Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, since January 1, 2025: (a) how many individuals granted temporary visas have been identified by risk assessment units as being associated, or potentially associated, with organizations inadmissible to Canada; (b) how many individuals granted temporary visas have been identified by risk assessment units as having fraudulent documentation; (c) how many individuals have been granted temporary visas who have been identified as having criminal records; (d) how many foreign workers submitted applications to enter Canada, broken down by (i) applications approved, (ii) applications denied, including reason for denial; (e) what criteria and supporting documentation are required to approve applicants for temporary visa; (f) how many temporary resident visas were issued, broken down by length of visa; (g) how many temporary visa applications were denied but were overruled by the minister and subsequently approved, including the reason given for overruling; and (h) how have Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency been working to prepare for a surge in visa applications and screening demands?

With regard to visas revoked by the government, broken down by year since 2018, including 2025 to date: (a) what was the total number of visas revoked (not expired), broken down by type of visa; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by reason for the revocation?

With regard to reports that government staff processing services have, in certain instances, refused to record applicants' accurate places of birth on Canadian passports on the grounds of "political conflict": (a) what are the details of any policy, directive, or instruction that would justify an employee altering, omitting, or refusing to list an applicant's accurate place of birth; (b) have any passport officials been directed, formally or informally, to modify place-of-birth designations for applicants born in Israel or other politically sensitive regions, and, if so, who authorized such direction; (c) what operational guidance has been provided to passport officials regarding internationally recognized place names and the handling of politically sensitive designations; and (d) what measures, if any, are being taken to ensure that erroneous or inconsistent practices with the official policy will be corrected?

With regard to authorization to travel to Canada by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada: (a) what are the criteria and process by which it is established whether someone is eligible to travel to Canada; (b) if an individual does not have a criminal record, on what other basis can they be denied entry; (c) who has the authority to determine whether an individual or group is ineligible to enter into Canada, aside from the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Canada Border Services Agency officials at the border; (d) who has the authority to delegate that authority; (e) has the authority ever been delegated to a parliamentary secretary, and, if so, when and what are the details, including the (i) year, (ii) title of the parliamentary secretary; (f) what are the communication protocols and procedures in place when the decision to ban an individual or group is made; (g) was the member for Eglinton—Lawrence authorized to announce that members of the musical group Kneecap were ineligible to enter the country, and, if so, who authorized the announcement and was this decision formally communicated to Kneecap by government officials; (h) did government officials advise the member for Eglinton—Lawrence regarding the ban of Kneecap, and, if so, which department were the officials from; (i) was the Prime Minister’s Office involved in the decision for the member for Eglinton—Lawrence to make the announcement; (j) were Kneecap members ever denied the right to entry at any point in the process; (k) are Kneecap members currently allowed to enter Canada; (l) what are the process and criteria being followed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in this case, are there appeal mechanisms, and, if so, what appeal mechanisms are available; and (m) was there any consultation with other federal departments or agencies, including, but not limited to, Public Safety Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency and Global Affairs Canada, or third parties such as stakeholder groups prior to, or following, the announcement made by the member for Eglinton—Lawrence regarding Kneecap, and, if so, what was the response?

With regard to temporary resident visas, since 2022 and broken down by year: (a) how many individuals in Canada on temporary resident visas fled Canada after allegedly committing a crime; (b) of those who fled, how many fled (i) while a charge was pending, (ii) after being charged, but prior to a verdict, (iii) after being convicted, but before completing their sentence; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) and (b) by type of visa and by type of criminal offense; (c) how many visas has the government revoked after the visa holder fled the country; and (d) how many visas has the government revoked following a criminal charge or conviction, broken down by type of visa and type of criminal (i) charge, (ii) conviction?

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada: how many provincial attestation letters or territorial attestation letters has Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada permitted designated educational institutions to allocate for international students, for each province and territory since 2024, broken down by Classification of Instructional Programs tied to the allocation, including (i) Classification of Instructional Programs code, (ii) Classification of Instructional Programs series, (iii) Classification of Instructional Programs subseries?

