Merci beaucoup, monsieur le président. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and colleagues. I am honoured to appear before this important standing committee for the first time as Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. I'm excited by the opportunity that I've been given to build on Canada's proud tradition of immigration as an indispensable part of our prosperity and our model of pluralism. At the same time, I acknowledge that with this opportunity comes a profound responsibility to ensure that immigration leads to rapid and successful integration of newcomers, to see that we stay true to our best traditions of being a refuge for those fleeing persecution, and to enforce Canada's laws in order to protect the safety and security of our citizens.
I'm very eager to work with the members of this committee and indeed all parliamentarians to canvass the best ideas for continuing to improve our immigration, citizenship, and multiculturalism programs. I know that partisanship and honest disagreements will be expressed here and in the House, which of course are entirely appropriate within our system. However, I think we should also acknowledge and celebrate the fact that in Canada there is actually a fairly broad consensus on the big issues facing immigration across the political spectrum. We should be proud of the fact that Canada has avoided some of the divisive debates on immigration that we see elsewhere and that there are very few xenophobic voices in our public discourse on questions like immigration, pluralism, and integration. I would say the differences around this table are largely differences of degree and not differences of kind.
And so I hope that this committee will be a place for thoughtful study and productive debate on how best to address the challenges that we face, particularly during these difficult economic times. For my part, I am very keen to work in a constructive and transparent way with this Committee, and I know that the dedicated officials at Citizenship and Immigration Canada are of a like mind.
I propose to overview recent improvements in our immigration programs and discuss government priorities for the years ahead.
In 2006 our government was elected on a promise of reducing the right of landing fee for permanent residence. We kept our word, reducing it from $975 to $490, which saves a family of six coming to Canada a not inconsiderable $3,000. Our government is welcoming a historically high number of new Canadians. In fact, in 2008 we welcomed the largest number of newcomers ever to Canada's shores, with half a million permanent residents, temporary workers, international students, and live-in caregivers. And with the introduction of the new Canadian experience class, many of those temporary workers and international students, and, in principle, all of the live-in caregivers, will now have a pathway to permanent residency.
A growing immigrant population also means that there are growing demands for immigrant settlement services, of course. These services help new Canadians integrate faster into Canadian society. They fund language training in French and English, job placement programs, résumé writing workshops, and so on. Since we came to office, we've invested an additional $1.4 billion over a five-year period to support settlement programs and services to help newcomers. This represents a 219% increase over 2005 levels. Practically speaking, it means that funding for successful programs like the immigrant settlement and adaptation program, ISAP, has increased from $43 million to $193 million, while language training has seen a threefold increase in the same period. This year's economic action plan also includes an additional $50 million investment in foreign credentials recognition. This will help build on the Prime Minister's recent agreement with first ministers to develop a national framework for foreign credentials recognition.
Mr. Chair, Canada continues to need newcomers, which is why we expect to maintain our levels for permanent residents in 2009.
That's why, after consultations last year with cultural communities, immigration stakeholders, provinces, territories and others, we moved ahead to modernize our immigration system with our Action Plan for Faster Immigration.
This action plan is yielding results. Built on legislative, financial, and administrative measures, we are making progress in reducing waiting times for qualified skilled foreign workers and aligning our immigration system more closely with our labour market needs.
As a result of last year's amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act--as well as $109 million in additional fiscal resources--we are now able to reduce the backlog for federal skilled workers while fast-tracking applications from those with the skills we need most on a national level, such as doctors, nurses, and electricians.
Leading up to February 27 of last year, our backlog of immigration applications had climbed steadily. In terms of the federal skilled workers stream, it exploded from less than 50,000 in 1993, to 363,000 people in 2000, to approximately 600,000 in 2008. When I announced the “Action Plan for Faster Immigration”, I promised we would reduce this backlog for the first time in a generation.
I am pleased to announce that we have kept that commitment. The growth in the backlog has ended. The backlog of skilled worker applicants who applied before February 27, 2008, now stands at approximately 515,000, a significant drop of 15%. We expect the backlog to be reduced even further by the end of this year. A lower backlog means faster processing times, less red tape, and, at the end of the day, faster immigration.
Contrast this to where Canada would have been without our plan had Parliament continued to let the backlog grow. Had we not taken action, official department projections indicate that the backlog of skilled workers and their families who were already in the system waiting to be processed would have reached 700,000 cases by next year, representing a rise of 15% rather than a cut of 15%.
We are also working to ensure that other streams of immigration work better. We have expanded our provincial nominee programs, creating greater flexibility and a closer alignment of our immigration intake with our regional economic needs. It's important to note that other avenues, such as provincial nominee programs, are open to those who do not fall within the priority occupations identified in the ministerial instructions under the action plan.
We have also created the exciting new Canadian experience class, which now provides a pathway to permanent residency, and eventually citizenship, for international students and qualified temporary foreign workers. As a result, it makes Canada more competitive as we seek to attract the best and the brightest.
Mr. Chair, our government is also upholding Canada's humanitarian obligations to refugees and the United Nations continues to call our system a model for other nations.
But our system still faces challenges. Two key concerns have been the lengthy times required to process claims and the number of vacancies at the Immigration and Refugee Board.
This is why, in January, I announced appointments of 13 members and three reappointed members to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. I am optimistic that this will serve to improve the processing times for refugee claims.
I also anticipate that there will be a very large number of additional appointments in the very near future.
On a related note, I have reviewed with great interest the committee's hearings in the last Parliament on the issue of Iraqi refugees. I've always been a passionate supporter of the humanitarian dimension of our immigration system. This is something I'm keen on strengthening as Minister of Immigration.
Last year, our government, at the behest of the UNHCR, committed to increase by more than 50% the number of resettled refugees from the Middle East in response to the Iraqi refugee crisis. I'm happy to announce further increases today. I have instructed my officials to increase the number of privately sponsored refugees that Canada will accept from its mission at Damascus by at least 1,300 persons for 2009. We chose Damascus because that's where the majority of Iraqi refugees apply. Thus, in 2009, Canada will resettle approximately 2,500 refugees under its private sponsorship program and 1,400 through the government-assisted refugees program through the Damascus mission. This represents a fourfold increase over 2005, when approximately 800 Iraqi refugees were accepted under both programs combined. It also means that Canada is welcoming more Iraqi refugees to this country than any other country in the world, except the United States.
Last month, I travelled to Pakistan and India, where I witnessed first-hand the operations of some of our country's busiest visa offices. Along with the professionalism and dedication of these officers, I was impressed with their attention to security matters.
Such attention is crucial, so that we do not admit visa applicants who could pose a threat to this country and so that we weed out unscrupulous applicants who might use phony documents or claims to support their applications.
We will also work to ensure the legitimacy of immigration representatives around the world, to expand warnings about these fraudulent representatives and to combat illegal activities such as human trafficking.
I would welcome the committee to examine these complex matters and provide me with input on how we might best address them.
Mr. Chair, each year, we grant citizenship to more than 200,000 people from around the world. But citizenship is not the end of their story. It is another chapter, as these people take on the rights that citizenship affords them and the responsibilities that go with it.
That is why the government has decided to bring together the multicultural and citizenship programs.
I know I'm running out of time, so let me cut to the end of my written remarks, Mr. Chairman.
The multiculturalism program will also naturally compliment the robust settlement programs of CIC, helping to advance the goal of faster and more successful integration of newcomers into our society. Restoring the link between multiculturalism and citizenship is a logical extension of Canada's commitment to promoting our national identity.
Thank you for this opportunity to address the committee. My officials and I would now be happy to respond to your questions.
