Public safety minister reveals how, when Toronto terror plot suspects came to Canada
CTV
Two men facing terrorism charges for allegedly plotting an attack in Toronto have been in Canada for years, with one securing citizenship just a few months before his arrest, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc revealed Wednesday.
Two men facing terrorism charges for allegedly plotting an attack in Toronto have been in Canada for years, with one securing citizenship just a few months before his arrest, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc revealed Wednesday.
On July 28, the RCMP arrested Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and his son, Mostafa Eldidi, 26, in Richmond Hill, Ont. – foiling allegedly "advanced" plans to enact a "serious, violent attack" in Canada's most populous city.
The case prompted serious questions about the circumstances of how the suspects came to Canada. In the first special hearings into the matter, LeBlanc shared a chronology of the two men's interactions with border and immigration officials that shed key light on those details.
The father first arrived in Canada via Pearson Airport in February 2018, after being granted a temporary resident visa, according to documents tabled with a committee probing the suspects' screening.
The elder Eldidi then made an asylum claim, and was deemed eligible in July 2018. Within months, he was granted a work permit and a year after entering the country, was granted refugee status. He became a permanent resident in September 2021, applied for citizenship two years later, and became a Canadian citizen in May 2024.
The son, after being denied a study permit in 2019, entered Canada in 2020 at the Fort Erie U.S. land border. He also made an asylum claim, and was granted refugee status in July 2022. The documents indicate both men were born in Egypt.
At various stages through the father and son's interactions with federal citizenship officials, biometrics were collected but did not match any existing criminal records, and while at times additional security assessments were conducted and unspecified risks flagged, no serious concerns arose, until June.
