Evidence of meeting #10 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was number.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:55 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Was it 30,000? No.
The top of the range is 265,000. We could have been right on by holding visas and not issuing them to people who needed to come to Canada. We didn't do that.
11:55 a.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Okay.
We talked about one of the consequences of keeping levels lower next year, at 0.7% of the population, which the minister is projecting. As you have said in your report, there will be trade-offs.
Help me understand this. In the chart I printed from your website it said that for skilled worker principal applicants in 2009 you issued 40,000 visas and 55,000 visas for spouses and dependants. That's 95,000 visas. In 2010 there were 48,000 for skilled workers and 70,000 for spouses and dependants. That's 118,000. But I notice in the levels plan for 2011 you're projecting only 47,000 visas for federal skilled workers, and there's no column for spouses or dependants. In the 2012 plan the projection is 57,000 for skilled workers, and there's no column anywhere for spouses and dependants.
So is that one of the trade-offs? Should we expect to see a reduction of between 30,000 and 50,000 visas issued to spouses and dependants in the skilled worker program? Tell me where in these charts the numbers on spouses and dependants are buried.
11:55 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I don't have the chart in front of me, but we have been seeing these trade-offs among categories in developing a levels plan. The number of federal skilled workers has declined quite significantly since about 2006-07 as the provincial nominee programs have ramped up. But if a principal applicant under the federal skilled worker program has a spouse and dependent children, they are processed together. Within the economic category in 2012 we will have an actual increase over the number forecast for 2011.
11:55 a.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
These are the numbers. Will there or will there not be a reduction of tens of thousands of visas issued to spouses and dependants in the skilled worker category? That's what the numbers are saying, unless I missed--
11:55 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Do you mean between 2011 and 2012?
11:55 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
In 2012 compared to 2011 we expect the numbers to go up.
Noon
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
I think that concludes our time with you. Thank you once again for coming.
We will suspend and move in camera to discuss some committee business.
[Proceedings continue in camera]