The Canadian government has announced that police clearance certificates are not required for individuals entering the country as temporary residents, including those with study permits.
Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Marc Miller, confirmed this during a session of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on Monday.
Miller said, “I have never said such certificates are required for temporary residents.”
Miller also said the government does “verification,” which he explained was biometrics, basically fingerprints, which are run through partner and police databases.
Miller stated that temporary residents are not required to have police certificates from their home country.
“They may be required if an officer decides to do so as part of a cascading security screening,” he added later.
Miller also dismissed the efficacy of such checks, saying, “You could imagine how unreliable those certificates would be.”
The minister’s announcement comes amid increased scrutiny of Canada’s security checks for temporary residents, particularly international students, after it was revealed that at least two of the four people arrested in connection with the murder of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar entered Canada as students.
Nijjar was killed on June 18 of last year in Surrey, British Columbia.
Of the four Indian nationals arrested and charged in relation to Nijjar’s murder, Karan Brar and Karamdeep Singh were confirmed to have arrived in Canada as students, while Amandeep Singh was also reported to have studied in the country.
Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that a “number of people with organized crime links from Punjab” had been “made welcome in Canada.”
Jaishankar added, “We have been telling Canada saying, look these are wanted criminals from India, you have given them visas. But the Canadian government has not done anything.”
However, Miller responded to Jaishankar’s statement on May 6, stating, “We’re not lax. And the Indian foreign minister is entitled to his opinion. I’m going to let him speak his mind. It’s just not accurate.”
Miller had also stated there was an elaborate process for screening student visa applicants, saying, “You check them. If they have a criminal record; they don’t come in.”
