Conservative Party Prepares Legislation to Strengthen Asylum
Regulations and Rapid Deportations
Los Angeles/ Nov 21, 2025
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh
The federal Conservative Party is calling for major changes to Canada’s asylum and immigration processes, including stricter rules for refugee claimants and faster removal of non-citizens convicted of serious crimes. The proposals were unveiled by Alberta MP Michelle Rempel Garner, the party’s immigration critic, during a Thursday news conference.
Rempel Garner announced that the Conservatives will introduce several amendments next week to Bill C-12 — the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act — which is currently being studied by the parliamentary public safety committee.
Among the suggested changes are the elimination of most federal social benefits for failed asylum seekers, with only emergency health services remaining available. The party also wants to bar asylum claims from people who arrive through G7 or European Union countries, and to require post-secondary institutions to share the financial burden of “fraudulent” asylum claims submitted by their international students.
Another proposal would deem an asylum claim “abandoned” if the applicant returns to their home country before their case is resolved. The Conservatives also want claims automatically denied if the claimant is found to have lied to an immigration officer.
These recommendations mark a significant shift in how asylum seekers would be treated in Canada, according to the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.
Rempel Garner argued that the measures are aimed at discouraging fraudulent claims, speeding up processing, and improving the efficiency of removals. She is pushing for clearer rules on what constitutes “serious criminality” and changes to ensure deportations are carried out more effectively and openly.
She said:
She also criticized the current appeals system, calling it overly complicated and vulnerable to exploitation. “The endless loopholes in the appeal process for questionable asylum claims enable abuse and must be fixed. Bill C-12, in its current form, does not go far enough.”
Bill C-12 was introduced by the Liberal minority government in October as a revised version of an earlier bill, after removing several sections that raised concerns about privacy and Charter rights. Still, the new bill retains measures that restrict access to asylum, including a rule preventing claims filed more than a year after a person first arrives in Canada, and granting the government powers to cancel documents or freeze applications on “public interest” grounds.
The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers criticized the new Conservative amendments, noting that many of the concepts being proposed already exist in the legal framework used by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). Toronto refugee lawyer Adam Sadinsky pointed out that a similar system introduced under former prime minister Stephen Harper — which differentiated claimants based on nationality — was struck down as unconstitutional.
Sadinsky said:
IRB is a specialized body that carefully evaluates claims, including credibility assessments, and that most decisions are considered fair. According to IRB data, 37,323 claims were accepted and 10,521 were rejected in the first three quarters of 2025.
“I would describe these proposed changes as harsh and rooted in misleading narratives,”. “Overall, the system functions as it should. Legitimate claims are approved, and those without merit are not.”
Rempel Garner said the Conservative amendments would also refine the definition of “serious criminality” in immigration law and stop non-citizens who have been ordered removed from delaying deportation through repeated pre-removal risk assessments unless they can provide genuinely new evidence.
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