Border bill would allow cabinet to suspend immigration documents in an ’emergency’

By Canadian Press on June 5, 2025.

OTTAWA — An NDP critic calls a provision in the federal government’s border security bill that would give cabinet the power to cancel immigration documents an attempt to mimic measures deployed by the Trump administration in the U.S.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says that the immigration minister would only be able to exercise the power to cancel, suspend or alter immigration documents in an “emergency” and after being granted the authority through an order-in-council.

Anandasangaree says these powers could be used in response to a pandemic or a cybersecurity threat.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan says the measure in the bill, currently being debated in the House of Commons, is dangerous because cabinet decisions are made in secret and there’s no firm definition of an “emergency” in the legislation.

U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to detain or deport university students who have condemned the war in Gaza.

Bill C-2 also proposes giving the immigration minister the power to pause the acceptance of new immigration applications and cancel or pause processing of the current inventory of applications in the event of an emergency.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press