Bill C-12 Is Law: Can Canada Now Cancel Your Visa or Study Permit?

Yes, in defined situations, but the new power is built for groups of applicants and emergencies, not for ordinary applicants. Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act, received Royal Assent on 26 March 2026. Part 7 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) so that Cabinet can cancel, suspend or vary whole groups of visas, eTAs, work permits and study permits, and can stop or pause whole categories of applications, when it finds this is in the public interest.

What Bill C-12 Changed

Bill C-12 is a large Act. Its other parts deal with asylum, information sharing, customs, drug precursors and money laundering. For students, workers and visitors the relevant part is Part 7, which adds these tools to IRPA.

An order that terminates processing must say whether fees are repaid (s. 87.301(3)). For orders that stop intake or suspend processing, the order may also say so (s. 87.301(2)).

When Can Cabinet Use These Powers?

The test is that Cabinet considers an order to be in the public interest. Section 87.3001 says an order is consistent with the public interest if its purpose is to address matters such as administrative errors, fraud, public health, public safety or national security. The words "such as" mean the list is not closed.

In a briefing note to the House of Commons committee days before Royal Assent, IRCC gave examples: suspending visas for people abroad during a pandemic, cancelling fraudulent documents after a cyberattack, acting on a large-scale fraud on the basis of "objective indicators linked to fraud", and changing the conditions of temporary residents where demand rises in certain places. The same note said the government "cannot speculate on how or when" the powers may be used.

Limits and Safeguards in the Act

• No grants or extensions. Section 87.302(1.1) says varying a document does not include granting permanent resident status or granting or extending a study or work permit. An order can restrict, but it cannot be used to give anyone a permit.
• Who decides. For orders that concern people inside Canada, the Act requires the immigration minister's recommendation with the concurrence of the Minister of Public Safety. IRCC says the decision is "not made by a single person".
• Parliament and the public are told. The Minister must table a report within seven sitting days giving the reasons, the numbers affected and who is affected, and must appear before a committee on request. Orders must appear in the Canada Gazette within 23 days.
• Status. IRCC states that these tools do not affect asylum claims and do not grant, change or revoke immigration status.

The One Confirmed Use: The Ebola Order of 27 May 2026

On 27 May 2026 Cabinet made order P.C. 2026-500 under sections 87.301(1), 87.302(1) and 87.303(2) of IRPA, published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on 13 June 2026. It shows how the powers behave in practice.

• It targets residence, not nationality. It covers foreign nationals outside Canada who state in their application that they reside in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan or Uganda.
• It pauses applications. Processing of applications for PR visas, TRVs, eTAs, work permits, study permits and temporary resident permits is suspended from just before the decision, for pending and new applications.
• It suspends documents rather than cancelling them. Issued PR visas, TRVs, eTAs and temporary resident permits are suspended. IRCC says they reactivate automatically when the measures end, and the suspension does not extend expiry dates.
• It is time-limited and allows exemptions. IRCC's page, last modified on 28 September 2026, says the measures end on 27 November 2026 unless ended or repealed earlier. The Minister can exempt individuals case by case.

Officer Powers That Already Exist Since 31 January 2025

Cancellation in individual cases did not begin with Bill C-12. Regulations SOR/2025-11 came into force on 31 January 2025 and list when an officer may cancel a document.

These documents are also cancelled automatically when the holder becomes a permanent resident or dies. In the regulatory impact statement IRCC described administrative-error cancellations as routine, for example a misspelled surname or a wrong validity period, usually done so that a corrected document can be issued. It also said procedural fairness would be extended to applicants in relevant situations.

What This Means for Indian Students and Workers

This is our reading of the sources above, not an official statement.

• A correctly issued permit is not singled out. Part 7 orders describe a group. The only order I could confirm describes people by country of residence for a public health reason, and the Act names no country.
• Pending applications are the most exposed to a group order, because processing can be suspended or terminated. If you are close to filing, read IRCC's special measures pages first.
• An order cannot rescue an expiring permit. Because orders cannot grant or extend permits, keep your own expiry dates in view and apply to extend on time.
• Compliance is what you control. IRCC's off-campus limit for students is 24 hours a week in session. That is a separate rule from Part 7, but staying inside your permit conditions is the part you can manage.

What To Do Now

For the reference version, see our Bill C-12 reference page. For permit basics, see the study permit guide and the work permit guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Bill C-12 become law?

It received Royal Assent on 26 March 2026 and is chapter 4 of the Statutes of Canada 2026. IRCC says the document and application tools took effect as of that date.

Can Canada cancel my study permit or work permit now?

Cabinet can cancel, vary or suspend groups of study and work permits by order in the public interest, and an officer can cancel an individual permit issued through an administrative error. Further officer-level circumstances depend on regulations that were not published on the pages I opened.

Does Bill C-12 target Indian students or workers?

No country is named in the Act. The only order I could confirm applies to people who state that they reside in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan or Uganda, and it is based on residence, not citizenship.

Has the government used the new powers?

Once, as far as I could confirm. Order P.C. 2026-500 of 27 May 2026 suspended processing of certain applications and suspended certain issued documents for people residing in three countries because of the Ebola outbreak. IRCC says it ends on 27 November 2026 unless ended earlier. Check IRCC and the Canada Gazette for later orders.

Can my pending application be paused or cancelled, and do I get my fee back?

An order can stop intake, suspend processing or terminate processing of pending applications. An order that terminates processing must say whether fees are repaid, and other orders may say so. Read the order that applies to you.

Will I be told before a document is cancelled, and can I appeal?

That is not set out in the sections of the Act I read or on the IRCC pages I opened. For officer cancellations under the 2025 regulations, IRCC said procedural fairness would be extended in relevant situations.