Canada Denies Entry To Iranian Officials Under New Crackdown

Protestors in support of women in Iran hold a banner reading 'Women Life Freedom' during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, October 29, 2022.
Protestors in support of women in Iran hold a banner reading 'Women Life Freedom' during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, October 29, 2022.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has barred entry for several senior regime officials while investigating 100 who hold Canadian citizenship.

As scrutiny deepens, the CBSA is investigating dual nationals with links to Tehran. Nine cases have already been forwarded to the Immigration and Refugee Board for a thorough assessment of their eligibility to enter Canada.

The stringent measures are a direct outcome of a policy implemented by the Liberal government last year, coinciding with widespread protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, in the custody of Iran's morality police.

Concerns about Canada serving as a safe haven for high-ranking Iranian officials were exacerbated after the identification of a former Tehran police chief at a gym near Toronto in 2021.

Under pressure from the opposition Conservatives and the Iranian-Canadian community, the Liberal government, under the leadership of then-public safety minister Marco Mendicino, designated the Islamic Republic of Iran as a "regime that has engaged in terrorism and systematic and gross human rights violations" under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in November 2022.

The designation resulted in the inadmissibility of tens of thousands of Iranian regime officials, including several from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to Canada.

As of November 20, 2023, the CBSA has reviewed around 17,800 visa applications under the IRPA designation, leading to 78 individuals being denied access to the country.

Based on referrals and tips, the CBSA has initiated investigations into 141 individuals with status in Canada, closing 38 cases. Ten individuals have been deemed inadmissible under the IRPA designation.