1,800 new Canadians to lose citizenship

Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney dropped a bomb shell during his keynote address at the Economic Club in Toronto on July 21.

The government, he said, had decided to strip off 1,800 new Canadians of their citizenship as it was obtained through fraudulent means.

"We are in the process of notifying them that we will be revoking their citizenship because Canadian citizenship is not for sale," Kenney said.

The move came after a three-year investigation that continues, he said. Kenney was not sure whether more people would lose their citizenship.

"There are many ways that we are combating immigration fraud and abuse of our generosity, whether it is from (bogus) asylum claimants, crooked immigration consultants, people smugglers (or) people who are abusing our citizenship program," he said.

Revocation of Canadian citizenship is a rare occurrence. Since 1977 only 63 people have lost their citizenship due to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes, the minister said.

Image: Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney