Immigration minister seeks ability to track departures of temporary residents

Immigration Minister Lena Diab said she wants her department to acquire digital tools to count how many temporary visa holders are leaving Canada; the department reports almost 1.9 million temporary visas are expiring this year while more than 2.1 million expired last year.

Immigration Minister Lena Diab said she wants Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to be able to track the number of temporary visa holders who leave the country. The department reports that almost 1.9 million temporary visas, including work and study permits, are expiring this year, after more than 2.1 million expired last year. Diab said the Canada Border Services Agency and IRCC can track some travel details for individuals but lack a simple way to count departures tied to visa expiries. She said digital tools used by other countries could provide that capability and that IRCC has begun pilots of online services. Key facts: - IRCC reports nearly 1.9 million temporary visas are expiring this year and more than 2.1 million expired last year. - The Canada Border Services Agency can track who is leaving, method of transportation, date of birth and travel documents, but cannot currently determine automatically if departures are due to expired visas; manual checks are possible but labour-intensive. - In 2024, more than 112,000 people on temporary resident visas and nearly 22,000 people with study permits applied for asylum; approval rates for those groups were reported at about 14% and 20% respectively. - The government says Bill C-12 is intended to deter asylum claims made to extend time in Canada by limiting referral of some claims to the Immigration and Refugee Board based on time in country as of June 24, 2020. - IRCC is piloting online passport renewals (opened to up to 1,000 applications daily) and a digital visa pilot for a small group of Moroccan travellers to test digital travel documents. Summary: If introduced, a departure-tracking capability would give officials a clearer count of how many temporary visa holders leave Canada and could inform border and immigration planning. Diab said her department will work toward acquiring these tools and is testing some digital services, but a timeline for broader implementation is undetermined.