After three days of debate, the Senate on Thursday passed the Liberal government’s immigration legislation but not before making amendments to the controversial bill.  

It will now move to the House of Commons, which will vote to either accept or reject the changes.

Bill C-12 aims to tighten immigration enforcement and manage security and fraud concerns, while combatting transnational crimes.

At third reading in the Upper Chamber, senators adopted two oversight amendments but rejected several others aimed at limiting asylum rules and executive powers. 

Senator Tony Dean, the Upper Chamber’s sponsor of Bill C-12, proposed to add an oversight and review mechanism, which forces the government and Parliament to collect data, report on the new asylum restrictions and revisit the law after five years.

“This bill strikes that balance, enabling Canada to deter those who would misuse our generosity and to uphold the integrity of our borders, while maintaining Canada’s proud legacy as a welcoming nation for refugees and immigrants. We can be both secure and compassionate,” Dean said during debate on Tuesday. 

The amendment requires the immigration minister to publish data on how the bill’s new asylum ineligibility rules are working, which seeks to enforce a one-year rule ban on making asylum claims.

The report would look at the timing of asylum claims, number of claimants whose refugee claims were declared ineligible, border-crossing behaviour, and how many people were blocked from asylum applied for a pre-removal risk assessment.

It would also require the minister to include recommendations on whether the rule should be changed. 

A second amendment, proposed by Senator Paulette Senior, clarifies that C-12’s expanded immigration information-sharing powers cannot apply to Canadian citizens or permanent residents, limiting provisions to foreign nationals. 

The amendment comes after a report conducted by the Social Affairs committee (SOCI) where privacy experts and civil-liberty groups raised concerns on the broad language surrounding information-sharing, and how it could potentially allow immigration data to be shared about people who are not actually subjected to immigration enforcement. 

Senior described the original clause as “not just a dangerous slippery slope” for folks who hold a PR and a naturalized citizen, but also creates two different strata to citizenship. 

“I believe it is incumbent upon us as senators to strike that critical balance that ensures asylum seekers and refugees who are fleeing oppression are not met with more oppression upon arrival to Canada,” Senior said. 

Debate continued on Wednesday and Thursday as senators considered additional amendments to the bill’s asylum provisions. 

Senator Suze Youance proposed an amendment that would have exempted people who first entered Canada as minors from the bill’s new one-year asylum eligibility deadline. 

Youance argued minors should not be penalized for migration decisions made by their parents. 

Senator Marilou McPhedran also sought to amend how the new asylum deadline would apply. 

She argued that the provision should not apply retroactively to claims made before the legislation receives Royal Assent, as it would violate procedural fairness. 

The Senate voted down on both amendments.