Good evening, readers.

We start the newsletter with a new audit report on Canada’s international student program reform

Auditor General Karen Hogan says the immigration department isn’t keeping up with the demand for investigations of student visa holders in the International Student Program.

An audit of the program published Monday says about 150,000 cases in 2023 and 2024 were flagged because the student visa holders may not have been complying with the terms of their study permits. Such files are most often flagged because students are not attending the academic institutions that accepted them.

The report says the federal government launched only about 4,000 investigations of those flagged cases — and 1,600 of those were marked as inconclusive because the student in question did not respond to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

IRCC makes two attempts to reach out to students involved in these investigations before a file is marked inconclusive, an official from the auditor’s office explained in a background briefing. The official said this process takes about six months.

Immigration Minister Lena Diab told the House of Commons immigration committee Monday that this is “a preliminary look” at international student reforms and she was only minister for four of the 18 months covered by the audit.

“The early audit cannot offer a complete picture of these reforms. It can inform, though, what we do as a go-forward basis,” Diab told the committee.

“The report and the auditor general does recognize the progress that we are doing to reduce the student numbers, diversify the student population and to improve the integrity of the program.”

The Canadian Press has more. 

Just a little out west, Queen’s Park will step into the City of Toronto’s role in the tripartite agreement governing Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, effectively taking control to expand its runway and allow larger jets to land minutes from downtown, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced today. 

The premier took aim at “lefties” on the city council who oppose development. “They don’t want to see economic growth. They’d rather keep everything status quo.”

The plan marks one of the most aggressive interventions yet by the Ford government into municipal affairs, and sets up a direct political clash with Mayor Olivia Chow, who accused the province of overreach.

At the centre of the dispute is a decades-old tripartite agreement between the city, the federal government and the port authority that governs the island airport. While each party holds a stake, the province ultimately has constitutional authority over municipalities, giving Ford the legal upper hand.

The government plans to introduce legislation within days to formalize the takeover. It will also designate the airport a “Special Economic Zone,” using powers granted under the controversial Bill 5 Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act.

That designation would allow the province to bypass or streamline certain provincial and municipal laws, part of what Ford argues is necessary to fast-track major infrastructure.

Aya Dufour and Barbara Patrocinio has this one. 

Also, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s cellphone records took centre stage as the provincial legislature resumed sitting Monday for the first time since December, with the opposition accusing the premier of having something to hide.

One of the many pieces of legislation the government has signalled it will introduce during the spring sitting is a bill to exempt records of the premier, cabinet ministers, their staff and parliamentary assistants from disclosure under freedom-of-information laws.

Ford, who has often boasted about his government’s transparency, said it just follows what other provinces have already done.

“We should have moved a lot quicker on this,” Ford said during question period.

“There are two groups that are concerned about it. The opposition — they should talk to their federal partners — and the media. Everyone else is focused on something else. They’re focused on the economy, about jobs, fighting President Trump.”

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said there is someone else who is focused on Ford’s cellphone records – Ford.

“Seems like he cares a whole lot about it, since that seems to be a major focus of his government, returning the legislature,” she said after question period.

CP’s also got this one. 

In Other Headlines

Internationally

In a flurry of presidential announcements on Monday, Trump first posted on social media that he had extended his deadline by five days, saying the US and Iran had held “very good and productive conversations” in recent days, then told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, that his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and close aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner had held “very, very strong talks” with the Iranians a day earlier.

“We’ll see where they lead. We have points, major points of agreement, I would say, almost all points of agreement … we’ve had very strong talks, Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner had them,” Trump said.

The Guardian has more. 

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

Welcome back to another work week.

While sifting through recent federal tender notices, this newsletter writer stumbled on a small window into the quieter machinery of government: printers.

The data shows more than 300 printer-related procurement records across 2025 and 2026 and it’s not just for equipment, but for leases, maintenance and a constant supply for toner.

A reminder that in a workplace built on paperwork, the paperwork never really ends.