URGENT ACTION

ASYLUM SEEKERS AND MIGRANTS AT RISK 
In October 2025, the Canadian Government introduced Bill C-12, which would severely limit the right to seek asylum and endanger people seeking safety. Despite strong criticism of its predecessor (Bill C-2), Bill C-12 was introduced to fast-track the elements of Bill C-2 that attack the rights of refugees and migrants. It would prevent people who have been in Canada for over a year from making a claim for refugee protection that would be fairly assessed and grant the government sweeping powers to cancel immigration documents without due process. If passed, it risks violating international human rights law. Urge on the Canadian government to immediately withdraw Bill C-12. 

TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER

Prime Minister Mark Carney 
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington St.
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A2
Canada
pm@pm.gc.ca 
Dear Prime Minister Carney, 
 
I am writing to urge you to immediately withdraw Bills C-2 and C-12. These bills represent a serious and unacceptable threat to the internationally recognized human right to seek asylum.
 
If passed, Bills C-2 and C-12 would make it even more difficult for people entering Canada from the United States to have their refugee claims fairly assessed. The Bills would also bar Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) from reviewing refugee claims of people who file for asylum more than a year after they first entered Canada—regardless of whether they face persecution or torture if returned to their country of origin. A Pre-Removal Risk Assessment is not an adequate alternative to having a refugee claim heard by the IRB, as it denies people the right to a hearing, an assessment by an independent decision maker, and the right of appeal.
 
These bills also give sweeping new powers to cabinet—allowing officials to conduct blanket cancellations of immigration visas and permits without due process or individualized assessments, simply because they say it is in the “public interest.” This leaves too many lives at the mercy of political discretion.
 
Seeking asylum is a human right. But Bills C-2 and C-12 would erode that right, introduce dangerous discretionary powers that would harm people building their lives in Canada, and risk turning Canada’s border policies into a mirror of those used to stigmatize and endanger refugees elsewhere.
 
Canada must not undermine its international human rights obligations or sacrifice fairness and compassion. I urge you to withdraw Bills C-2 and C-12 and instead uphold our long-standing commitments to dignity, protection, and justice.

Yours sincerely,

 
Additional information

In June 2025, the Canadian government introduced Bill C-2, misleadingly called the “Strong Borders Act”, in Parliament. The bill proposed sweeping changes to existing rules around border security, immigration, asylum, customs and law enforcement. In the face of strong criticism from the opposition party regarding the expansion of data-sharing and concerns about infringement on the right to privacy for Canadians, in October 2025 the government introduced Bill C-12, intended to push through the aspects of Bill C-2 related to refugees and immigration. Bill C-2 also continues to advance through Parliament . 

If passed, Bill C-12 would: 
•	Make the following people ineligible to have their claim for refugee protection referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board:
o	People who make a claim for protection more than one year after the day of their first entry to Canada, regardless of whether their circumstances changed or their place of origin becomes dangerous after arrival.
o	People who manage to cross into Canada between ports of entry and make a claim for protection after 14 days (people are forced to cross in such a manner because of the Safe Third Country Agreement). 
•	Instead, they would be pushed into a lesser system (a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment, or PRRA), which does not guarantee the constitutionally protected right to an oral hearing, does not have independent or specialized decision makers, does not have an avenue for appeals, and does not automatically prevent deportation if a decision is being challenged. As a result, people could be at risk of deportation to places where their lives and safety are at risk. 
•	Give sweeping powers to the federal government to cancel valid immigration documents, including permanent residence visas and work and study permits, based only on vague claims of “public interest” and without due process or individual assessments. 
All individuals have the universal human right to seek asylum from persecution and other serious human rights violations. All individuals also have the right not to be returned to places where their life or freedom may be endangered or where they would be at risk of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, regardless of their migration status. This principle, known as non-refoulement, is a protection under customary international, human rights, refugee, and humanitarian law, and requires states to refrain from returning, removing or transferring anyone in any manner whatsoever to their countries of origin or any other location where they would be at real risk of serious human rights violations or abuses.
The changes proposed in Bill C-12 risk violating people’s rights under international law. At a time when countries around the world are increasingly adopting asylum and migration policies which criminalize, stigmatize and punish people seeking safety in violation of their international human rights obligations, the Canadian government must not turn its back on those seeking international protection. The Canadian government must protect the rights of people seeking safety and withdraw Bill C-12 immediately.  

PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: English or French
You can also write in your own language.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 31 January 2026 
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PRONOUN: People seeking safety (they/them)

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr20/0090/2025/en/

Additional TARGETS

His Excellency Mr Ralph Edward Goodale
High Commissioner 
High Commission of Canada
Canada House Trafalgar Square SW1Y 5BJ
0207 004 6000 
ldn@international.gc.ca
www.canada.ca/canada-and-united-kingdom
Salutation: Your Excellency