Immigration

We live in a time of rising global uncertainty. It is more important than ever that the Canadian immigration system can respond to arising global crises in an expedient and flexible manner. Alarmingly, this is not the case.

Even before major global refugee crises such as the Afghanistan, and Ukrainian crises, IRCC has been struggling with massive backlogs in all the immigration streams. Delayed immigration application is the most common request for assistance at my office, with some applications delayed for years! Behind the delayed applications are separated families, missed opportunities, and in some cases, immigration is a life-and-death situation for people who need to leave dangerous situations.

To start, IRCC should stop the practice of returning applications when there are minor mistakes and missing information and documents that can be easily provided by applicants. IRCC must also end oppressive immigration policies such as the inhumane cap on parent/grandparents’ sponsorship applications, closed work permits for migrant workers, and the unfair treatment of caregivers and domestic workers.

Lack of resources for IRCC is the major root cause of delayed applications. I will continue to advocate for adequate resources for IRCC to process applications in consistently reasonable timeframes and for immigration policies that are more just.

Media Release: Families Separated by Gaza Siege Urge Federal Government to  Immediately Reform and Expedite Special Immigration Measures

Ottawa — Families deeply impacted by the Israeli attacks on Gaza joined MP Jenny Kwan to call on the federal government to urgently reform and accelerate the Special Immigration Measures program established to provide refuge to Palestinians with relatives in Canada.

In January 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) introduced a temporary public policy intended to offer safe haven to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with family ties in Canada. The government assured Canadians that if they had loved ones in Gaza, they could apply to bring them to safety. More than a year later, families say the program’s incredibly slow processing times and structural barriers have left many separated and at deep risk.

“By all accounts, this seems to be a system and a process set up by the federal government that is ultimately designed to fail. The promise of humanitarian assistance offered by Canada is, by all intents and purposes, a fiction for far too many families that have suffered through the bloodshed in Gaza,” said MP Jenny Kwan.

HANSARD: Presents petition against Bill C-2 Strong Border Act

Globe & Mail: Ottawa set to reduce warrantless powers for law enforcement in refined border-security bill

Ottawa is preparing to make changes to its shelved border-security bill to try to get it back on track, including removing provisions that would have given the police and the country’s spy agency warrantless powers to demand to know whether Canadians have consulted a doctor or therapist.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s Bill C-2 faced a backlash from civil-liberties groups, lawyers and tech experts, who accused the federal government of overreach and potentially breaching the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Opposition MPs said they would not support the bill, which included a lawful-access regime granting new powers to allow the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and police services to obtain electronic subscribers’ data.

In response to the backlash, Mr. Anandasangaree shelved the bill. He instead introduced a slimmed-down version that excluded some controversial passages from the original, including one that would have enabled Canada Post employees to open people’s mail. The revised version, known as Bill C-12, has been progressing through Parliament.

The minority Liberal government is now consulting on potential changes to the original border bill to try to get opposition support.

NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan last year said the bill was so broadly worded, it could allow the police to demand that a psychiatrist disclose the identity of a patient without a warrant.

The federal government, which has been meeting with opposition MPs and experts about the bill, is preparing to refine the wording to clarify that the new powers would not apply to obtaining Canadians’ medical information.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-set-to-reduce-warrantless-powers-for-law-enforcement-in-refined/

New Canadian Media: Sudanese Canadians waiting years to bring family from war-torn home country

Sumaya was just one of dozens of people waiting in western Sudan for a simple notification from Canada’s immigration officials welcoming her to Canada. She died in Darfur in western Sudan, before her paperwork was processed — just one piece of paper and maybe a safe flight away.

While she was waiting for a message from Canadian immigration, the war caught her and Sumaya became one of a growing number of Sudanese victims who have died with an “incomplete” file in Canada’s immigration queue. The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began in April 2023 and has turned into a brutal humanitarian catastrophe. Since then, millions have been caught in the crossfire of ethnic violence and starvation, with no end in sight.

In 2024, Ottawa launched the Sudan family reunification pathway, and the government announced it would be a lifeline for the Sudanese-Canadian community. But what was supposed to be an emergency way out of the country has led to bureaucratic delays and wait times that could last for years.

As of January 2026, the war in Sudan has surpassed 1,000 days of relentless violence, with conservative estimates placing the death toll at more than 150,000 and creating the world’s largest displacement crisis according to the World Health Organization.

Based on calculations by federal MP Jenny Kwan, people will wait 13 years for their paperwork to be approved.

“It is based on the number of applications in the backlog for the three categories and current processing rate based on the levels plan under ‘Other’ category,” said Kwan, the NDP’s immigration critic.

“A ِ13-year wait is a denial of safety,” Kwan told New Canadian Media. “Family reunification is supposed to be a humanitarian pathway, not a bureaucratic lottery that forces people to wait through war, displacement and famine.”

Click image or link to read the news story - https://newcanadianmedia.ca/sudanese-canadians-waiting-years-to-bring-family-from-war-torn-home-country/

Toronto Star: Their loved ones died waiting for Canada to let them in. Now they’re pleading on behalf of others from Sudan

New Democrat MP and immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the community faces not only an onerous application process and financial pressures to sponsor loved ones but is also competing against Hong Kongers fleeing Communist China and Ukrainians seeking protection from the Russian invasion.

Not only has Ottawa reduced the humanitarian permanent residence spots from 10,000 last year to 6,900 in 2026 and 5,000 for 2027 and 2028, Kwan said it is now processing all these applications on a first-in, first-out basis. That means Sudanese would be processed last because both the Hong Kong and Ukrainian pathways were launched earlier, she added.

