Canada faces calls for probe after CBSA

Organizations including Amnesty International Canada are demanding an independent investigation after Canada Border Services Agency officers checked the immigration status of international graduates at a protest. The August 12 demonstration in Calgary was part of ongoing rallies by students who say their post-graduation work permit applications were wrongly refused.

Julia Sande, of Amnesty International Canada's human rights law and policy team, said people should not have to choose between protesting injustice and protecting their ability to stay in Canada. The group said it was "appalled" by the CBSA's actions, which other signatories compared to tactics used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Protest becomes immigration checkpoint

CBSA media relations manager Guillaume Bérubé told The PIE News that officers attended the protest after learning two individuals were not complying with their immigration status. A subsequent investigation identified 12 individuals as potentially inadmissible under immigration law. The agency stated that those issued removal orders were granted access to appeals and judicial reviews and could only be deported after exhausting all legal options.

Mark Hancock, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, criticized the move. "A picket line cannot become an immigration checkpoint," he said. The open letter from the organizations calls for the immediate suspension of the removal orders and clear public policies to ensure protest never leads to immigration enforcement.

Root cause in PGWP denials

The protest was fueled by the denial of post-graduation work permits to hundreds of international graduates from continuing education courses at Portage College. Students say they were promised work permit eligibility when they started their courses in 2024. The refusals followed a June 24, 2026, website update from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada excluding "non-credit" courses from PGWP eligibility. IRCC maintains this was a clarification of a longstanding requirement, not a policy change.

However, newly uncovered emails show the Canadian Institute of Osteopathic Therapy Calgary, which has a partner program with Portage College, assured students in September 2024 they would remain eligible for a work permit upon graduating. This assurance was based on direct government guidance stating, "Currently enrolled students will not be affected for their eligibility for the PGWP (they are grandfathered)." A college student support officer urged students not to panic and to focus on their studies.

Contested policy and calls for clarity

Experts contest IRCC's claim that the rule is longstanding. Syed Hussan, co-executive director of the Migrant Workers' Alliance for Change, said they found no earlier regulation, Ministerial Instruction, government announcement, or published PGWP policy establishing this restriction before June 24, 2026. He acknowledged IRCC's authority to set rules but said if it was a longstanding rule, the agency should be able to show where it existed previously.

IRCC's detailed instructions to immigration officers, last updated in December 2025, do not state that programs must be "credit-earning" or list "non-credit" programs as ineligible. IRCC spokesperson Briannah Dale reiterated that there have been no changes to the PGWP eligibility criteria and that Canada supports the right to peaceful protest.

Systemic failure and demanded reforms

The situation has exposed a coordination failure between federal and provincial governments, according to immigration consultant Matthew McDonald. He called it a "failure of government communication" around eligibility assumptions that were not clearly articulated in program guidelines. McDonald called for mandatory immigration advising at every institution that accepts international students.

The open letter also demands the processing of work permits for the Portage College graduates who believe their applications were wrongfully rejected.