Thank you.
My name is Catherine Bailey, and I am the immigration program manager in Manila.
I understand that the committee is conducting a study on temporary resident visas for visitors. I will therefore concentrate my comments on temporary resident applications and on what we are doing to meet some of the specific challenges we face.
The Manila visa office is a large centre for both permanent and temporary migration. Our office currently consists of 19 Canada-based officers, including two medical officers and a CBSA liaison officer. There are also 77 locally engaged staff, 10 of whom are designated to render decisions on visa applications.
We are responsible for a large territory that includes the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and a large swath of small Pacific islands.
To give you an idea of the size of our program and to provide some context, we receive some 30,000 temporary resident visa applications per year. In the past two years, we have taken over the work formerly done by the visa offices in Tokyo and Seoul, which were closed as part of the government's Deficit Reduction Action Plan. This has added substantially to our student and temporary foreign worker movements.
An important CIC initiative that will provide better service to our clients is the opening of visa application centres, or VACs. The previous VAC in Manila was replaced by a new centre in July 2013. New VACs also opened in Cebu City, Tokyo, and Seoul this past summer. Such centres provide personalized service, and in the local language, if preferred by the applicant.
One of Manila's biggest challenges is the ability to communicate quickly and effectively with the applicant. Infrastructure in the Philippines is poor, especially outside of major centres, and our clients are spread out over a large archipelago, making communication with clients difficult.
A solution that has worked well has been the use of mass texting. This not only reaches many applicants at once, but also eliminates inefficiencies for embassy staff. This tool has been successfully used by the mission in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.
Although continually faced with challenges, the Manila visa office has embraced new opportunities, such as the implementation of the e-Medical platform. This technology has facilitated the processing of medical examinations by not only sending results directly from the physician to CIC's computer system, but also by automating portions of the assessment. E-meds have been used since early 2013 by most of the countries served by the regional medical office in Manila. E-meds have improved processing times, especially for TRVs. Although medical assessments are often the longest part of the non-immigrant visa process, the protection of public health in Canada is invaluable, especially given the high rates of TB in certain parts of the Philippines.
Another technology that benefited the mission in Manila has been the introduction of e-applications. This new tool has been well received. Since e-applications were introduced, about one half of our study permit applications have come in through this channel, which has enhanced work sharing and reduced administrative effort.
We're well aware of education and employment document fraud in the Manila visa program. To combat it, visa section employees in Manila carry out regular program integrity activities, including quality assurance exercises. These exercises allow us to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities and risks. A primary area of concern remains the quality of so-called “nanny schools”. Much effort is made by our staff, in conjunction with local authorities, to verify whether the nanny schools offer genuine training that conforms to our requirements.
As I have indicated, Manila's temporary foreign worker workload has increased significantly since 2011, due partly to the closure of the visa offices in Tokyo and Seoul. The mission in Manila not only absorbed Tokyo's and Seoul's “International Experience Canada”, or IEC programs, but also had to manage an increased demand by Canadian employers for foreign workers.
This has meant that we have needed to organize and support the provision of information and instructions to clients in Japanese and Korean, the development of expertise in Korean and Japanese culture by the visa section, and the management of expectations of Korean and Japanese clients, who had become accustomed to personalized service provided by the former visa offices. Although processing of IEC cases is being transferred to Canada, which will reduce the workload in our offices and result in faster processing times for the applicants, Manila will continue to provide exceptional client service.
Filipinos, however, continue to be the largest component of Manila's temporary foreign worker program. They are destined to a variety of sectors, from low-skilled food service positions to highly skilled trades and medical professions.
Filipino workers may be hired one at a time by an individual employer or in large groups, depending on the need. Larger movements to a single employer are monitored by staff to identify bottlenecks in the process, to streamline office procedures accordingly, and to gauge employer needs. Collaboration with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration is imperative for the effective implementation of our temporary foreign worker program.
The Live-in Caregiver Program is an important component of Manila's Temporary Foreign Worker Program with its own unique challenges. It is important to note that because the majority of live-in caregiver applications worldwide have historically been Filipinos, Manila not only shares its expertise and knowledge with other visa offices, we also assist with the verification of Filipino documents.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, the many important changes that have taken place at CIC over the past few years will allow Manila and other parts of our network to streamline our operations and use our limited resources in a more efficient manner. Such change always comes with challenges; however, l firmly believe that we are making tremendous progress. Our goal remains to provide quality service to clients who seek non-immigrant or immigrant visas in order to come to Canada, while protecting program integrity and the safety and security of Canadians. This is what we strive for and what motivates our work.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.