Ottawa closes immigration gateway exploited by 'malicious actors'

Since last Wednesday, the federal Immigration Department has banned foreign nationals in the country on a visitor visa from applying for a work permit. This express immigration route was exploited by “malicious actors,” according to Ottawa, which says it wants to “preserve the integrity of the immigration system.”

The route was opened in the middle of the pandemic. Since August 2020, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has allowed visitors unable to leave the country due to travel restrictions to apply for a permit from within Canada. From a temporary measure that was set to expire in 2025, this policy had become, four years later, an open door to abuse.

To “preserve the integrity of the immigration system,” in the words of the federal government, Ottawa decreed without warning that any permit application made by a visitor would be automatically refused. This change is required “with immediate effect.” Applications submitted before August 28, 2024, will continue to be processed.

“For two years, it had become ridiculous,” immigration consultant Anthony Chiasson-Leblanc told Le Devoir. The fraudulent misuse of this method of entering the country was well known in the immigration agency community. “IRCC rewarded cheats in the system,” he explained.

In Quebec, the scheme was allegedly first used by Mexican nationals, and more recently by North Africans. The sleight of hand was based on lies to customs.

“People arrive at the airport with their visitor permit. That’s the first step. Then there’s the customs officer step.”

He is the one who has the supreme authority to decide who enters the country or not. The customs officer can question you about your motives. You return to Canada with three suitcases, with a return ticket, but refundable… He asks where you are going. You answer “to a cousin’s” or something like that. You say you are going to visit Niagara or Quebec…” says Chiasson-Leblanc.

“Ill-intentioned people” had promised these immigrants a work permit upon their arrival, adds IRCC spokesperson Isabelle Dubois, in response to requests for clarification from Le Devoir. However, these migrants were then abandoned, who ended up “working illegally as visitors”.

The customs officer could well have refused entry to this false visitor, except that the visitor had often memorized a “pre-speech” to correctly respond to the authorities’ suspicions. Who had paid for this speech? The worker. According to Mr. Chiasson-Leblanc, the worker assumed costs sometimes amounting to several tens of thousands of dollars. The prospect of subsequently using the lever of family reunification to facilitate the arrival of relatives could encourage many people to chip in to pay these large sums.

A visitor visa used to “deceive”

In its public notice, IRCC said it was “aware” that “malicious actors” were using the visitor visa to “deceive” the authorities and “bring [these nationals] to work in Canada without authorization.”

The department approved 4,761 of the 6,549 work permit applications and 301 of the 967 supplementary work authorization applications under this policy. Not all of these files were false cases, far from it, Anthony Chiasson-Leblanc qualifies, but for him, the risk of fraud was “crystal clear.”

Several Canadian companies have also benefited from these immigrants immediately available to work. Hiring someone already in the country is easier than hiring someone on the other side of the world, especially when you can avoid paying travel and administrative costs and don’t have to wait months before getting the green light from the government. An investigation by Le Devoir revealed earlier this year that the visitor visa had allowed several immigrants to enter Canada who ended up working for $10 an hour cleaning hospitals or serving food in CHSLDs.

Standard processes place the burden of the cost of immigration on the shoulders of the companies that hire.

Closing this loophole is therefore “a good step in the right direction,” says Mr. Chiasson-Leblanc, although the government still has work to do to support proper immigration procedures.

“Now, we need to reduce the delays [for issuing work permits], which are horribly long in some countries, to avoid human tragedies,” says the consultant.

Jean-Louis Bordeleau is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter based at Le Devoir.