The Canadian government will now require all citizenship applicants who have lived in the country for over 10 years to undergo biometric screening, including fingerprinting and photographing. Blacklock's Reporter says the new policy, announced by Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s department, expands existing biometric protocols currently mandatory for new arrivals such as visa applicants and foreign students.Pemi Gill, assistant deputy immigration minister, explained the process during a Senate national finance committee meeting: “Today clients who are applying for citizenship, we do a name check with the RCMP as part of the screening of all the citizenship applications. What we are looking to do is adopt biometric enrolment for citizenship.”Under the new requirements, applicants who had biometrics collected during previous immigration processes would not need to resubmit them if they remain valid. “If they have not previously been collected or if they were not renewed in the last 10 years, the client’s biometrics would be taken as part of the citizenship application,” Gill added. The information will be sent to the RCMP for verification.The program builds on a biometrics screening initiative funded by Parliament in 2013. Between 2013 and 2020, the government allocated $213.9 million to collect biometrics for all foreign entrants, including landed immigrants and refugee claimants.While no specific reason for the expanded screening was disclosed, it follows the controversial case of Ahmed Eldidi, an Egyptian national and suspected terrorist arrested in July after being granted Canadian citizenship. Eldidi, who was accused of planning a violent attack in Toronto, had previously appeared in an ISIS torture video, raising concerns about gaps in the current security screening process.“The Department of Immigration has yet to explain how the biometrics program failed to flag Eldidi’s application,” Gill noted. The case remains under investigation. Miller, when questioned at a public safety committee hearing, stated, “We are confident in our security screening,” but also admitted, “I am never satisfied.”
