, when did you begin an investigation on this particular issue?

Hon. Sean Fraser: Christiane, do you have the precise date after we received the tip?

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Was it after the tweet, around there?

Ms. Christiane Fox: No, I think it was prior to that. The CBSA can say exactly when. However, just to give you a sense of scale, if I may—

Although the mediatized articles reported in March 2023 depicted an incorrect number of Indian students being deported from Canada, IRCC and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have linked them to three joint investigations into organized fraud in the international student program (given the advanced stages of the investigations and the cases involved). The identified fraud trends pertained to the submission of fraudulent Letters of Acceptance (LOA) for various Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) in support of Study Permit applications for predominantly Indian nationals. Each investigation concerns different unauthorized immigration firms or agencies, all based in India.

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Actually, if you could table that, that would be helpful. It would be great if you could do that.

Response

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) conducts large-scale administrative investigations into concerns of coordinated fraud, human smuggling and trafficking across all IRCC lines of business. The information gathered is used to deter fraud, intercept applications in progress, and inform on emerging trends. IRCC also refers cases, when warranted, to enforcement partners for possible criminal investigations into the coordinators of the fraud, and provides active support to intelligence partners to identify and mitigate high risk arrivals.

The earliest of the three IRCC investigations was initiated on or around March 9, 2021, after the CBSA sent an initial referral to IRCC: this investigation concerned hundreds of study permit applications. There was one unauthorized consulting firm linked to this investigation that appeared to be based in Jalandhar, Punjab, India.

The second IRCC investigation was initiated on or around April 1, 2021, after a second CBSA referral to IRCC: this investigation also concerned hundreds of study permit applications. There have been multiple potential alleged facilitators (four) linked to this investigation who appeared to be based in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, India.

The third IRCC investigation was initiated on or around September 1, 2022, after a third CBSA referral to IRCC: this investigation concerned an additional 700 study permit applications. There are two unauthorized immigration firms that have been linked to this investigation and they both appear to be based in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, India.