After three days of debate, the Senate passed the Liberal government’s immigration bill, Bill C-12, on Thursday, but with some changes.
The bill will now return to the House of Commons, where MPs will decide whether to accept the Senate’s amendments.
Bill C-12 aims to strengthen immigration enforcement, address security and fraud concerns, and help combat transnational crime.
Senators approved two amendments. One requires the government to collect data on the bill’s new asylum rules and review the law after five years. The report would look at how the one-year deadline for making asylum claims is working and whether the rule should be changed.
A second amendment says the bill’s expanded information-sharing powers cannot apply to Canadian citizens or permanent residents, limiting them to foreign nationals.
Some senators proposed other changes, including exemptions for people who entered Canada as minors and preventing the asylum deadline from applying to claims made before the law takes effect. However, the Senate voted against those amendments.
