CIMM – Parliamentary Context – October 2, 2025
Committee & Appearance Overview
About The Committee
Committee Mandate
The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) studies and reports on all matters relating to the mandate, management and operation of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB).
Motion For This Study
TBC
Past Relevant Reports
About The Appearance
Environmental Scan
The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) strongly opposed Bill C-3 at Second Reading. Their Members pointed to criminal background checks, language requirements, and a consecutive day substantial connection test as changes they would make to the legislation. They also demanded the government provide an estimate on how many new Canadians might result from the Bill, fearing a large influx of newcomers would further strain healthcare and social services. CPC MPs have referred favourably to past legislation aimed at addressing Lost Canadians, such as Bill S-245, but believe Bill C-3 is too broad in its scope.
The Bloc Québécois (BQ) have spoken in favour of Bill C-3 with the caveat the immigration system requires an “overhaul” more generally. BQ MPs have urged their CPC colleagues to send the Bill to committee for further consideration. They have suggested they are open to considering amendments at committee but have disputed some CPC arguments in the House.
Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) Members have spoken in support of Bill C-3. They have argued the Bill is about fairness and satisfying a court order.
Appearance Details
The Minister will appear for one hour on October 2 and will deliver a five-minute opening statement, followed by rounds of questioning from committee members. A subsequent appearance is set for the clause-by-clause review of the Bill with IRCC officials only on October 7 (TBC).
The following officials are set to appear (TBC):
- Catherine Scott, Assistant Deputy Minister, Settlement and Citizens Sector
- Uyen Hoang, Director General, Citizenship
- Stephanie Jay-Tosh, Senior Director, Citizenship
- LSU member (TBD)
Membership
Conservative Party of Canada
The Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner
Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Vice-Chair of CIMM
Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Immigration
- First elected in 2011.
- Served as Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship from November 2015 to September 2019 and was the Vice-Chair of CIMM during that time. She was also a member of CIMM from October 2022 to September 2023.
- Has regularly expressed concerns about immigration policy across various platforms, with particular focus on temporary immigration and asylum.
Michael Ma
Markham—Unionville, ON
Member
- First elected in 2025.
- This is MP Ma’s first time as a member of a committee.
- MP Ma highlights his background as an immigrant., coming to Canada from Hong Kong.
Costas Menegakis
Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Member
- First elected in 2011, defeated in 2015. Returned to Parliament in 2025.
- Served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 2013 to 2015.
Brad Redekopp
Saskatoon West, SK
Member of CIMM
Associate Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
- First elected in 2019.
- Served as a Vice-Chair of CIMM from 2022 to 2025 and has been a member of CIMM since 2021.
Bloc Québécois
Alexis-Brunelle-Duceppe
Lac Saint-Jean, QC
Vice-Chair of CIMM
Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
- First elected in 2019.
- MP Brunelle-Duceppe is also the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE).
- Historically most interested in Quebec autonomy over immigration, alleged discrimination against Francophone international students, and IRCC’s responses to international crises.
New Democratic Party
Jenny Kwan
Vancouver East, BC
Critic for Immigration, Refugees, and Housing
*Not currently a member of CIMM*
- First elected in 2015.
- Longstanding Critic for immigration and Vice-Chair of CIMM.
- Historically very active on immigration files. With an emphasis on refugees, asylum claimants, undocumented foreign workers, and social justice broadly.
Liberal Party of Canada
Julie Dzerowicz
Davenport, ON
Chair of CIMM
- First elected in 2015.
- MP Dzerowicz previously served as a Member of CIMM from 2016–2017.
- This is her first time serving as Chair of a committee.
Peter Fragiskatos
London Centre, ON
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Member
- First elected in 2015.
- MP Fragiskatos held a variety of parliamentary secretary roles prior to his current appointment.
- This is his first time sitting on CIMM.
- Worked in academia before politics.
Amandeep Sodhi
Brampton Centre, ON
Member
- First elected in 2025.
- This is MP Sodhi’s first time sitting on a committee.
- MP Sodhi is one of the first Members of Parliament born in the 21st century.
Salma Zahid
Scarborough Centre—Don Valley East, ON
Member
- First elected in 2015.
- Former Chair of CIMM and longtime member.
- Record of interest in immigration and advocacy for marginalized populations globally.
Sameer Zuberi
Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
Member
- First elected in 2019.
- Previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities.
- First time Member of CIMM.
