Justice Minister Sean Fraser, who oversaw immigration during some of the years Auditor General Karen Hogan identified fraud in Canada’s international student program, mentioned that looking back, he wishes he had acted sooner to make significant changes.
The Opposition Conservatives have been demanding his resignation, along with that of current Immigration Minister Lena Diab and Fraser’s immediate successor Marc Miller, from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet.
“With the benefit of hindsight, I would have liked to actually change the program fundamentally and say the federal government is placing a cap on this, and letting provinces allocate their share of the cap to different institutions,” Fraser told on Wednesday.
However, he also noted that the federal government was negotiating as part of “a good-faith relationship with the provinces who were requesting additional access to immigration programs at the time.”
WATCH | Hogan speaks with Power & Politics about student visas:
Canada ‘not acting’ on hundreds of student visa fraud cases: auditor general
A new report from Auditor General Karen Hogan has revealed that Canada is falling behind in addressing thousands of potential cases of student visa fraud. She tells Power & Politics that in some situations, Ottawa is ‘not acting on the information that they have.’
He stated those negotiations were unsuccessful, leading to the federal government imposing a cap in January 2024.
Fraser served as immigration minister from October 2021 until July 2023 when Miller took over until March last year. Diab, who previously held an immigration minister role in Nova Scotia, assumed responsibility for the position in May 2025 after a short term by Montreal MP Rachel Bendayan.
A report released on Monday highlighted that Hogan found “critical weaknesses” in how integrity controls within the international student program functioned, noting that the Immigration Department did not investigate or follow up on numerous “high-risk” cases.
Hogan discovered around 800 instances between 2018 and 2023 where students gained entry into Canada using fake documents or providing false information, with more than half managing to stay by renewing student permits or applying for other immigration status.
She also pointed out that out of roughly 150,000 suspected fraudulent cases, only about 2,000 were followed up per year in 2023 and 2024 due to budget constraints.
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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Lena Diab says her department is making improvements to oversight of the student visa program. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Diab’s parliamentary secretary, Peter Fragiskatos, mentioned that a decline by 60 percent in international student permits granted will “allow for greater efficiency as far as the department’s efforts to ensure integrity.”
“The system was simply overwhelmed,” he told . “I think with numbers coming down now it does provide a pathway to ensure integrity that Canadians expect.”
This past Monday during a news conference, Diab announced plans for her department to start “centralizing” and “streamlining” investigations. She didn’t directly address whether funding for investigations would be increased.
When asked what centralization means regarding investigations , Fragiskatos responded to saying “we’ll see what that entails exactly.”
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Canada ‘not acting’ on hundreds of student visa fraud cases: auditor general
A new report from Auditor General Karen Hogan has revealed that Canada is falling behind in addressing thousands of potential cases of student visa fraud. She tells Power & Politics that in some situations, Ottawa is ‘not acting on the information that they have.’
He stated those negotiations were unsuccessful, leading to the federal government imposing a cap in January 2024.
Fraser served as immigration minister from October 2021 until July 2023 when Miller took over until March last year. Diab, who previously held an immigration minister role in Nova Scotia, assumed responsibility for the position in May 2025 after a short term by Montreal MP Rachel Bendayan.
A report released on Monday highlighted that Hogan found “critical weaknesses” in how integrity controls within the international student program functioned, noting that the Immigration Department did not investigate or follow up on numerous “high-risk” cases.
Hogan discovered around 800 instances between 2018 and 2023 where students gained entry into Canada using fake documents or providing false information, with more than half managing to stay by renewing student permits or applying for other immigration status.
She also pointed out that out of roughly 150,000 suspected fraudulent cases, only about 2,000 were followed up per year in 2023 and 2024 due to budget constraints.
Conservatives renew call for cabinet firings
“The auditor general condemned the current Liberal justice minister, Liberal heritage minister and Liberal immigration minister for allowing 150,000 cases of fraud to go uninvestigated,” said Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre during question period on Wednesday. “Will [Carney] fire them or will he just continue with the same Liberal incompetence?” “We are investigating 100 per cent of every fraud case since this new government came to office,” Carney replied. “We have the system under control.”Source link
