Overview: Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration: 2026 Auditor General Report on International Students Program Reforms (April 20, 2026)
Opening remarks
IRCC
Thank you, Chair, for the invitation to appear on the Auditor General's report on the International Student Program.
This audit sought to confirm the reforms initiated by the department to the student visa program. The reforms began in 2023, with a four‑year implementation plan.
The Auditor found clear evidence of improvements resulting from these reforms:
- Fewer student visas issued and a decrease in new arrivals
- The acceptance letter verification system was effective at detecting and preventing fraud
- The cancellation of the Student Direct Stream reduced our over-reliance on particular countries and reduced fraud
However, the report also identified a number of failures in the program, making six recommendations.
We have moved to address these recommendations based on the earliest reports of potential fraud, with a focus on strengthening the program's integrity.
To enhance program integrity, we have
- implemented a cap on the International Student Program, and worked continuously with provincial and territorial partners to allocate quotas
- increased the cost-of-living threshold to reflect living expenses in Canada
- introduced requirements for a new study permit when transferring schools
- added new penalties for non-compliant learning institutions
- changed off-campus work hours per week, and
- cancelled the Student Direct Stream, which had a high rate of fraudulent activity
Flagged cases
The Auditor's report highlighted that there were over 153,000 cases flagged for potential non-compliance in 2023 and 2024.
There is an important issue here, but not as significant as 153,000 cases. As outlined in the report
- over three in four (or 78%) were students who were compliant because they had
- transferred schools
- transitioned to another immigration status, or
- sought asylum
- just under one in four (or 22%) are presumed to have left the country
- That said, we acknowledge that some within this group may have overstayed the duration of their permit
But that 22%—or 33,600—where we didn't know their departure status is not acceptable.
To address these cases
- we're reviewing all cases identified by the report from 2023 and 2024, and flagging potential fraud to individuals files where warranted
- we're creating a process to regularly confirm whether students have left
- This will enable enforcement action as needed—as recommended by the Auditor's report
- We're following up on all cases identified as potentially non-compliant from 2025
Conclusion
International students here on visas form an important talent pool that contributes to our future labour market. For these students, IRCC's role is to make sure the rules are followed, and to facilitate their status to come to Canada.
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) rightly pointed out that during the period that during 2023 and 2024, we weren't there yet. But we're working on addressing all the issues identified.
IRCC needs to ensure that the rules are followed. And—at the same time—that the program works to attract the students we need to support our economic and labour market needs.
Thank you. I welcome your questions.
Auditor General
Good morning, Madam Chair, and thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee today to discuss our report on reforms to the International Student Program, which was tabled in March of this year. I would like to begin by recognizing that we are on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. With me today are Gabriel Lombardi, the principal responsible for the audit, and Erin Jellinek, the director who led the audit team.
In this audit, we looked at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's implementation of reforms to the international student program. These reforms were intended to manage growth and strengthen integrity controls. Overall, we concluded that while the department reduced the number of new study permits issued, it fell short in other key areas.
In 2024, the department issued just under 150,000 new study permits. This was well below the forecast of almost 350,000. Some provinces, particularly those with smaller populations, were disproportionately affected. For example, Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan were both expected to see a 10 percent increase in approved new study permits compared to the previous year. Instead, both experienced a decrease of at least 59 percent.
The audit found critical weaknesses in the program's integrity controls. Although the department introduced a new tool to verify acceptance letters and had processes to identify potential fraud and student non-compliance, it did not effectively investigate or follow up when risks were flagged.
For example, in 2023 and 2024, designated learning institutions identified over 153,000 potential cases of non-compliance with study permits, but the department investigated only about 4,000 of them. Most cases could not be closed because students did not respond to the department's requests for more information.
Further, the department's fraud detection activities identified 800 cases of fraud after permits were approved. No follow-up occurred on these cases. In most instances, individuals went on to apply for other immigration permits while in Canada. More than half of those applications have since been approved.
Our audit also identified an opportunity for better collaboration with the Canada Border Services Agency. We found that the immigration department did not collaborate with the agency to identify whether students with expired permits had left Canada. Using the immigration department's available data, we worked with the Canada Border Services Agency and found that only about 40% of the 39,500 students required to leave in 2024, had in fact left the country.
Ultimately, the department needs to act on the information it already has to address integrity concerns in the program, including collaborating with the Canada Border Services Agency. This is equally important once students are in Canada and applying for additional permits.
Madam Chair, this concludes my opening remarks. We would be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you.
