Canada's New Immigration Law: A Major Shift in Refugee Rights

0:00Canada's new immigration law has just taken effect, disallowing around 19,000 asylum claims filed between June 3rd and October 31st, 2025. The Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act applies rules retroactively, meaning claimants who arrive after June 24th. 2020 can't seek refuge if more than one year has passed since entry, even if they left in return. Immigration Minister Lena Metalegia The ob-share this estimate with a Senate committee. Effective people won't get oral hearings before tribunal. Instead, officials will review their cases on paper to check risks back home. The law also blocks asylum for irregular migrants crossing from the U.S. at unofficial landpoints. Critics are calling it the biggest cut to refugee rights in over a decade. They worry about broad government powers to cancel or suspend immigration documents, like visas or work permits in the name of public interest, which could be misused by future leaders.

1:00The government points to a backlog of nearly 300,000 claims as the reason for these changes. Officials say they're just shifting work from the refugee board to their department for faster risk checks. Legal experts expect court battles soon over the law's constitutionality and Canada's global duties on asylum. This shift aims to tighten borders but raises big questions about fairness for those fleeing danger. That's the story for today. Canada News Today, driven by AI, I'm Corey with The Story.