OTTAWA – The federal government plans to revoke the Canadian citizenship of 3,100 people it said cheated on the process.

It’s also looking at thousands of others who may have obtained or maintain permanent residence fraudulent.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said cheats will be stripped of citizenship and residence status.

Letters have been sent to more than 600 of the 3,100 or so people to start the process of revoking their citizenship. However, he said no one has yet lost their citizenship.

Kenney said that’s because the process takes several years.

He said it’s part of a years-long crackdown on immigration fraud.

“Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” he said.

“We will continue to take strong measures to combat the industry of crooked immigration agents here and abroad who seek to devalue Canadian citizenship by creating fake proof of residency and committing other forms of fraud.”

So far, he said, federal agencies have removed or denied admittance to more than 600 former permanent residents linked to the fraud investigations.

They have denied about 500 citizenship applications where the applicants did not meet residence requirements and almost 1,800 applicants linked to cheating have simply abandoned their citizenship applications.

Kenney also said he is planning to introduce amendments to the Citizenship Act that would require immigration consultants to be members of a regulatory body, which he said may help crack down on crooked agents.