OAG Report: International Student Program Reforms
OAG Report: International Student Program Reforms
Questions and answers
1. Do we have any natural line of sight on expired visas – could we pull a list of all that are expired?
IRCC manages the visa program and would have a line of sight on how many visas issued to visitors, workers, or students have expired. Currently, IRCC does not provide the CBSA with systematic notification of visa refusals for individuals who are in Canada, including refusals of extensions of status. This means that the CBSA does not automatically receive notifications that an individual may have overstayed their temporary residency or that they may have departed Canada. CBSA's (Travellers Branch) has been provided this information by IRCC when it has requested that it be compared against our E/E data to determine if an individual(s) is still in Canada and has overstayed their visa/permit expiry. IRCC provides the specific list of FNs with expired visas/permits who have not applied for extended status.
2. How many people on expired student visas have we removed – can we pull from inventory?
In 2025 (CY), 4,129 removal orders were issued for non-compliance and 1,131 this year (2026) to date. Non-compliance is a broad category and includes various reasons for non-compliance, such as visitor overstays, persons working or studying without authorizations, as well as students whose study permits have expired.
During the same period, 2,562 foreign nationals were removed from Canada on the basis of non-compliance, and 659 this year (2026) to date.
3. From extortion work do we have any idea how many were on expired student visas?
The CBSA started tracking enforcement activities related to extortion in . Since then, the CBSA has issued 73 removal orders for non-compliance to individuals believed to be engaged in extortion-related activities.
Non-compliance is not limited to foreign nationals with expired student visas but may also include those who overstayed their status in Canada or were not in compliance for some other reason, however a significant percentage of individuals engaged in extortion-related activities were in Canada on study permits.
4. Where do we intersect:
Security screening; People coming into the country; Inland
All persons who require a visa, to come to Canada will be assessed by IRCC officers. If IRCC officers identify possible serious concerns (for example, security grounds, human rights violations, organized criminality), they will send the file to CBSA for security screening. Following an assessment and consultation with Public Safety partners, as necessary, CBSA will provide a recommendation to IRCC for who makes a final decision to issue the visa or not.
Upon arrival in Canada, individuals issued visas are required to report to a CBSA officer at a port of entry. The CBSA officer will examine individual and if they are admissible, allow them entry. If the CBSA officer has concerns, they may be permitted to leave Canada or be subject to immigration enforcement. This may include detention on entry and referral of their case for a formal hearing that could result in the issuance of a removal order.
Individuals admitted to Canada as visitors, workers or students are required to comply with conditions of their entry, including a requirement to leave Canada at the end of their authorized stay. Those who do not will be subject to immigration enforcement, including removal.
5. What is our ability to detect fraud?
IRCC is responsible for the international student program, including any compliance and fraud detection. In addition, educational institutions are required to report non-compliant students to IRCC.
When the CBSA becomes aware of foreign nationals who may be inadmissible to Canada for any reason, including those who obtained a visa based on fraudulent information, CBSA officers will investigate and take appropriate enforcement action, that may include issuance of a removal order. Persons subject to immigration enforcement are afforded due process provided for by legislation, including appeals and judicial reviews, before they can be removed.
6. Security Screening data, not broken down by Agency
Security Screening Inventory
As of the size of the security screening inventory was:
- Temporary resident applications: 60,318
- Permanent resident applications: 27,454
- Asylum claims: 88,430
- Total: 176,202
2025-2026 File Closures
In fiscal year 2025-2026 the CBSA closed 106,289 security screening files (1,100, or 1%, of which were non-favourable).
International Students
As of the security screening inventory contained:
- 4,143 study permit temporary resident applications
- 80 study permit extension temporary resident applications
In fiscal year 2025-2026 there were 1,793 study permit applications and 80 study permit extension applications referred for comprehensive security screening
In fiscal year 2025-2026 the CBSA closed 1,260 study permit applications (13, or 1%, of which were non-favourable) and 10 study permit extension applications (1, or 10%, of which were non-favourable).
7. Plain language on how exit works – where does the data sit and what do we do with it? run it through the NTC? why can't we match? need to be able to explain to committee (I pulled something that came from Alyssa recently in "comments" on an OPQ recently, this may be a starting point, and shows you the type of clear language to use in an answer)
IRCC would have to provide us with a list of all students with expired status who haven't applied for ongoing status of some type. We would then run that list against E/E data. [need to explain why E/E data is not complete] We could produce a list of students with expired status who don't have a corresponding exit record - but the data would not be 100% correct because …
The CBSA uses the Entry/Exit system to compile travel history on individuals entering and exiting Canada. The system combines the entry data collected on individuals entering Canada at ports of entry or designated reporting sites, with air exit data received from commercial air carriers and land exit data shared by United States Customs and Border Protection. The Agency does not collect exit data for marine and rail modes, nor does it collect exit data from non-commercial air-carriers (for example, private planes). These modes together account for approximately 3% of passages.
