Proven Leadership on Citizenship

September 18, 2015 – Toronto, Ontario – More immigrants became citizens under Stephen Harper’s Conservative Government last year than ever before in Canadian history and citizenship applications are now being processed in under a year, announced the Honourable Jason Kenney.

“Conservatives recognize and value the important contributions of newcomers to building a stronger economy and a better country,” said Jason Kenney.  “This is in stark contrast to the old Liberal Government who took newcomers for granted and left close to a million immigrants waiting for years and years to get their applications processed.  A re-elected Conservative Government will continue to make processing times even faster.”

Get The Facts — Leadership on Immigration

A record high of 262,625 immigrants received their Canadian citizenship last year, an increase of 32% compared to 2005. Since Stephen Harper’s Conservative government was first elected in 2006, over 1.6 million immigrants to Canada have received their Canadian citizenship.

Citizenship applications are now being processed in under a year, compared to over a year and half under the Liberals. Faster processing times are as a result of Conservative government investments that funded better technology and increased processing staff, as well as changes in Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, that make the system more efficient than ever before.

“By opposing Bill C-24, the Liberals and NDP voted against faster citizenship processing times,” said Kenney.  “What’s worse is that Thomas Mulcair and Justin voted against stripping citizenship from convicted terrorists.  They are  misleading Canadians in a campaign of fear.  But the overwhelming majority of Canadians, including new Canadians, believe that someone who violently repudiates their loyalty to Canada should not be able to retain their Canadian citizenship.”

Kenney pointed out that the revocation of citizenship measures in Bill C-24 only apply to dual citizens convicted of terrorism, treason, or engaging in armed conflict against Canada, regardless of whether they were born in Canada or not.   Furthermore, Bill C-24 does not impact Canadian citizens from countries that do not allow dual citizenship, such as China or India.

By repealing Bill C-24, the Liberals and NDP would: remove regulation of immigration consultants, remove penalties for those convicted of citizenship fraud, and let convicted terrorists keep their citizenship while revoking it from the remaining “lost Canadians.”