CIMM – Temporary Resident Integrity Strategy – November 25, 2024

Key Facts and Figures

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has taken key actions to enhance the integrity of our temporary resident programs, which will reduce the number of non-genuine visitors to Canada, identify emerging threats to Canadians through the immigration program, and detect fraud and abuse of our pathways.
• In December 2023, we revoked a temporary public policy for visitors that was being misused by applicants. This action immediately mitigated the risk of this cohort traveling to Canada for non-genuine reasons.
• In February 2024, IRCC imposed a partial visa on Mexico, and as a result, asylum claims from Mexican nationals fell from 1,641 in January 2024 to 744 in March. These numbers have continued to decrease, with 583 claims in October 2024.
• In the spring, IRCC began working closely with United States (U.S.) counterparts to address rising levels of illegal entries into the U.S. by non-genuine visitors to Canada. These efforts have resulted in a month-by-month decrease in southbound entries, with the latest data showing a 26% reduction from August to September.
• Over the summer, the Department refocused efforts on overall screening and processing for high-risk countries using new indicators, recent intelligence, and updated officer guidance. While processing times have increased in some cases, so have the number of refusals.
• In September 2024, our officers conducted a significantly higher number of activities to investigate potential misrepresentation by clients applying for a visitor visa to ensure we are detecting fraud and abuse.
• While it remains too early to assess the full results of all of our actions, there are early signs of a decrease in non-genuine visitors among more recently approved visas.

Key Messages

• Canada welcomes millions of legitimate visitors each year who support our travel and tourism industry from coast to coast. In recent years we have seen a rapid resumption of global travel and a record volume of requests to visit Canada.
• Unfortunately, we have also seen a rise in misuse from those who apply to visit Canada but intend to remain long term (i.e., non-genuine visitors). An increase in global crises affecting migration patterns, increased digital fraud, and more organized human smuggling have also impacted our visitors program.
• We know that this has an impact on confidence in the immigration system, and it is important that we are able to balance the economic and cultural benefits of international tourism while protecting the health, safety, and security of Canadians. This is why we have implemented new measures to strengthen our temporary resident programs, to further align our immigration system to the realities facing our country, and to ensure the sustainability of our immigration system.
• The Department continues to strengthen screening of visitors to ensure we are adjusting to the changes in the external environment. We are reviewing visa decision-making to make sure that our highly trained officers have the right tools to detect fraud and reduce the number of non-genuine visitors. We are also re-examining and taking action on visas already in circulation when fraud is suspected.

Supplementary Information

• In the years following the global pandemic, the migration landscape has evolved, with increasing global crises, organized human smuggling, challenging digital fraud, and abuse of our programs. Canada is also facing new pressures on housing, health care, and education. At the same time, public and international attention is increasingly focused on safety and security.
• The Department has recently announced measures to strengthen temporary resident (TR) programs and migration pathways, including the visitors program, which grants temporary resident visas to those who wish to travel to Canada.
• The Temporary Resident Integrity Strategy positions Canada to safely welcome genuine visitors from across the world while remaining sustainable for years to come. It balances the need to make timely decisions (enabling Canada to remain a destination of choice) with the imperative to keep Canadians safe and our programs free of fraud.
• In the immediate term, IRCC has initiated an action plan on decision-making to ensure high-risk applications are being screened for potential misuse, based on the new external environment. Updated analysis, guidance, and training on risk assessments and fraud detection have been made available to officers with a focus on the highest risks.
• We have also adjusted our case triaging and are revalidating already-issued visas when fraud or potential misuse is suspected. IRCC continues to review all tools at our disposal, including possible changes to our operations and our laws, to make sure we have what we need to screen against modern-day risks.
• Over the longer term, more transformational measures are possible. Significant technology investments will enable advanced risk triaging and opportunities for auto-revalidation of already approved cases.
• Expanding information sharing with key allies will support applicant screening, while digital visas and enhanced travel document authentication will deter fraud and facilitate the revalidation of documents when required.