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in the 2024-25 fiscal year: (a) how much was spent administering the student visa program, in total and broken down by type of expense; (b) how many employees were assigned to the program (i) in total, (ii) for processing applications, (iii) for ensuring the compliance of those already granted a visa; (c) how many student visas were active; and (d) how many student visas were revoked, broken down by reason of revocation?

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's Special Immigration Measure to facilitate temporary resident visas for certain extended family of citizens and permanent residents in Gaza, which began on January 9, 2024: (a) how many applications have been received under the Special Immigration Measure and how many individuals are accounted for in total among these applications; (b) how many of these applications have been accepted into processing and how many individuals are accounted for, in total, among these applications; (c) how many applications have been refused, broken down by reasoning for their refusal; (d) how many temporary resident visas have been issued to individuals under the Special Immigration Measure since its inception; (e) how many temporary resident visa applications have been made by Palestinian passport holders in Gaza outside of the Special Immigration Measure, since October 7, 2023, broken down by (i) how many have been accepted into processing, (ii) how many temporary resident visas have been issued outside the Special Immigration Measure and how many of these individuals have landed in Canada, (iii) how many temporary resident visa applications outside the Special Immigration Measure have been refused, broken down by reason for refusal; (f) for how many individuals covered by the Special Immigration Measure has the government successfully facilitated exit from Gaza; (g) what diplomatic efforts, if any, have been undertaken by the government to negotiate safe passage for individuals covered under the Special Immigration Measure with the governments of Israel and Egypt; (h) has the department conducted any evaluations or received reports on how the Special Immigration Measure for Gazans compares to other temporary public policies, such as the 2022 special immigration measures for Ukrainians, in terms of accessibility and outcomes, and, if so, what are the key findings; (i) what measures have been implemented to ensure that anti-Palestinian racism is not influencing the design or administration of the Special Immigration Measure for Gazans, and how does this align with the government’s broader anti-racism strategy; (j) what policy considerations led to the specific dimensions of the temporary public policy that opened on January 9, 2024, including the 1,000-visa quota, the gradual and slow issuance of access codes, selection of applicants that were prioritized to receive access codes, and information requested on screening forms; and (k) has the government engaged with Canadian or international human rights organizations to address criticisms of the Special Immigration Measure for Gazans and identify opportunities for improvement, and, if so, (i) which organizations have been consulted, (ii) to what extent were these organizations consulted, (iii) what has been the outcome of these engagements?

With regard to Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj’s being denied entry into Canada in April 2026: (a) on what date was Mehdi Taj’s application for a temporary resident visa, or any other type of visa, received by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; (b) on what date was Mehdi Taj’s application processed, and what was the initial decision; (c) who made the initial decision; (d) on what date did the (i) Office of the Deputy Minister, (ii) Office of the Minister, first receive a file noting this application; (e) did the minister ever approve or take any action on this file after receiving it, and, if so, what action was taken and on what date; (f) did the minister ever approve or sign off on Mehdi Taj’s visa application, and, if so, on what date; (g) what is the minister’s explanation for how Mehdi Taj was able to board a flight to Canada and arrive at Pearson Airport; (h) what is the detailed timeline for this file, according to the department’s internal tracking documents including who received it, on what dates, and what decisions were made; (i) what are the details of all documents related to this file, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) title, (iii) sender, (iv) recipients, (v) file number; and (j) on what date did the government decide to revoke or rescind Mehdi Taj’s visa approval, and on what date was the Canada Border Services Agency notified of this decision?

With regard to immigration and border security: (a) what is the government's estimate of the "exit gap", including the number of foreign nationals whose visas expired in 2024 and 2025 but for whom the government has no record of their departure; (b) how is the government currently tracking the exit gap; (c) under what specific legal authority does the minister plan to grant permanent status to individuals who have violated the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by overstaying their visas; (d) what are the estimated cost increases (i) to the federal government, (ii) to provincial and municipal governments, projected to be associated with granting the individuals in (c) permanent status; (e) how many permanent residency spots will be taken away from law-abiding applicants who didn't overstay their visas as a result of the policy change in (c); (f) what internal data was used to justify the policy change in (c); (g) how many foreign nationals currently in Canada on expired visas are currently the subjects of removal orders or similar types of warrants for non-compliance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and (h) how many foreign nationals which were issued a removal order for having an expired visa were removed from Canada in the past year?