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45th Parliament, 1st Session
(May 26, 2025 - Present)
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The House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (the committee) examines orders of reference referred to it by the House of Commons. These orders may relate to bills concerning immigration, refugees and citizenship; estimates; proposed regulations specified in section 5 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and section 27.1 of the Citizenship Act; and order in council appointments to non judicial posts made on the recommendation of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. The committee also may study issues of its own choosing.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(1) of the House of Commons, the committee has the powers common to all House of Commons Standing Committees, including the powers to make reports and to send for persons, papers and records.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

The committee 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). Such matters include:

  • legislation governing IRCC and the IRB;
  • institutional, program and policy objectives of IRCC and the IRB, and their success in achieving these objectives;
  • expenditure plans of IRCC and the IRB, and their effectiveness in implementing these plans; and
  • other matters relating to the mandate, management, organization and operation of IRCC and the IRB, determined by the committee.

In July 2013, IRCC took over primary responsibility for Canada’s passport program. Since then, the committee has been empowered to study matters related to the Passport Program, including the issuance, refusal, withholding, revocation and recovery of passports, as well as the issuance of travel documents for non-Canadians.

Federal Multiculturalism Policy

Standing Order 108(3)(b) of the House of Commons mandates the committee to monitor implementation of the principles of the federal multiculturalism policy throughout the Government of Canada. In 2015, however, implementation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act was moved to the Minister of Canadian Heritage; since then, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has examined these issues.

Immigration matters were once the responsibility of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Labour, Employment and Immigration. In June 1994, however, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Act established the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, now more commonly known as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration was established to oversee the new department’s activities.

In 2003, the Canada Border Services Agency was created and certain responsibilities of IRCC concerning enforcement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act were transferred to this new body. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security is responsible for oversight of this Agency.

In the execution of its functions, each committee is normally assisted by a committee clerk, a committee assistant, and one or more analysts. Occasional assistance is also provided by legislative clerks and lawyers from the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel. These individuals are non-partisan and serve all members of the committee and representatives of all parties equally.

Committee Clerk

The clerk performs their duties and responsibilities under the direction of the committee and its Chair. As an expert in the rules of the House of Commons, the clerk may be requested to give advice to the Chair and members of the committee should a question of procedure arise. The clerk is the coordinator, organizer and liaison officer for the committee, and as such, will be in frequent contact with Members’ staff. The clerk is also responsible for inviting witnesses and dealing with all the details regarding their appearance before the committee.

Committee Assistant

The committee assistant provides a wide range of specialized administrative services for the organization of committee meetings and the publishing of documents on the committee’s website. The committee assistant works with the clerk to meet the needs of the committee.

Committee Analyst

The Library of Parliament’s analysts, who are subject-matter experts, provide authoritative, substantive, and timely research, analysis and information to all members of the committee. They are part of the committee’s institutional memory and are a unique resource for parliamentarians. Supported by research librarians, the analysts work individually or in multidisciplinary teams.

Analysts can prepare briefing notes on the subjects being examined, detailed study plans, lists of proposed witnesses, analyses of an issue with a list of suggested questions, background papers, draft reports, news releases, and formal correspondence.

OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE AS REQUIRED

Parliamentary Counsel

Within the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, parliamentary counsel (Legislation) are available to assist Members who are not in Cabinet with the preparation of private Members’ bills or of amendments to government bills or others bills.

At various stages of the legislative process, Members may propose amendments to bills. Amendments may first be proposed at the committee stage, during a committee’s clause-by-clause review of a bill. Amendments may also be proposed at the report stage, once a bill returns to the House.

Once a bill is sent to committee, the clerk of the committee provides Members the name of the parliamentary counsel (Legislation) responsible for drafting the amendments for that bill.

Legislative Clerk

The legislative clerk serves all members of the committee as a specialist of the process by which a bill becomes law. They are available to give, upon request from Members and their staff, advice on the admissibility of amendments when bills are referred to committee. The legislative clerk organizes the amendments into packages for committee stage, reviews all the committee amendments for procedural admissibility and prepares draft rulings for the Chair.

During clause-by-clause consideration of bills in committee, a legislative clerk is in attendance to assist the committee with any procedural issues that may arise. The legislative clerk can also provide Members with advice regarding the procedural admissibility of report stage amendments. When a bill is sent to committee, the clerk of the committee provides Members the name of the legislative clerk assigned to the bill.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO)

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is an officer of Parliament created by the Parliament of Canada Act who supports Parliament by providing analysis, including analysis of macroeconomic and fiscal policy, for the purposes of raising the quality of parliamentary debate and promoting greater budget transparency and accountability.

The Parliament of Canada Act also provides the PBO with a mandate to, if requested by a committee, estimate the financial cost of any proposal over which Parliament has jurisdiction. Certain committees, including the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, can also request research and analyses of the nation’s finances or economy, or of the estimates.

Further information on the PBO may be found at: http://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/en/

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration does not intervene in individual immigration or citizenship files. Such inquiries should be directed to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Client Support Centre.