Passing of Bill C-12 is an Attack on Refugee and Migrant Rights in Canada

OTTAWA – A broad coalition of human rights, civil liberties, refugee and migrant rights, gender justice, and data privacy organizations have denounced the adoption of Bill C-12, which became law yesterday. This egregious bill marks a significant attack on refugee and migrant rights in Canada, and has been criticized by the UN Human Rights Committee for undermining critical procedural safeguards for refugees. 

Bill C-12 sets the current and future governments on a dangerous path by limiting the ability to seek refugee protection in Canada, enabling the mass cancellation of immigration documents and applications, and facilitating the sharing of personal information within and outside the country. Bill C-12 will put thousands of individuals at risk of persecution, violence and precarity.

Civil society organizations have consistently demanded the withdrawal of this dangerous legislation, including when over 300 organizations urged the government to withdraw Bill C-2, its predecessor, in June 2025. However, these concerns were ignored, and these groups were largely excluded from the legislative process in the House of Commons. 

After a broad range of experts and individuals with lived experience appeared in the Senate to underline the harmful effects of Bill C-12, the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology recommended deleting parts of Bill C-12 that would make changes to immigration and refugee protection laws, due to human rights, privacy and due process concerns. However, these recommendations were ignored, and no significant amendments were made as the government fast-tracked this deplorable piece of legislation.

This government is replicating US-like anti-migrant sentiment and policies in Canada. As we look ahead, we are concerned about the dangerous trend towards discretionary power and the further erosion of refugee and migrant rights slated in future legislative and policy reforms, including imminent changes to the Interim Federal Health Program coming into effect on May 1st.

As a coalition, we will continue to fight back against this attack on refugee and migrant rights in Canada when refugees and migrants are scapegoated for the crises that governments at all levels have created.

Signatories:

• Action Réfugiés Montréal
• Amnesty International Canada, English Section
• Amnistie internationale Canada francophone
• Ansari Immigration Law
• Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers
• Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA)
• Canadian Council for Refugees
• Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association
• Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC)
• Canadian Union of Public Employees
• Clinique pour la justice migrante – Migrant justice clinic
• Community Legal Services of Ottawa
• Council of Canadians – Ottawa Chapter
• Doctors of the World Canada
• International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
• Jafari Law
• Journey Home Community
• Leadnow
• Matthew House Refugee Services, Toronto
• Migrant Rights Network
• National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)
• Rainbow Refugee 
• Refugee Lawyer’s Association
• Solutions Justes – MCM
• Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes (TCRI)
• The Refugee Centre
• The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)
• Uganda Community Centre Canada (UCCC)