Conservative Party of Canada
Top party Issues
Since the conclusion of the 2025 federal election, the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) has been vocal on immigration. The Party has regularly linked immigration to housing shortages, healthcare wait times, and unemployment.
Most recently, the CPC have been focused on their proposal to abolish the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. However, they have also raised concerns about immigration levels more broadly, especially with respect to temporary residents. They have also strongly signalled their opposition to Bill C-3.
The Party’s Shadow Minister for Immigration, Michelle Rempel-Garner, has indicated more immigration-related policy proposals are coming from the CPC soon. Below are some key policy proposals the CPC put forth during the last campaign:
Processing Times and Client Service
- Committed to process refugee claims faster on a last-in, first-out basis.
Border / Asylum Issues
- Drew a distinction between “fake” and “real” asylum seekers and committed to deporting the former.
French Immigration
- Released a “Quebec platform,” in which they committed to respecting the spirit of the Canada-Quebec Accord vis-à-vis Quebec’s powers over immigration, and opposing the century initiative.
Settlement and Integration
- The CPC leader remarked newcomers should leave problems abroad at home.
Levels
- Proposed capping immigration levels and tying them to housing, labour market, and healthcare capacity.
Recent Party Activity
September 15 – Debates: Argued Bill C-3 would “create a pathway for unlimited, multi-generational citizenship to individuals with no meaningful connection to Canada,” spoke in opposition to the Bill generally (Falk).
September 15 – Debates: Questioned how housing would be supplied to new Canadians resulting from Bill C-3 and wondered if provinces had been consulted on the Bill’s implications (Steinley).
September 15 – Debates: Contended the substantial connection test in Bill C-3 should be consecutive days, expressed concern about “100,000” new Canadians stemming from the Bill considering already strained social services and healthcare (Block).
September 15 – Debates: Described difficulties currently faced by parents adopting children from abroad and said Bill C-3’s proposed changes on this issue are positive (Davies).
September 15 – Debates: Specified the CPC will aim to amend Bill C-3 “with regard to language proficiency, the length of time somebody has to be in Canada and likely other things, like criminal record checks” (Rempel-Garner).
September 15 – Debates: Remarked Bill C-3 would “take away all the red tape and bureaucracy, allowing those children who are legally adopted abroad to come to Canada immediately with their parents and start their lives here;” applauded this part of the Bill but opposed it otherwise (Bezan).
September 15 – Debates: Alleged Bill C-3 would dilute the value of Canadian citizenship by conferring citizenship “on children of Canadian citizens who were not born in Canada,” and arguing “these are not children born to Canadian-born Canadians living abroad, which is already law, but children whose parents are Canadian but were not born in Canada, and their children and their children's children, in perpetuity” (Baber).
September 15 – Debates: Listed four principal concerns the CPC have with Bill C-3; 1) The government cannot estimate how many new Canadians will result from the Bill; 2) the Bill does not include language requirements for those obtaining citizenship by descent; 3) no criminal record checks and; 4) an inadequate substantial connection test (Rempel-Garner).
September 15 – Debates: Contended Bill C-3 is “immoral” because it supports “unlimited chain migration” and will further strain healthcare and social services (Jivani).
September 15 – Debates: Specified the CPC would “offer various options at committee” including an amendment to make the substantial connection test consecutive (Baber).
Bloc Quebecois
Top party Issues
The Bloc Québécois (BQ) is frequently vocal on immigration. The BQ advocate for Quebec to have greater control over immigration. Most recently, the Party has raised concerns about the number of asylum claimants housed in Quebec, which they believe is suffering under a disproportionately large burden.
During the 2025 election campaign, the Party made the following commitments:
Temporary Foreign Workers
- Open sectoral and regional permits for temporary foreign workers.
Border / Asylum Issues
- Creating a Minister of the Border and implementing stronger border security measures. The BQ intend to introduce a Private Members Bill aimed at improving processing times for asylum claims.
French Immigration and Quebec
- The BQ is opposed to the Century Initiative and want full autonomy over immigration for Quebec.
Settlement and Integration
- The BQ have committed to a policy for integrating immigrants into Quebec society. The Party would also remove all references to the British Monarchy in citizenship ceremonies.
Recent Party Activity
September 15 – Debates: Noted the BQ will hold the “balance of power” in committee and wondered what amendment the CPC would propose to close the alleged citizenship by descent loophole (Lemire).
