Committee overview: Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration: 2026 Auditor General Report on International Students Program Reforms (April 20, 2026)

CIMM Committee overview

Committee Members

Committee mandate

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (the committee) examines orders of reference referred to it by the House of Commons. These orders may relate to bills concerning immigration, refugees and citizenship; estimates; proposed regulations specified in section 5 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and section 27.1 of the Citizenship Act; and order in council appointments to non judicial posts made on the recommendation of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. The committee also may study issues of its own choosing.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(1) of the House of Commons, the committee has the powers common to all House of Commons Standing Committees, including the powers to make reports and to send for persons, papers and records.

The committee studies and reports on all matters relating to the mandate, management and operation of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). Such matters include:

• legislation governing IRCC and the IRB
• institutional, program and policy objectives of IRCC and the IRB, and their success in achieving these objectives
• expenditure plans of IRCC and the IRB, and their effectiveness in implementing these plans; and
• other matters relating to the mandate, management, organization and operation of IRCC and the IRB, determined by the committee

In July 2013, IRCC took over primary responsibility for Canada's passport program. Since then, the committee has been empowered to study matters related to the Passport Program, including the issuance, refusal, withholding, revocation and recovery of passports, as well as the issuance of travel documents for non-Canadians.

CBSA-related committee activity

May 2025 to present

• International Student Program and Study Permits (No anticipated CBSA appearance)
• Briefing on Immigration Levels Plan 2026-28 (No CBSA appearance)

Current studies

• Canada's Immigration System
  • Report 1
  • CBSA appearance on October 21, 2025

Recent studies and reports

• Briefing on Migrant Trafficking and Smuggling
  • CBSA Appearance on February 7, 2024
• Exploitation Scheme Targeting Certain International Students
  • Two CBSA Appearances on June 19, 2023 and October 24, 2023
• Persons with Temporary Status and Undocumented Individuals
  • Motion for study adopted by the committee (October 28, 2022) but not undertaken prior to dissolution of 44th parliament
• Subject Matter of Bill C-12, An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of Canada's borders and the integrity of the Canadian immigration system and respecting other related security measures
  • CBSA appearance on October 30, 2025 and November 20, 2025

Committee Members biographies

Julie Dzerowicz (Chair)

Political affiliation: Liberal Party of Canada
Constituency: Davenport, ON

• First elected in 2015
• MP Dzerowicz previously served as a Member of CIMM from 2016 to 2017
• This is her first time serving as Chair of a committee
• Issues raised related to CBSA: Immigration processes, CBSA resourcing, staffing and operational capacity for cross-border interdiction (drugs, firearms, stolen goods)

The Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Vice-Chair)

Political affiliation: Conservative Party of Canada
Constituency: Calgary Nose Hill, AB

• First elected in 2011
• Served as Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship from November 2015 to September 2019, and was the Vice-Chair of CIMM during that time. She was also a member of CIMM from October 2022 to September 2023
• Issues raised related to CBSA: immigration policy (irregular migration, temporary foreign workers, asylum and costs to municipalities/provinces), CBSA resourcing and capacity, departure data tracking and Border Bill (C-2)

Alexis Deschênes (Vice-Chair)

Political affiliation: Bloc Québécois
Constituency: Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC

• First elected in 2025
• MP Deschênes is also the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans(FOPO)
• Member of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and the Subcommittee Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans
• Issues raised related to CBSA: Bill C-2 (Asylum, combatting fentanyl)

Peter Fragiskatos

Political affiliation: Liberal Party of Canada
Constituency: London Centre, ON

• First elected in 2015
• MP Fragiskatos held a variety of parliamentary secretary roles prior to his current appointment
• This is his first time sitting on CIMM
• Worked in academia before politics
• Issues raised related to the CBSA: Bill C-21 (firearms), Exit information tracking collection, Irregular migration and Asylum, Officer interactions with travellers/Oversight/Complaints and Search of Personal Digital Devices

Amandeep Sodhi

Political affiliation: Liberal Party of Canada
Constituency: Richmond Centre—Marpole

