Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Bill

Honourable senators, I rise today at third reading of 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, as we soon conclude third reading debate on this important bill.

This legislation came to us at a moment of profound consequence for Canada, a moment that asked us to recalibrate one of the most delicate balances in our federation, between the compassion that defines us as a refuge for the persecuted and the control, orderly administration and sustainable governance that sustains public confidence in our immigration framework.

As the critic of Bill C-12, I would like to reiterate that Conservatives supported the bill that we received from the other house, amended and strengthened through the efforts of our House colleagues. Now in its further amended form, with Senator Dean’s government amendment and Senator Senior’s amendment adopted, we will soon have a final decision to make as the question on the main motion is called.

Honourable senators, allow me to look back on some of the key things that have transpired since the first time I spoke to Bill C-12 at second reading on February 5, 2026.

Since second reading, Bill C-12 has gone through intensive committee reviews by both the Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs and the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. There, we benefited from the testimony of a wide array of witnesses, including senior officials from Public Safety Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency, or CBSA, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, as well as seasoned law enforcement professionals, academics and representatives from humanitarian organizations and civil liberty groups.

The Social Affairs Committee conducted a study of Parts 5 through 8: information sharing in Part 5; asylum-processing reforms, Part 6; public interest powers, Part 7; and asylum-ineligibility rules, Part 8. Meanwhile, the National Security Committee examined the full bill, with particular emphasis on national security components, like the Customs Act port enforcement, in Part 1; fentanyl precursor controls, Part 2; Coast Guard maritime security, Part 4; organized crime measures, Part 9; and sex offender registry modernization, Part 11. Clause by clause took place at that committee.

Although no amendments were ultimately adopted during the National Security Committee’s clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-12, the process proved immensely valuable in illuminating the urgency of the challenges before us.

Honourable colleagues, few policy areas so acutely test a government’s competence, a public’s patience and a nation’s character as the intertwined realms of immigration and border integrity, where Canadians’ profound generosity of spirit and our proud tradition of offering sanctuary to those fleeing persecution must be reconciled with equally legitimate expectations of fairness, predictability and effective stewardship over systems that have grown perilously strained.

As I emphasized during my second reading speech, evidence suggests that our system today is under enormous strain. Long waits, insufficient coordination between agencies and mismatched intake targets have produced uncertainty for newcomers and continue to put pressure on our communities and erode public trust in the systems and people in place, including legislators and the government of the day.

Provinces, including my home province of B.C. — our province of B.C. for my B.C. colleagues — which bear much of the downstream burden, have sounded repeated alarms about the housing crisis, service overloads and rising social frictions for years, pressures that this Liberal government allowed to accumulate through wildly mismatched intake targets that chronically outpaced processing capacity and a chaotic pattern of reactive, ad hoc policy announcements substituting for coherent, strategic planning.

Honourable colleagues, Bill C-12 is, in many ways, a necessary repair to problems that should never have been allowed to reach this scale in the first place. At its core, Bill C-12 seeks to restore predictability and integrity to Canada’s border and immigration operations, strengthening both administrative efficiency and enforcement credibility through practical and targeted measures.

At both committees, witnesses presented varied perspectives that collectively highlighted the scale of our immigration and border challenges.

First, government officials consistently described operational pressures, enforcement delays from procedural gaps and hearing schedules overwhelmed by ineligible cases.

Second, National Security witnesses, including government officials, highlighted operational capacity challenges facing IRCC and CBSA. While Social Affairs focused on rights protections, both committees confirmed our immigration system faces significant processing pressures requiring both legislative tools and administrative resources to restore effective operation.

Third, testimony across both committees underscored the vital need for robust oversight to balance security gains with safeguards. Privacy advocates voiced concerns over the scope of information-sharing provisions, urging strict limits to prevent misuse. Law enforcement witnesses called for precise enforcement metrics to track effectiveness, while humanitarian groups emphasized protections for vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees.

I wish to say this to all honourable senators who served on either of the committees — or both — during the study and scrutiny of Bill C-12: Thank you for your hours and days of listening, questioning and examining the testimonies and briefs presented to you.

At the third reading stage of Bill C-12 this week, we have dedicated many hours over several days to debate. We have heard compelling speeches from all sides of this chamber and bells after bells.

Conservatives supported the amendment proposed by the bill’s sponsor, Senator Dean, at third reading. The amendment introduced an important review and reporting mechanism concerning the application of the asylum ineligibility provisions. It strengthened parliamentary oversight and ensured that Parliament will have the opportunity to assess how these new measures operate in practice.

In addition to the reporting requirements that my Conservative colleagues in the House of Commons secured, the amendment added another meaningful layer of accountability. By requiring a ministerial report on the application of paragraph 101(1)(b.1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, along with a comprehensive parliamentary review of the legislation within five years, the amendment ensured that lawmakers will have the data and analysis necessary to determine whether the changes introduced by Bill C-12 are achieving their intended goals.

Though I did not support the other amendment that was adopted or the amendments that were defeated over the course of this week, I wish to recognize all my colleagues who intervened, listened and stood to be counted.

The question on the main motion will soon be asked, and Bill C-12, as further amended, will most likely be adopted and a message sent to the House, but the bill will not receive Royal Assent until both houses concur on a message.

As we near the end of a long and arduous legislative process, the urgency for necessary and important reforms should compel us to avoid delaying concurrence on the message from the House when it comes to us in a few weeks’ time. Actually, I should have said “when and if,” because we don’t know what will happen when we send the message. But the bill is adopted as amended and further amended.

Let me be clear: Oversight never ends at Royal Assent. It must continue through ongoing review, tracking the usage of the new powers, assessing whether privacy safeguards are obeyed and insisting that ministerial reporting be timely and substantive.

The Senate’s cherished duty of sober second thought demands exactly this: continuous, vigilant scrutiny rather than fleeting or episodic engagement. Only through such unwavering attention can we ensure Bill C-12 serves Canadians effectively and justly over the long term. Thank you.