The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
The Gazette — ‘Complicit with a totalitarian regime’: Canada’s border rules are landing asylum seekers in ICE detention
Canadian authorities have returned more than 1,600 asylum seekers to the United States in 2025 without hearing their case for refugee protection, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Many have landed in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. The removals are a product of the longstanding Safe Third Country Agreement, which requires anyone seeking refugee protection in Canada or the U.S. to claim asylum in the first of the two countries they reach.
La Voix de l’Est — Ces travailleurs étrangers qui nous nourrissent
L’agriculture est souvent une histoire de famille. Les fermes passent de génération en génération. Mais cette transmission familiale ne touche pas que les propriétaires. Elle concerne aussi les nombreux travailleurs venus de l’étranger.À Saint-Jean-de-l’Île-d’Orléans, la Ferme Onésime Pouliot cultive fraises et framboises sur plus de 200 hectares. L’entreprise embauche plus de 300 travailleurs étrangers, majoritairement saisonniers. Ils arrivent en avril et repartent à la fin de l’automne. Certains sont des travailleurs temporaires, avec l’espoir de décrocher leur résidence permanente.
Radio-Canada — Experts warn of Bill C-2 as ’anti-refugee’ and ’anti-immigrant’ giving Canada ’unchecked powers’ like the U.S.
Bill C-2 gives power to pause, cancel and suspend immigration documents. Many experts and community groups working with newcomers in Canada agree. They are calling the Liberal government’s sweeping new legislation, Bill C-2 or the Strong Borders Act, anti-immigrant and anti-refugee, and say they hoping the legislation does not become law. The legislation proposes changes to a number of laws including the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Specifically it allows officials to cancel, suspend or change immigration documents immediately, pause the acceptance of new applications and cancel applications already in process if deemed in the public interest.
CTV News — Liberals introduce ‘citizenship by descent’ legislation
New legislation introduced today would extend citizenship by descent rules beyond the first generation. Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act, would automatically give citizenship to anyone who would be a citizen today if not for the first-generation limit. Under the current rules, a Canadian citizen born outside Canada cannot pass their citizenship to their kid if that child was also born outside the country.
Government of Québec — Launch of consultations on the pluri-annual planning of immigration for 2026 to 2029 and decisions on application management
On Thursday, the Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration, Jean-François Roberge, tabled in the National Assembly proposals for government orientations on immigration levels and composition in Québec for 2026–2029. For the first time, the Gouvernement du Québec is introducing targets for temporary immigration and proposing a responsible decrease in the number of permit holders under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Student Program (ISP). These targets are proposed in order to reduce pressure on Québec’s capacity to receive and integrate immigrants while considering the regions’ labour needs. The Gouvernement du Québec is seeking an approximate 13% decrease in 2029 compared with 2024 in the number of permit-holders in these two programs.
City News — Permanent immigration: Quebec to evaluate lowering its thresholds to 25,000
Quebec is setting the table for a reduction in its permanent immigration thresholds. Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge is proposing three scenarios: 25,000, 35,000 or 45,000 immigrants per year.In all cases, this is a significant reduction, given that the government expects to welcome around 64,000 permanent immigrants in 2025.In 2024, this number was close to 60,000. During the 2022 election campaign, Premier François Legault said it would be “a bit suicidal” to welcome more than 50,000 permanent immigrants per year. The Parti québécois is the only other political party to propose a significant drop in immigration thresholds, with a target of 35,000 permanent immigrants.
