{"id":558814,"date":"2026-03-25T02:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T02:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/558814\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T02:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T02:53:08","slug":"ottawa-rejects-bid-to-prevent-sharing-information-about-foreign-born-canadians-with-provinces-other-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/558814\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa rejects bid to prevent sharing information about foreign-born Canadians with provinces, other countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The Canadian flag flies on the Peace Tower of Parliament Hill as pedestrians make their way along Sparks Street Mall in Ottawa.Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The federal government has rejected a Senate bid to prevent it sharing immigration details about foreign-born Canadian citizens and permanent residents with provinces and foreign powers, despite a warning that it could lead to people being targeted. <\/p>\n

The Senate earlier this month voted to amend the government\u2019s immigration and asylum bill, known as Bill C-12, restricting the ability of the Immigration Department to share personal information it holds.<\/p>\n

But the government has informed the Senate in a formal message that it will not agree to its amendment and will press ahead with its original plan, despite senators\u2019 opposition to the move and concerns about potential misuse of the information. <\/p>\n

Senate committee calls for gutting of flagship immigration bill over human rights concerns<\/a><\/p>\n

The message to the Senate was posted on the House of Commons order paper and is due to be discussed by MPs shortly. Consideration of the Senate amendments is a late hurdle for the bill, which has now passed through its Commons and Senate stages, including consideration in committees of both houses. <\/p>\n

A number of senators were deeply critical of the measures in the bill, including proposals that would fast track the deportation of many asylum seekers who have been in Canada for more than a year. <\/p>\n

The Senate committee on social affairs, science and technology, which studied Bill C-12 and heard from a variety of experts<\/a>, expressed fears that parts of the proposed legislation would lead to an \u201coverreach of executive powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, senators voted to support an amendment to Bill C-12, which tightens Canada\u2019s asylum and immigration system, tabled by Senator Paulette Senior.<\/p>\n

The amendment would have barred the bill\u2019s information-sharing powers, including powers to share details about temporary foreign workers and international students here on study permits, from applying to permanent residents and Canadian citizens born abroad. <\/p>\n

Some senators warned the bill would effectively create two tiers of Canadian citizenship, with differing rights. Senator Yuen Pau Woo argued against it, saying it would lead to many senators discussing the bill who are Canadians born abroad potentially having their details shared with foreign entities. <\/p>\n

Alberta Senator Paula Simons, who was among those to speak in favour of the amendment, argued that Bill C-12 would give the Alberta government, which is preparing a referendum on immigration, \u201ca brand new vector\u201d for finding out who in the province is – or is not – a permanent resident or citizen, or a temporary resident. She said the bill would open \u201ca very noxious chasm in the fabric of our Canadian society.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the government, in a formal message to the Senate, said it would not accept the amendment \u201cbecause the amendment would remove Canadian citizens and permanent residents from the clear and transparent information-sharing framework\u201d established by the bill.<\/p>\n

It argued that the purpose of the section of the bill with the information-sharing powers is to replace the current patchwork of authorities with a single coherent regime.<\/p>\n

Ms. Senior, who tabled the original amendment, said its rejection \u201cis a missed opportunity to reflect on the far-reaching impact on millions of naturalized citizens and permanent residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe practice to extend information sharing, particularly to foreign entities, is hugely problematic and could possibly lead to information being misused and potentially resulting in some people being targeted,\u201d she said in an e-mail. <\/p>\n

The government did allow two amendments – proposed by the sponsor of the bill Senator Tony Dean – that would bring in reviews of the bill and its impact after five years. <\/p>\n

Government amends immigration bill, adds five-year review to address Senate concerns<\/a><\/p>\n

One requires the Immigration Minister to file a report after five years about measures restricting asylum claimants\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

The report would assess the impact of barring asylum claimants who have been in Canada for more than a year from a hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board, the independent tribunal that adjudicates refugee claims.<\/p>\n

It would include figures on the number of refugee protection claims deemed ineligible. The government has added in its message to the Senate that this should include people who arrived, left and re-entered the country after June 24, 2020, the retroactive date when the new ineligibilities would start. <\/p>\n

Mr. Dean said, \u201cWe saw the Senate at its best in examining Bill C-12, a complex omnibus bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile several amendments were proposed, only those dealing with important five-year reviews, both of the new provisions and the new ineligibilities in particular, were approved \u2013 this will offer an important look-back at the government\u2019s desired outcomes,” he said in an e-mail. <\/p>\n

But advocates for refugees expressed disappointment that the government had not taken on board the Senate\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n

Gauri Sreenivasan, Canadian Council for Refugees co-executive director, said \u201cthe government has rejected the only Senate amendment not of its own making – steamrolling the process and disregarding clear warnings from senators and civil\u2011society leaders about the risks this legislation poses to refugees, migrants and Canada\u2019s immigration system.”<\/p>\n

The Senate social affairs committee suggested gutting or significantly amending large sections of the bill relating to asylum and immigration. <\/p>\n

\u201cNone of its substantive recommendations were accepted. The committee\u2019s work has been sidelined and ignored,\u201d Ms. Sreenivasan added in an e-mail. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The Canadian flag flies on the Peace Tower of Parliament Hill as pedestrians…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[207414,144226,49,48,6680,20739,1008,714],"class_list":["post-558814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-asylum","tag-bill-c-12","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-immigration","tag-ottawa","tag-pleasemod","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}