Canada: Former Iranian conscripts face immigration concerns over IRGC service
Former conscripts to Iran's Revolutionary Guards face inadmissibility to Canada
Isabel Harder · CBC News · Posted: Sep 14, 2026 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 14
Canada: Former Iranian conscripts face immigration concerns over IRGC service
A recent CBC News investigation reports that hundreds of Iranian applicants for permanent residency in Canada have received Procedural Fairness Letters questioning their admissibility because of previous service in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Canada designated as a terrorist organisation in 2024.
Many of those affected say their IRGC service was compulsory military service, not voluntary membership. Iranian men are required to complete military service, and conscripts generally have no choice over which branch they serve in. Some fear that being treated as IRGC members could prevent them from remaining in Canada or could eventually force them to return to Iran, where critics of the regime may face serious risks.
The case of Farzin Jafari, who completed compulsory service in 2011 in an administrative role and later became an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime, highlights the difficult situation facing former conscripts. Lawyers and advocacy groups argue that Canada should distinguish between senior or voluntary IRGC members and people who were compelled to serve under Iran's mandatory military system.
The issue raises important questions about how governments can hold the IRGC and its members accountable while protecting Iranian dissidents and ordinary people who were forced to serve under the regime.
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