OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Lena Diab says changes to the refugee status claim process proposed in Bill C-12 are “better for the applicants” even as multiple organizations are heavily critical of the plan.

The government’s broad border and immigration bill proposes barring people who first came to Canada more than a year ago from filing refugee claims with the Immigrant and Refugee Board, Canada’s main asylum review body.

The legislation would require anyone in that category to apply for a pre-removal risk assessment, which is normally an appeal measure for rejected asylum claims.

The Canadian Bar Association and Amnesty International both argue it would set up a two-tier asylum system that wouldn’t guarantee in-person hearings for vulnerable people, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community and survivors of domestic violence.

Diab told the Senate social affairs committee today that if it’s clear an individual needs protection, the pre-removal risk assessment will approve the asylum claim “right away.”

The Senate is conducting an accelerated study of Bill C-12 to meet a Feb. 24 deadline to make amendments at the committee stage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press