The Entry/Exit data is used by the CBSA's Master Data Management (MDM) system to create unique Traveller IDs and match entry and exit records by the same traveller. The CBSA's MDM system is highly reliant on data provided by the traveller at the time of each crossing. Therefore, travellers who use different travel documents for different passages can cause the creation of duplicate MDM records. While the MDM system has a match rate of approximately 91%, meaning it automatically compiles entry and exit records for the same traveller under the same unique Traveller ID, the volume of unmatched records requiring manual reconciliation by data stewards is significant and results in a backlog of transactions for completion.
The relatively high volume of Entry/Exit records waiting in the backlog for reconciliation may cause the incorrect identification of a traveller as an 'overstay', someone who has stayed in Canada past the expiry date of their visa/permit. The traveller may have left Canada as required but their exit record is still in the backlog waiting for manual reconciliation.
8. Any thing else to say on student visas
In the work with IRCC on the MRAP for the OAG Audit on International Students, we emphasized that monitoring compliance with the International Student Program requirements was the responsibility of IRCC in the management of their program.
The CBSA prioritizes the removals of foreign nationals. Individuals who are inadmissible for national security, international or human rights violations, who have serious criminal offences or are involved in organized crime, as well as failed refugee claimant who entered Canada irregularly between point of entry are tier one priorities. Foreign national with expired student visas who overstayed their status in Canada or were not in compliance for some other reason fall under a priority 3 removal.
9. Approximately how many security screening applications would have in our inventory that are for student visas?
As of the size of the security screening inventory was:
- Temporary resident applications: 60,318
- Permanent resident applications: 27,454
- Asylum claims: 88,430
- Total: 176,202
2025-2026 File Closures: In fiscal year 2025-2026 the CBSA closed 106,289 security screening files (1,100, or 1%, of which were non-favourable).
International Students
- As of the security screening inventory contained:
- 4,143 study permit temporary resident applications
- 80 study permit extension temporary resident applications
- In fiscal year 2025-2026 there were 1,793 study permit applications and 80 study permit extension applications referred for comprehensive security screening
- In fiscal year 2025-2026 the CBSA closed 1,260 study permit applications (13, or 1%, of which were non-favourable) and 10 study permit extension applications (1, or 10%, of which were non-favourable)
10. Do we know how many people in our removal inventory are foreign students?
In 2025 (CY), 4,129 removal orders were issued for non-compliance and 1,131 this year (2026) to date. Non-compliance is a broad category and includes various reasons for non-compliance, such as visitor overstays, persons working or studying without authorizations, as well as students whose study permits have expired.
During the same period, 2,562 foreign nationals were removed from Canada on the basis of non-compliance, and 659 this year (2026) to date."
In short, we can't tell status at removal, just the type of inadmissibility (A41). We can provide the number of tier 3 removals, but it captures a broad swath of people, inclusive of foreign students, workers, overstays. That tier blends all TRs.
11. How would a foreign student end up in our inventory – would they get there for any other?
A student is subject to all inadmissibility provisions. The most common reason a student would find himself/herself under an enforceable removal order is due to non-compliance (A41). Non-compliance can be as a result of a status expiry (overstay authorized period of stay); not fulfilling conditions of study (not attending school); working without authorization (working too many hours and working off campus).
12. Do we know what proportion of people we have removed for extortion/extortion related activities were on expired student visas?
A majority of those removed to date were foreign students.
13. How many people will now be ineligible to claim asylum. Do we know what proportion of those came to Canada as foreign students?
Three main categories of individuals removed to date include: students; temporary foreign workers; failed asylum claimants. The majority of individuals investigated for their involvement in extortion-related activities are students. If a response is needed on short notice, I would say this is in excess of 75% of all cases under investigation.
The OAG report states the following: "64. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada should:
- accurately identify how many students with expired permits have not applied for other types of immigration status
- provide that list of students to the Canada Border Services Agency so that the agency can reconcile this list of students with entry/exit data"
14. Why did we agree in this recommendation vs say that IRCC an reconcile itself?
We agreed to this recommendation because we are already doing on an ad hoc basis for other custom IRCC requests. IRCC can check E/E records on a case by case basis, but doesn't have system access to do bulk queries. With the bulk, point-in-time data transfers CDO has been providing to IRCC over the past year or so approximately every few months, IRCC can run lists of UCIs against that data to see who might have exited. They won't know which of the files with no exit data actually have records in our data-matching backlog though. For greater certainty, IRCC provides us a triaged list of UCIs to be run against E/E data and we provide the data back indicating who has exited and who is presumably still in Canada.
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