September 15 – Debates: Argued Bill C-3 has already passed at Second Reading in its previous forms (e.g. Bill S-245), wondered why debate was still being held. Also called for a complete overhaul of the immigration system (Thériault).
September 15 – Debates: Disputed CPC arguments against Bill C-3 and suggested the Bill aims to address the issue of Lost Canadians and nothing else. Also contended IRCC operations should be overhauled (Ste-Marie).
June 19 – Debates: Argued against the CPC’s proposal that the substantial connection test be consecutive time, wondering what would happen if an individual wanted to go on vacation. Doubted such a requirement would hold up in court but said he would consider CPC amendments at committee (Brunelle-Duceppe).
June 19 – Debates: Advocated for Bill C-3 to be sent to committee, drew attention to its similarity to previous legislation considered by the House (Brunelle-Duceppe).
June 19 – Debates: Spoke at length on Bill C-3, urging that it be sent to committee for further consideration, but expressed criticism of the immigration system and IRCC more broadly (Brunelle-Duceppe).
June 18 – Debates: Remarked that IRCC’s powers to suspend, vary or cancel visas and documents could impact immigrants selected by Quebec (Fortin).
June 9 – Committee of the Whole: Inquired about the status of IRCC’s client experience modernization efforts, remarking “I would like to know how the Department spent $85 million in 2022 to hire people and reduce processing times, only to reduce the number of officers and increase delays in 2024. What happened to that $85 million?” Mentioned he would seek an answer to this question in committee (Brunelle-Duceppe).
June 9 – Committee of the Whole: Contended asylum claimants are disproportionately residing in Quebec versus other provinces, and repeatedly demanded the government reimburse Quebec $500,000 for costs associated with the claimants (Brunelle-Duceppe).
June 5 – Debates: Argued that Bill C-2 “contains a slight ambiguity regarding the minister's ability to suspend visas or refuse to consider applications” and this could impinge on Quebec’s authority over immigration if an individual had already received a Quebec acceptance certificate. Remarked this should be considered in committee (Simard).
Liberal Party of Canada
Top Party Issues
The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) made the following commitments during the 2025 election campaign:
Refugees
- Supporting legal aid for asylum seekers and refugees and expanding the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Partnership.
Temporary Foreign Workers
- Capping the total number of temporary workers and international students to less than 5% of Canada’s population by the end of 2027.
Processing Times and Client Service
- Stated they would enhance cooperation between governments, agencies, and organizations for real-time information sharing to improve efficiency and service delivery.
Border / Asylum Issues
- Plan to strengthen border integrity by increasing resources for security screenings, tightening visa requirements, and enhancing enforcement against fraud.
Digitization
- Leverage digital tools to reduce processing times and eliminate backlogs.
French Immigration
- Committed to increasing French immigration outside Quebec to 12% by 2029.
- The LPC leader said it is important to improve the distribution of immigration between provinces.
Levels
- Stated they would stabilize permanent resident admissions at less than 1% of Canada’s population annually beyond 2027 and cap immigration until it can be returned to a sustainable trend.
Recent Party Activity
September 19 – Debates: Framed Bill C-3 as a matter of fairness and family reunification. Argued the Bill is a principled approach to embracing diversity and cross-border families (Lauzon).
September 15 – Debates: Spoke in favour of Bill C-3 and said it achieves a “reasoned, balanced approach that allows us to meet our constitutional obligations while maintaining the integrity of our citizenship” (Deschênes-Thériault).
June 19 – Debates: Argued the problem Bill C-3 aims to address stems from decisions made by the last CPC government. Pointed to the court decision and the unconstitutionality of the present situation as justification from the Bill (Naqvi).
June 19 – Debates: Described the provisions of the Bill in favourable terms and said it strikes a fair compromise. Argued that without the Bill in place, there would be no limits on citizenship for prospective Canadians born abroad (Nguyen).
July 16 – X: Wrote that the government remains committed to reuniting families and highlighted “IRCC will invite up to 10,000 sponsors under the Parents and Grandparents Program from the 2020 pool” (Dhaliwal).
June 19 – Debates: Referenced past work at CIMM on Bill C-71 and encouraged parliamentary colleagues to support Bill C-3. Urged that no amendments be introduced that would slow the Bill’s passage (Kayabaga).
June 19 – Debates: Spoke at length on Canada’s legacy of immigration and support for refugees in the context of Bill C-3 (Dhillon).