Canada cracks down on citizenship fraud

InvestigationAs concerns heighten over the recall of former St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Deputy New York Consul General, Edson Augustus, the Canadian government has announced that it is cracking down on citizenship fraud.

Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said he is reinforcing the government’s commitment to tackling citizenship fraud through measures proposed in Bill C-24, the “Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act.”

The proposed measure includes stronger penalties for fraud and misrepresentation (a maximum fine of Cdn$100,000 and/or five years in prison); expanding the grounds to bar an application for citizenship to include foreign criminality, “which will help improve programme integrity”; and making it an offence for unauthorised individuals to “knowingly represent or advise a person on a citizenship application or hearing for a fee”