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Often facilitated by immigration consultants, this type of fraud has allowed foreigners to sponsor relatives and qualify for Canadian passports, benefits and the right to vote — all without ever having lived in Canada for any significant period.

Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, announced the new figures on Monday. He said officials were stripping 3,100 Canadians of their citizenship for fraud (200 more than the 2,900 identified by a government source before the announcement).

Another 500 citizenship applications have been turned down and 2,500 have been flagged for “concerns,” Mr. Kenney said. Almost 1,500 applicants “linked to investigations” have abandoned their citizenship applications. “We will not stand by and allow people to lie and cheat their way into becoming citizens,” he said.

The announcement comes nine months after Mr. Kenney said his department was working with the Canada Border Services Agency and RCMP to combat the problem, and vowed to prosecute those involved and strip them of their Canadian status.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that a percentage of applicants from the Middle East obtain permanent resident status, then Canadian citizenship, with the goal of acquiring a second passport as insurance

Since then, dozens of charges have been laid, mostly against immigration consultants accused of helping clients defraud the government. Mr. Kenney has said consultants were collecting “upwards of $25,000” per family for this service, making it a multi-million dollar racket.

At least 5,000 of the 11,000 now under investigation are permanent residents suspected of committing residence fraud, which occurs when an immigrant claims to have moved to Canada but actually continues to live abroad.