In an effort to thwart immigration fraud and speed up visa application processing, personal details about Canadian residents and visitors will now be automatically available to official partners in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Under an expansion of the “Five Eyes” spy system, Canada will gain access to documents in the immigration systems of the other four countries to automatically screen applicants for Canadian work permits, study permits, travel visas, refugee status and permanent resident status.
While the move will allow the other “Five Eyes” countries access to immigration and visa files held in Canada, Ottawa will continue to retain the records of Canadian citizens.
Speaking at a NATO meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Canada’s intelligence-sharing agreements, including the “Five Eyes” system.
“Collaboration and co-operation between allies, friends and partners has saved lives and keeps all of our citizens safe,” Trudeau said.
Read more at National Observer
