SECU – Criminality linked to Foreign Nationals in Canadas – April 30, 2026

Key Messages

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has a multi-layered approach to prevent, detect, and address fraud in immigration applications.
• This approach targets fraud in individual applications as well as coordinated fraud schemes to prevent systemic abuse within immigration and citizenship programs, and hold bad actors accountable.
• IRCC actively targets organized and coordinated fraud schemes through its administrative investigations and undertakes fraud disruption techniques in collaboration with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), who is responsible for pursuing enforcement action related to foreign nationals in Canada.

Organized Crime and Other Public Investigations

• Canada maintains a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and organized crime. Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, individuals convicted of serious crimes are inadmissible and may lose their immigration status, with CBSA authorized to enforce removals.
• IRCC collaborates with CBSA, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and international partners to detect and disrupt organized crime while raising public awareness to encourage reporting of suspicious activity.
• IRCC is monitoring fraud concerns highlighted in recent Quebec media coverage and maintains a firm stance against program abuse. When information is identified, it is shared with enforcement partners, including CBSA and RCMP, and cases are flagged to processing offices to prevent further abuse and disrupt criminal activities.
• Permanent and temporary residents who are convicted of criminal offenses may be inadmissible to Canada and subject to removal. Business owners participating in illegal activity may also be charged with criminal offences under the Canadian Criminal Code.