More than 2,300 constitutional challenges have been filed against a federal immigration law within five months of its passage, prompting the Federal Court to place all related cases under case management.The challenges target Bill C-12, An Act Respecting Certain Measures Relating To The Security Of Canada’s Borders, which Parliament passed March 12 to give cabinet new immigration powers and restrict some refugee claims.“Since the coming into force of Bill C-12 the Court has experienced an increase in urgent applications and constitutional challenges,” the Federal Court said in a statement.“As of September 8 the Registry has identified and processed 2,308 files related to the Act, all of which are currently under case management.”Bill C-12 gives cabinet authority to suspend the processing of study permits, work permits, tourist visas and “any other documents” for any period if it considers doing so to be in the public interest.A provision attracting numerous court challenges prevents refugee claims from being filed more than one year after a foreign national arrives in Canada.The measure followed a surge in asylum applications from foreign students, including some whose study permit extensions had been denied.“Some temporary residents come to Canada as genuine visitors, students or workers and then make an asylum claim,” the Department of Immigration said in a 2025 report, Students Claiming Asylum.“We are committed to preserving the integrity of all our immigration programs.”Federal records showed 32,855 foreign students filed refugee claims over a six-year period.Five post-secondary institutions accounted for a majority of the claims: Seneca College, Niagara College, Centennial College, Conestoga College and Cape Breton University.“The department is concerned with protecting the integrity of our immigration and asylum programs,” said Students Claiming Asylum.“It undertakes a multi layered approach to prevent, detect and address fraud in study permit applications.”The sheer number of Bill C-12 challenges has now prompted the Federal Court to consolidate its management of the cases.On Aug. 20, the court ordered thousands of constitutional challenges into case management after concerns were raised that substantially similar applications were consuming court resources.“These applications raise substantially similar constitutional issues and seek similar relief,” the court said in a notice to lawyers.“The volume and complexity of these proceedings are placing considerable demands on the Court’s judicial and registry resources.”.The Federal Court also suspended proceedings in current and future Bill C-12 cases until further direction.“All current and future Bill C-12 applications are placed in abeyance and all timelines are suspended pending further order or direction of a case management judge,” said the notice.Federal Court immigration cases have increased sharply alongside record levels of temporary immigration.The court recorded 5,572 immigration cases in 2017. The number has since increased roughly 400% to about 30,000 this year.The increase follows immigration quotas that resulted in 3,049,277 foreign nationals being in Canada on temporary permits.