Sudanese applicants “are not here in Canada waiting for their permanent residence status,” Kwan told the Toronto news conference. She projected it would take about 13 years to process all these Sudanese files.

“They’re in a war zone trying to get to safety. The government needs to act with the commensurate urgency in bringing those families to safety.”

Click image or link to read the news - https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/sudanese-resettlement-in-canada/article_4e2dcacd-24cd-4a77-bcdb-e80e27526da8.html

Media Release: Canada’s “Promise of Safety” for Sudanese Families Is Failing — Delays Have Cost Lives

Sudanese Canadian families, joined by Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan and community advocates, held a press conference today to denounce what they describe as a false promise by the federal government to reunite families and bring them to safety, as prolonged immigration processing delays continue to result in preventable deaths.
Families shared testimony of parents, children, and relatives who died while waiting for Canadian immigration approvals—despite having submitted applications under Canada’s Sudan family reunification and humanitarian pathways.

Canadian Press News: Sale of Canadian armoured vehicles to ICE agency ‘deeply troubling’: Kwan

OTTAWA -- Anti-armament advocates say Canadian firms shouldn’t be selling armoured military vehicles to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or any other organizations with sketchy human rights records.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan said Wednesday she’s “deeply” and “profoundly” troubled because the ICE agency has been credibly accused of human rights abuses.

“I think Canadians expect our industries and our government to uphold human rights domestically and internationally, and not enable the further militarization of an organization whose conduct already puts vulnerable people at great risk,” she told The Canadian Press.

“This contract raises serious questions about Canada’s role and responsibility when it comes to our technology and products being deployed abroad.”

U.S. government procurement records show ICE recently placed a rush order for a fleet of 20 armoured vehicles made by Brampton, Ont.-based Roshel.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.cp24.com/news/money/2025/12/03/sale-of-canadian-armoured-vehicles-to-ice-agency-deeply-troubling-kwan/

Global News: Kneecap launches defamation case against Liberal MP over entry ban video

The Irish hip-hop group Kneecap says it has begun legal action against Vince Gasparro, the Liberal parliamentary secretary who posted a video on social media announcing an apparent ban on the group entering Canada that their lawyer says caused “substantial” harm.

Lawyer Darragh Mackin told Global News that a defamation case is being pursued in Ireland against Gasparro, who Mackin said was served with a notice of claim over the weekend.

“Our clients have been subject to serious and unfounded assertions by way of a public video posted on a personal social media account which has caused substantial reputational harm,” Mackin said in a statement from Belfast human rights law firm Phoenix Law on Saturday.

“The statements made by Mr. Gasparro were wholly inaccurate and defamatory without any reason or justification. … Kneecap, just like every private citizen, are entitled to fairness and the protection of their good name and reputation. These proceedings have been initiated to vindicate those rights.”

In a response tabled last week in the House of Commons to an order paper question by NDP MP Jenny Kwan about the handling of the case, federal officials said they were not involved, and it remains unclear which advice from officials Gasparro was citing in his post.

“It is unprecedented for a government minister without consultation with the prime minister or the respective department to take to matters into their own hands via their own social media channel,” Mackin said. “Such clickbait tactics have no place in a modern democracy.”

In their own written response to Kwan’s request for documents, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh’s electronic travel authorization (eTA) was cancelled for inadmissibility in August — a month before Gasparro’s announcement — and that he was notified of the decision.

It made no mention of the since-dropped criminal charge against Óg Ó hAnnaidh in the U.K. that accused him of flying a Hezbollah flag during a London concert last year, which Gasparro specifically cited as a reason for the apparent entry ban.

Click image or link to read or watch the news story - https://globalnews.ca/news/11549284/kneecap-entry-ban-legal-action-vince-gasparro/

Canadian Press: CBSA, PMO say they were not involved in MP announcing ban on Belfast band Kneecap

OTTAWA — The Canada Border Services Agency and the Prime Minister's Office say they were not involved in an Ontario Liberal MP's announcement that members of the Belfast band Kneecap were banned from entering Canada.

Vince Gasparro, parliamentary secretary for combating crime, released a social media video in September announcing the ban in response to allegations that Kneecap had been inciting violence and glorifying terrorism.

In a written order paper question in the House of Commons, NDP MP Jenny Kwan asked who authorized the video and if members of Kneecap are allowed into Canada.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/national-news/cbsa-pmo-say-they-were-not-involved-in-mp-announcing-ban-on-belfast-band-kneecap-11538150

Global News: PMO and CBSA say they weren’t part of Kneecap entry ban announcement

The Prime Minister’s Office and the Canada Border Services Agency say they were not “involved” or “consulted” in a parliamentary secretary’s announcement of an apparent entry ban on the controversial Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, officials said in new documents tabled Monday.

Liberal MP Vince Gasparro , the parliamentary secretary for combatting crime, said in a video posted to X on Sept. 19 that the group was allegedly “advocating for political violence” and “glorifying terrorist organizations.” The video remains online.

He said that “on behalf of the Government of Canada I am announcing that on the advice of our officials, we have deemed the group Kneecap ineligible to enter our country.”

In a response tabled in the House of Commons to an order paper question by NDP MP Jenny Kwan about the handling of the case, federal officials said they were not involved.

“The Canada Border Services Agency was not consulted regarding the announcement,” the agency said on behalf of Public Safety Canada.

CBSA officials would be in charge of administering and enforcing an entry ban against any foreign individuals, according to additional information provided in that response from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Additionally, the Prime Minister’s Office responded that it too was “not involved in the decision for the member of Eglinton—Lawrence to make the announcement,” using the name of Gasparro’s riding.

Kwan told Global News in an interview that “there are still a lot of unanswered questions” after the government’s response.