• First elected in 2025
• This is MP Sodhi's first time sitting on a committee
• MP Sodhi is one of the first Members of Parliament born in the 21st century
• Issues raised related to CBSA: N/A

Salma Zahid

Political affiliation: Liberal Party of Canada
Constituency: Scarborough Centre—Don Valley East, ON

• First elected in 2015
• Former Chair of CIMM and longtime member
• Record of interest in immigration and advocacy for marginalized populations globally
• Issues raised related to CBSA: N/A

Sameer Zuberi

Political affiliation: Liberal Party of Canada
Constituency: Pierrefonds—Dollard, ON

• First elected in 2019
• Previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities
• First time Member of CIMM
• Issues raised related to CBSA: Bill S-8 (44th parliament - SEMA Sanctions/IRPA inadmissibility)

Fred Davies

Political affiliation: Conservative Party of Canada
Constituency: Niagara South, ON

• First elected in 2025
• First time Member of CIMM
• Issues raised related to the CBSA: C-12 Border Bill (Immigration/CBSA resourcing/capacity) and cross-border interdiction (stolen vehicles/export/detection technologies)

Costas Menegakis

Political affiliation: Conservative Party of Canada
Constituency: Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON

• First elected in 2011, defeated in 2015. Returned to Parliament in 2025
• Served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 2013 to 2015
• Issues raised related to CBSA: N/A

Brad Redekopp

Political affiliation: Conservative Party of Canada
Constituency: Saskatoon West, SK

• First elected in 2011, defeated in 2015. Returned to Parliament in 2025
• Served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 2013 to 2015
• Previously had a twenty-year career in finance and accounting roles within the manufacturing industry. Prior to his election as an MP, he owned and operated a home building company for ten years
• Holds a bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Saskatchewan and a CPA (formerly CMA) accounting designation
• Has been involved with local community boards and taught personal finance classes and conversational English to newcomers
• Issues raised related to CBSA: Fraudulent Student Visas (CBSA investigations, Letters of Acceptance), Irregular migration and asylum (Roxham Road, human smuggling), enforcement and tracking of Entry/Exit

CIMM undertakings – March 6, 2026 appearance

Detention capacity changes

Question (excerpt from the meeting transcript)

Fred Davies (Niagara South, CPC):. Mr. Bush, I'm told that up to 50% of the detention capacity at CBSA has been reduced recently. Is this true?

Brett Bush: There's always work trying to ensure that we have the correct capacity to detain who we need to detain.

Fred Davies: I wonder if you would undertake to table with this committee the locations and the data on capacity reductions that have taken place over the last year.

Brett Bush: Sure.

Response

Between 2023 and 2025, agreements with provinces to house high-risk detainees came to an end, requiring the CBSA to take these individuals under their own care and control within its own facilities. The changing nature of the detention population required the Canada Border Services Agency to retrofit its immigration holding centres and operationalize Canada's first Designated Immigrant Station (DIS) within the federal correctional complex in Saint-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec. The immigration holding centre retrofits, along with the operationalization of the Designated Immigrant Station (July 2025), provided key upgrades to safely accommodate higher risk detainees at the immigration holding centres by increasing facility security standards to align with Correctional Service Canada's technical specifications for medium-security prisons.

The projects were rolled out using a phased approach to ensure minimal disruption to ongoing operations and also to allow incremental capacity increases as the retrofit work progressed. The phased strategy supported operational continuity and provided flexibility to address unforeseen challenges during construction. Construction started in the Greater Toronto and Laval Immigration Holding Centres, completing in October 2025 and January 2026 respectively. The designated immigrant station became operational on July 29, 2025. With construction at all sites now complete the Canada Border Services Agency can now safely house individuals of all risk levels. The total bed capacity is now 397 (292 low-to-medium risk beds and 105 high risk beds).

Detention/Removals

Question (excerpt from the meeting transcript)

Fred Davies: I would again ask for an undertaking from you to provide the committee with some data on the number of people who have been in detention, awaiting deportation, who have been released back into the community prior to deportation.
I'd also like to follow up and ask if you have any data on those people who were released and who actually were then deported—or are they still effectively at large hiding in Canada?

