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Citizenship fraud is a big problem in Canada: Auditor General

In the spring 2016 report, CTV News Canada reports that Auditor General Michael Ferguson touched on a number of issues, from drugs available for veterans to findings that showed many Canadians are not being served well by some government departments.

But perhaps the most damning criticism focused on the citizenship process, particularly with the immigration department, where serious holes in the screening process were found. Citizens have been granted legal status in Canada based on incomplete information, failure to do complete criminal background checks and in some cases, outright fraud.

The Auditor General’s staff audited a small sample of the 260,000 applications of people who became citizens in 2014. Dozens of them were found to have obvious discrepancies where immigration officials had failed to catch what was clearly fraudulent information.

Ferguson pointed out that by not adhering to the necessary checks in the system and by not getting all the necessary information required, the immigration department was not following its own requirements to combat fraud. But the auditor general didn’t lay all the blame on the immigration department. CBC reported the RCMP and border officials were also cited because they were not getting enough information or producing it in a timely manner.

This has resulted in “citizenship cheats being sworn in and receiving all the benefits, including access to health care and other social services as well as the right to vote and obtain a passport, without having met the government’s requirements to become citizens,” the National Post quoted Ferguson as saying.

There are three requirements that have to be followed in order to obtain citizenship in Canada. A prospective citizen must be a permanent resident, they cannot have a criminal record or have been charged with certain crimes, and they must reside within the country for a specific period of time.

The last requirement is most open to fraud, and the easiest one to get around because people living overseas are using fake addresses within Canada to get around this requirement. Ferguson found that many of these addresses were set-up with the specific intention of being used for fraudulent purposes.

The department has in its possession a database filled with these problem addresses. They are supposed to be reviewed and updated by the RCMP and border officials. Ferguson found that the database was missing critical information and was “chock-full of errors.” Sometimes, the same address had been used dozens of times.

As for checking applicant’s criminal records by running them through a national database, this is often done early in the application process. This means that immigration officials may not know about any criminal charges when they are reviewing the case. “It is clear that some individuals have received Canadian citizenship even though criminal prohibitions should have made them ineligible,” said Ferguson’s report.

Revoking someone’s citizenship is an expensive process, although it has been done in the past. The report notes that with proper screening procedures in place, this would effectively cut costs while protecting the integrity of the citizenship process.

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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