Story perspectives

Bill C-12 Bars Late Asylum Claims, Affects 30 K Applicants

5/13/2026

Summary

Story summary

Bill C-12, passed in March 2026, retroactively bars asylum claims filed more than a year after arrival, affecting 30,000 pending claimants.
Ahmed, a Pakistani former student, received a procedural fairness letter that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says is not a deportation notice.
Immigration lawyers say the law disproportionately harms 2SLGBTQ+ claimants and gender-based violence survivors, noting that six weeks after passage the government has not issued unaccompanied-minor exemption regulations.

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Story summary

Bill C-12, passed in March 2026, retroactively bars asylum claims filed more than a year after arrival, affecting 30,000 pending claimants.
Ahmed, a Pakistani former student, received a procedural fairness letter that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says is not a deportation notice.
Immigration lawyers say the law disproportionately harms 2SLGBTQ+ claimants and gender-based violence survivors, noting that six weeks after passage the government has not issued unaccompanied-minor exemption regulations.