🇨🇦 What is Bill C-2 (Strong Borders Act)?

Bill C-2 is a federal bill (not yet law) introduced by the Canadian government on June 3, 2025. Its objectives are to enhance border security, combat transnational crime, update regulations on information sharing, chemicals used in drug production, financial compliance, and amend certain provisions of the IRPA related to immigration documents and ineligibility for certain asylum applications.

Current status (November 11, 2025): Currently in Second Reading in the House of Representatives, therefore not yet law, no Royal Assent.

A "bill" is a proposed law, that is, a draft document presented to the House or Senate for consideration, discussion, amendment, and approval.

• Each bill has a unique code (e.g., Bill C-2 , Bill S-5 ).
• The symbol C- means the bill is being presented in the House of Commons.
  The symbol S means the bill is being presented in the Senate.

A bill can go through up to seven stages before becoming law:

1. Introduction - First Reading
2. Second Reading (read a second time, discuss the principles)
3. Committee stage
4. Report stage
5. Third Reading (finally passed in the House of Commons)
6. Senate review (similar to three readings)
7. Royal Assent. Before Royal Assent, the Bill was not law, only a proposal.

Parts of Bill C-2 that directly relate to immigration:

PART 8 - IRPA (Immigration Documents & Files)

• Allows officials to “terminate processing of a file” under specified circumstances.
• Distinction: issued immigration documents (visa, work/study permit, eTA, PR card, etc.) may be cancelled/suspended/modified by order for the public interest (with specific scope, time limits, exceptions, and procedures).
• Obligations to the person holding your documents: answer truthfully, present documents/evidence, and appear for examinations (including medical examinations) when requested.

👉 Note the very important terminology: “Application in process” ≠ “immigrant document issued”.

Section 8 outlines both mechanisms but with different objectives:

• Manage intake/process applications (may temporarily suspend/reject/terminate application processing).
• Interfering with issued documents (possibly canceling/suspending/modifying valid documents by order for the public interest).

PART 9 - IRPA (Ineligibility)

Additional cases that are ineligible for referral to the IRB include:

• Applying for asylum more than one year after the first entry (after June 24, 2020).
• Entering Canada through the land border between the United States (including adjacent waters) without crossing the border, and then applying for asylum after the permitted time limit.
• There are transitional provisions to determine the applicable/non-applicable dates for applications filed before/after the bill is introduced.

Conclude

Current status: As of November 11, 2025, Bill C-2 (Strong Borders Act) is still in the Second Reading phase in the Canadian House of Commons, has not been passed, and has not received Royal Assent, therefore no provisions of the bill have been implemented. You can follow the official progress updates at LEGISinfo - Parliament of Canada .

Significance for immigration applicants:

• "Termination of application processing" only applies to applications under consideration in specific circumstances.
• "Cancellation/suspension/modification" only applies to immigration documents that have been issued (visa, permit, eTA, PR card, etc.) under orders for the public interest, with clear scope, duration, and exceptions.
• This is an administrative authority framework and does not mean the mass cancellation of ongoing immigration applications, unless a specific order is issued.

Regarding the circulating information about "start-up visa applications being canceled en masse":

• The bill does not contain any provision for automatically canceling a large number of SUV applications that are currently being processed.
• Bill C-2 only establishes a legal mechanism for the government to temporarily suspend the acceptance, processing, or cancellation of issued documents when necessary, for reasons of public interest, such as system fraud, cyberattacks, or security incidents.

Note: As the legislative process may change, this article is updated as of November 11, 2025. When Bill C-2 moves to the Committee, Senate, or Royal Assent stage, further updates will be provided to ensure the content remains accurate.

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