Brett Bush: I don't have that with me today, no. Obviously I don't have the data on that series of questions, so, yes, we can undertake to get that for you.

Response

In 2023, 2024 and 2025, 8,743 individuals subject to a removal order were released from immigration detention.

Of those, 5,089 have already been removed from Canada while 3,382 remain in the Removal Inventory at different stages of the enforcement continuum. These two numbers are not meant to be added together and the Agency is unable to report on cases that have been closed off and taken out of the Removal Inventory for reasons other than removal. Reasons may include, but are not limited to, cases where the removal order has been voided through the granting of permanent resident status; the passing of the foreign national, etc.

Of the 3,382 cases in the Removal Inventory, 445 individuals have failed to appear for removal proceedings and the CBSA is working to locate them. There are also 584 individuals that cannot currently be removed due to legislative stays. These include, but are not limited to, pending Federal Court appeals, criminal charges, or Pre-Removal Risk Assessments, and sentences of imprisonment.

The remaining 2,353 cases are in the Removal in Progress inventory being processed for removal. Of these, 285 have pending impediments that must be resolved in order for the removal to proceed. The lack of travel documents remains the main impediment to removal impacting 249 cases. Other impediments include, but are not limited to, medical challenges and family members that are dependants of convention refugees.

The remaining cases are being processed for removal, which includes the scheduling of flights, seeking authorization from airlines to board the individual, authorization from foreign countries to transit, and authorization for the foreign national to enter upon arrival in the destination country.

This information is updated and available on our website: Immigration removal statistics.

1000 officers

Question (excerpt from the meeting transcript)

Fred Davies: I want to go in a different direction here. The minister touted last week that the first cohort of graduates of the new 1,000 Canada Border Services Agency officers had taken place. Do you know if it was actually 1,000 people who were graduated in that first cohort?

Brett Bush: I don't know the number of the cohort that graduated last week, so I apologize.

Fred Davies: Would you know what the actual capacity is for training new Canada Border Services Agency officers at any given time? I would suggest it's much less than 1,000.

Brett Bush: I think that is true but I'd have to take that away. To answer your question, I'd have to get that for you.

Fred Davies: I would appreciate that.

Within the confines of this recent graduation, would it be unfair to suggest that that cohort is simply filling gaps in the system that take place on a normal basis year-over-year?

Brett Bush: Since I don't know the number, I can't answer that question.

Fred Davies: Do you know what your turnover is every year in pure numbers at the Canada Border Services Agency?

Brett Bush: No, I don't.

Response

Force Generation

The Canada Border Services Agency frontline is comprised of more than 8,500 frontline personnel.

Over the last 6 years, the average turnover of Border Services Officers is 360 annually. This includes both internal (for example, internal promotions) and external (for example, retirements, moving to other organizations) attrition.

The Canada Border Services Agency College can train up to 720 recruits per year at its main campus in Rigaud, Quebec. This represents 10 cohorts of 72 recruits starting training every 5 weeks. If required, it can also use the Chilliwack Satellite Campus in British Columbia to train an additional more than 30 recruits per cohort, as required.

Budget 2025 and the Border Plan

The Canada Border Services Agency is implementing its plan to hire 1,000 new officers by 2028/29 under Budget 2025 and the Border Plan.

The Canada Border Services Agency will hire approximately 80% of the new officer complement as Border Services Officers to be trained at the Canada Border Services Agency College and deployed to ports of entry across Canada. It will also hire approximately 20% of the officer complement from across other operational roles such as trade officers, targeting officers, inland enforcement officers, criminal investigators, intelligence officers, chemists, engineers and international liaison officers.

The Canada Border Services Agency's progress to date for this initiative:

• 36 Border Services Officer recruits started their training in October 2025 and 28 graduated on February 27, 2026
• 18 Border Services Officer recruits, alongside 3 Detector Dog teams, started their training in November 2025 and are expected to graduate on April 2, 2026
• 36 Border Services Officer recruits started their training in January 2026 and are expected to graduate on May 8, 2026

The Canada Border Services Agency will run up to 10 cohorts per year to deliver on commitments in the 2025 Budget and the Border Plan by 2028-2029.

