Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Comité permanent des comptes publics

For immediate release

Ottawa, October 05, 2016 -

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) needs to ensure that Canadian citizenship is granted only to eligible applicants, according to a report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts tabled today in the House of Commons by the Hon. Kevin Sorenson, Chair of the Committee.

According to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG), key to assessing citizenship eligibility is verifying the legitimacy of an application. New fraud is created continually, so IRCC must adjust its systems to combat them, and improve its processes for sharing information with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canada Border Services Agency. Fraud related to residency, identity, or undeclared criminal proceedings are the three most common reasons for revoking citizenship.

According to Report 2—Detecting and Preventing Fraud in the Citizenship Program, the OAG concluded that IRCC did not adequately detect and prevent fraud to ensure that only applicants who met selected eligibility requirements were granted Canadian citizenship. Although it is possible for IRCC to revoke citizenship after fraud has been discovered, this process is both time-consuming and costly.

Moreover, given the fact that Canadian citizenship provides a number of benefits such as international mobility, access to Canadian rights and privileges as well as financial benefits, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts is adamant that IRCC act promptly to ensure that Canadian citizenship is granted only to eligible applicants, and minimize the risk that ineligible applicants can enjoy these benefits, even temporarily, through fraudulent means.

This report contains eight recommendations which seek to ensure that IRCC properly implement the corrective measures necessary to address each of the gaps identified by the Auditor General of Canada.