Fraud and Chaos in Canada’s Immigration System

The NDP-Liberal Government has broken Canada’s immigration system after nine years in power. A Globe and Mail report  revealed that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada flagged over 10,000 foreign student acceptance letters from Canadian colleges and universities as potentially fraudulent.

Justin Trudeau and his former Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser, caused this problem by issuing a million student visas without considering the impact on the country. They ignored widespread fraud and abuse in the International Student Program. Now, Trudeau’s new Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, has asked the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants to fix the mess his government created.

This marks another immigration policy failure from the government. Last month, Trudeau admitted that his radical, uncontrolled immigration policies contributed to crises in joblessness, housing, and health care. Even Minister Miller acknowledged that nine years of reckless policies caused the system to spiral “out of control.”

The government now claims they deliberately broke the system to address pandemic labour shortages, but this is false. The International Student Program has never served as a labour stream. Despite this, the number of people entering Canada through this program has surged by 211% since Trudeau became Prime Minister.

As the NDP-Liberal government scrambles to regain control, international students are increasingly claiming refugee status. So far this year, nearly 14,000 asylum claims have come from international students, a sharp rise from 1,810 in 2018. Experts predict this number will continue growing.

Canadians no longer trust Justin Trudeau to fix the immigration chaos he created. While he promised to lower the number of temporary immigrants to 5 percent of the population, the figure has risen to 7.3 percent under his leadership.

Canadians deserve a government that will eliminate fraud in the International Student Program. Only Common Sense Conservatives can repair what the NDP-Liberals have destroyed and restore an immigration system that serves all Canadians.

Housing Starts Down 11 Percent This Year

The NDP-Liberal government has failed to build enough homes for Canadians after nine years in office. This failure has plunged the country into a housing crisis, with the cost of mortgages, down payments, and rent doubling since Trudeau became Prime Minister. Canadians have endured the worst housing inflation in the G7.

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), under Trudeau’s government, reported that the housing crisis will worsen. Comparing October 2024 to October 2023, housing starts have fallen by 11 percent nationwide, worsened by Canada’s rapid population growth.

The decline is especially pronounced in once-affordable cities. Housing starts in Halifax dropped by 75 percent compared to last year, while Kelowna experienced an 87 percent decline. Ottawa, Quebec City, and Toronto also saw significant decreases, with housing starts falling by 42 percent, 37 percent, and 33 percent, respectively.

Trudeau’s failure to address housing shortages has caused misery for Canadians. Habitat for Humanity recently revealed that 82 percent of Canadians now worry the housing crisis is harming their health and well-being, and 88 percent of renters believe homeownership is unattainable. Even more concerning, 59 percent of Canadians – including 75 percent of renters – have had to sacrifice basic needs like food, clothing, and education to afford housing.

Canadians should not have to endure this. They deserve a government that will accelerate homebuilding. Common Sense Conservatives have a plan to fix Trudeau’s failures. We will eliminate the sales tax on new homes priced under $1 million – a move that will generate 30,000 additional homes annually – and stop funding city hall gatekeepers who obstruct new housing developments. That is just common sense.