Deportation of Seyed Salman Samani

Question (excerpt from the meeting transcript)

Vincent Ho: But there could be some changes that could speed up removals?
Lastly, I'm just going to ask, Iran's Deputy Interior Minister, which was found in Canada, Seyed Salman Samani, has he been removed yet?

Brett Bush: I honestly don't know.

Vincent Ho: He's been ordered deported a couple of years back, and he's a pretty high profile figure. It's all over the news. Has he been deported?

Brett Bush: I think I just answered that question, Madam Chair. I don't know

[…]

Brad Redekopp: My first question is for Mr. Bush and CBSA. We were talking about Seyed Salman Samani. You indicated previously to my colleague that you don't know if he's been deported or not. I think it's a very relevant question that a lot of Canadians and this committee are wondering about. I'm wondering if you can find an answer to that question and table it with this committee by the end of the week. It should be a fairly easy thing to find out. Is that something you can do?

Brett Bush: I can take that back to the agency and have my colleagues who are responsible for that provide a response

Response

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states that removal orders must be enforced as soon as possible and the Canada Border Services Agency is firmly committed to doing so. Protecting the safety and security of Canadians is a top priority for the Canada Border Services Agency and those inadmissible on safety and security grounds, including for national security reasons, organized crime, crimes against humanity and criminals are the top priority.

However, the existence of a removal order does not automatically mean that the Canada Border Services Agency is in a position to immediately remove someone from the country. There are a number of legal and administrative processes that must be addressed before the Agency is in a position to undertake a removal. Once all legal avenues have been exhausted, the Canada Border Services Agency can begin the removal process.

The Agency can confirm that Mr. Samani is currently being processed for removal from Canada. The Privacy Act precludes the Canada Border Services Agency from providing detailed information.

New mechanisms for security reviews and screening

Question (excerpt from the meeting transcript)

Brad Redekopp: I just have one question for the CBSA, for Mr. Bush.

In a different round we were talking about the war in Iran right now and you talked about mechanisms that are in place. Are there new mechanisms that have been put in place since the war has started?

Brett Bush: Mechanisms, I don't know if I would say they're mechanisms. We have the designated regime, which we've talked about at some length. We've got the designation in the Criminal Code on that. We have also, to support Global Affairs Canada and the movement of Canadian citizens out of the region, we've also—

Brad Redekopp: Maybe just to be more clear, in terms of security reviews and how you look at [Inaudible] files, have there been any new mechanisms, anything new put in place since the war began?

Brett Bush: There have not been any that I'm aware of, but I can take that back to check.

Response

In addition to the enforcement mechanisms enabled by the 2022 designation of the Iranian regime as being engaged in terrorism and systematic or gross human rights violations and the 2024 listing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity, the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service employ a variety of techniques and tools to perform security screening. These include: detailed review of information proactively provided in immigration documents; records checks against domestic and international databases; open-source research; consultation with domestic and international partners; and, classified intelligence. The immigration security screening program is constantly evolving to respond to new and emerging risks and threats and is always considering new mechanisms to safeguard Canada's national security. An additional safeguard in place is increased vigilance by the Canada Border Services Agency's National Targeting Centre which identifies suspected high-risk travelers entering or leaving Canada as early as possible in the travel continuum.

Detention capacity at ports of entry

Question (excerpt from the meeting transcript)

Fred Davies: […]

Do you have any data on the capacity holding changes or detention capacity at border crossings in Canada that are fully within your jurisdiction? Has that changed in the last year? Are there any detention capacity reductions at border crossings in Canada?

Brett Bush: If I can clarify the question, it's whether we have changed our ability at any of our border crossings to detain people while they're crossing the border.

Fred Davies: Has there been any capacity changes in detention capacity? Say, for example, at the Peace Bridge, has that capacity decreased in the last year?

Brett Bush: I will simply say not that I'm aware of, but I would have to take that back to confirm.

Response

The Canada Border Services Agency's detention capacity at ports of entry has not changed over the past year. The Agency has a planned increase by end of fiscal year 2026/2027 as a result of the Air Cargo Terminal expansion at the Vancouver International Airport. One wet cell will be added at the Air Cargo once operationalized.