Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 9th, 2026

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

You say that asylum seekers have the right to mobility. To your knowledge, has this issue been tested in the courts?

[Jason Hollmann]

There have been internal legal reviews, but I do not know if it has been tested in court.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Would you like to add anything, Ms. Brassard?

[Manon Brassard]

I would say that the recent Supreme Court ruling on claimants’ rights regarding child care centres might give you some idea.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

In that case, it was more a matter of the right to equal access.

[Manon Brassard]

Yes, but it is linked to mobility, in a way.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Right.

As you can understand, the demand coming from Quebec is being repeated because, of course, there are a significant number of asylum seekers on the Quebec territory.

To your knowledge, are there still discussions under way to see how asylum seekers could be distributed more effectively, in a fairer manner?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Deschênes.

I'm sorry. I allowed you to go way past your time. It's because you're so charming and your questions are excellent.

Perhaps your question can be answered during your next turn.

Next, we have five minutes for Mr. Menegakis.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to give verbal notice of the following motion:

That, further to the testimony from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) on March 9, 2026 related to the presence of agents of the Iranian Regime and agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Canada, and further to the committee’s study on Canada’s immigration system, and further to the imminent danger that the presence of IRGC officials and regime agents in Canada may pose to Canadian public safety, the committee report the following to the House:

1. Government officials have admitted the known presence of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials and regime agents residing in Canada;

2. There are gaps in legislation and procedures that may allow IRGC officials to avoid detection prior to arrival and deportation after;

3. The Government should exercise the full force of the existing law regarding the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist entity, specifically by expediting the execution of deportation orders of regime officials who are non-citizens under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;

4. The Government should immediately undertake a comprehensive review of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act with an eye to modernize it to prevent regime officials from avoiding deportation by:

a. Clearly ensuring non-citizens are deemed inadmissible if involved in regime-linked businesses, spreading propaganda, or human rights abuses;

b. Extend inadmissibility to immediate non-citizen family members of regime officials; and

c. Create an exemption from non-refoulement protections for inadmissible non-citizen regime officials proven to be complicit in human rights abuses.

5. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) should immediately release the name of the alleged non-citizen regime official referred to in the February 6, 2026, Global News report entitled “Latest alleged Iranian regime official found in Canada wants his identity hidden” and forthwith provide a written explanation of why the IRB banned reporters from publishing his name to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration;

6. The Government should, within 30 calendar days following the tabling of this report, table a report to Parliament explaining why it has not made public the identities of known non-citizens who are Iranian regime officials or agents who are currently present in Canada; and

7. It is imperative that the Government stop approving refugee claims from nations with regimes hostile to Canada without an in person interview being conducted first.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Menegakis. Can I ask if you are moving that or just putting it on notice?

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

I'm putting the motion I just read on verbal notice.

I assume I have a little bit of time left.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Yes. You have one minute and 52 seconds.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

That's wonderful.

My question is for you, Mr. Bush. CBSA's internal target in the last year for removals of high-priority foreign officials, including those who are inadmissible due to war crimes and security threats, was 80%. Why is it the CBSA's position that it's acceptable to allow potentially 20% of people who are security threats or who have committed war crimes to stay in Canada?

[Brett Bush]

The performance measures are performance measures to evaluate the efficiency of the program in question—in this case, removals. A lot of factors go into being able to remove someone from Canada. Obviously, we want to remove as many of those people as we can. Our top priority is to remove people who are inadmissible on serious grounds. The statistic I was given is that we removed over 1,000 people who were inadmissible in 2025, who fit into those categories—

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

On your website, it says your target is 80%. This means you're okay with 20%. Is that fair?

[Brett Bush]

No, I don't think it's fair, because performance measurement is different from our objective. Our objective will be to remove as many of them as we can, but the reality is, not everybody is removable all at the same time.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

You had only one deportation since 2022, I believe—one—and your target is 80%.

Let me ask this: How many CBSA executives—

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Mr. Menegakis, that's time. You still have another round.

Mr. Bush, thank you very much.

Ms. Sodhi, you have five minutes.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My questions are for the officials from IRCC.

My office has recently been overloaded with emails regarding the interim federal health program, through which asylum claimants can access health coverage while their claims are being processed.

Could you explain what this program covers and why it exists?

[Jason Hollmann]

The interim federal health program provides limited and temporary health care coverage for refugees and asylum seekers to help address any urgent and essential medical needs while they wait to become eligible for provincial or territorial health insurance, should they become protected persons. They receive this interim federal health care for the duration of their refugee determination process. Those who are unsuccessful will be removed. Their coverage ends once the removal orders have been enforced and they have left Canada.

The important part is that people are given access to benefits in a similar way to low-income residents. The coverage is for basic health care services, such as hospital care, physician care and laboratory services. They also receive some limited supplemental coverage on par with that offered to social assistance recipients in the provinces and territories. It's designed to ensure that we address the health care needs of this population for the time they are in Canada.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

How do the adjustments under this plan help ensure that IFHP remains sustainable while protecting essential health care for asylum seekers?

[Jason Hollmann]

The recent changes were to add a co-payment fee of four dollars for each prescription and 30% of the cost of supplemental coverage. This is designed to help address the financial sustainability of the program.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Overall, what steps are being taken by IRCC to improve communication with the public about how Canada's asylum system works and what its safeguards are?

[Jason Hollmann]

We communicate fairly regularly, both about the system and how it works. We do this with information on our website. We also engage with frontline stakeholders, ensuring that they have information, especially when any changes are made to the system, so we can ensure that their engagements with those refugee claimants provide accurate information.

As we look to any changes, we also continue to update our website and push information out, both to claimants—giving them handouts and information—and to those organizations working with them.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

How much time do I have left, Madam Chair?