BREAKING: Major immigration bill reported with no amendments

A bill proposing major changes to Canada's immigration system is set to advance to the next stage, with no amendments proposed.

Should it become law in its current form, the bill will provide sweeping executive powers over Canada's immigration system to the Governor in Council, that is, to the governor general, acting upon the advice of the prime minister and the prime minister's cabinet.

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The proposed powers include the ability to vary, cancel, or suspend immigration documents such as work permits, study permits, and permanent resident visas, as well as the power to cease accepting, suspend, or terminate the processing of immigration applications, and the power to impose conditions on temporary residents.

Under the draft legislation, the Governor in Council can issue orders under these powers in only instances deemed to be in the public interest.

The bill also includes an overhaul of Canada's asylum system, including a requirement to suspend proceedings of refugee claims in cases where claimants are outside Canada.

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," had been sent by the Senate for review by the Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs earlier in February.

In the Senate meeting on February 25, 2026, the committee reported the bill to the Senate with no amendments.

The Senate is now set to proceed to the third reading of the bill at the next sitting, which is scheduled for Thursday, February 26.

If the bill passes its third reading in the Senate with no amendments, it need only receive royal assent in order to become law.

At the third reading, senators may vote to pass the bill as-is, may propose and vote on amendments, and/or vote to reject the bill.

If any amendments are adopted by the Senate, the bill will be sent back to the House of Commons.

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Although the Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs, which was the primary committee tasks with reviewing C-12 this February, reported the bill to the Senate with no amendments, a slew of amendments were suggested by the secondary committee reviewing the bill: the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (SOCI).

In its report to the Senate on February 20, SOCI proposed no less than the gutting of nearly all C-12's immigration reforms, including removing all provisions granting executive powers to the Governor in Council,  removing all reforms to Canada'a asylum system, and removing the provisions permitting increased sharing of individuals' personal information by the immigration department.

As SOCI was not the primary committee reporting on C-12, its report contains only recommendations for amendments, not amendments.

C-12 has already been subject to several amendments.

In December of 2025, the House of Commons adopted amendments imposing guard rails on the use of the executive powers, by defining "the public interest" as being limited to cases involving “administrative errors, fraud, public health, public safety, or national security.”

The December amendments also required that after the issuance of any order(s) under the sweeping powers, the immigration minister table a report to parliament providing justification for each order along with details on each order's impact.

These amendments were adopted by the House of Commons after having been introduced by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

The bill's reforms to Canada's asylum system include making ineligible for asylum anyone who entered Canada after June 24 2020 and makes the claim more than one year after their date of entry into Canada, as well as making ineligible those who have entered Canada along the Canada-US land border outside a port of entry.

Under current legislation, foreign nationals are not ineligible to claim refugee protection on account of having crossed into Canada from the US outside a port of entry, provided that they make their claim at least 14 days after having entered Canada.

In a speech at the Canadian Club Toronto on February 18, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab lauded the proposed legislation's restriction on asylum claims, suggesting that temporary residents had been abusing Canada'a asylum system: "If you have been in Canada for over a year, you should not be claiming asylum," said Diab.

Should the bill become law, these restrictions on refugee claims will apply retroactively, dated back to the initial introduction of the bill. Any claims made prior to the bill's introduction would not be affected.

C-12 is the successor to bill C-2, containing many provisions which had been introduced in the earlier bill.

For a federal government bill to become law in Canada, it must pass its third reading in the same form in both the House of Commons and in the Senate, and then receive royal assent.

Although the Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs proposed no amendments in their report to the Senate, they included observations in their report, in which they urged the federal government to furnish the immigration department with additional resources "to streamline application processes, eliminate inefficiencies, improve productivity and eliminate backlogs."

The committee also encouraged the government to crack down on fraudulent immigration consultants.

This is a breaking news article. CIC News will update this article as details emerge.

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