Canada's immigration department has revealed it maintains no records tracking how many citizenship applications from individuals with criminal histories have been approved or rejected. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada confirmed the data gap in response to a parliamentary inquiry from Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, stating that the department cannot report on applications involving criminal records that are received, approved, or denied.

The disclosure has raised concerns following last year's arrest of Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, who obtained citizenship in May 2024 despite alleged ties to ISIS. Between January 2019 and August 2025, Canada approved 1,820,495 of 1,859,281 citizenship applications, with only 2,530 rejections under Section 22 of the Citizenship Act, though specific criminal-related denials remain untracked.

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