Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 28th, 2013

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Our contracts for managing the Canada visa application centre network around the world include a very important component on supervision of the processing and management of personal information. We believe that the conditions of those contracts are being met. I do not think we need to fear the private sector when this is an initiative designed to provide better service to a growing clientele.

[Paulina Ayala, NDP, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Yes, but we are talking about a private sector that is not Canadian. These are people from elsewhere. That is what is troubling. There have already been abuses in other countries.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

In this case, the private sector is bound to the Government of Canada by contract. It is required under that contract to comply with Canada's Privacy Act.

[Paulina Ayala, NDP, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Yes, but a disgruntled worker who has just been dismissed may steal information. There is a danger in that respect.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Without these centres, it would be impossible to process the number of applications we receive.

[Paulina Ayala, NDP, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I know this helps cut costs, but there is a danger in that respect. However, I would like to move on to another question.

There is a $3-million vote in the supplementary estimates.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

You have 30 seconds left.

[Paulina Ayala, NDP, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I would like to talk about refugees.

We have tightened up the criteria so that access to the country is reserved for real refugees, but does that not increase the number of illegals? Furthermore, now we are required to invest more in border control. Illegals who are in danger put their lives at risk in order to enter Canada simply to protect themselves.

Is there not a connection between those phenomena?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Mr. Brown.

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Alexander, for the energy that you've certainly brought to the immigration department. Obviously the success with the processing times should be evident to everyone. I certainly hear about these improvements in my riding in the City of Barrie.

I wanted to know if you could touch a little bit further upon the different ways you have modernized the citizenship program to improve service standards and processing times.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Thank you very much.

We've done the following. First, we allow applicants to rewrite their citizenship test if they're unsuccessful the first time. We think that's only fair, given the more demanding test.

Earlier this year I also announced—it was actually Minister Kenney who announced it, but I have also reinforced it—a move to cut wait times. If applicants miss their test or interview after receiving a final notice, their case will be considered closed.

This puts responsibility back onto the individual. We have to make sure they aren't able to just be absent, often outside of Canada, and miss appointments again and again, eating up valuable resources in a field where, after all, we have a lot of applications to process and a backlog to deal with at Citizenship Canada, partly because citizenship is now such a popular goal for so many immigrants. We've also appointed more citizenship judges.

But faster processing is also occurring as applicants who failed their first citizenship test can now rewrite it, rather than wait for an appointment with a citizenship judge. This is a common-sense move. Not everyone does their best on their first try on a test. Since June 2013 individuals who fail the test have the opportunity to take it again. Preliminary results on retesting show an average pass rate of 70%. Those who fail a second time have the opportunity to demonstrate they can meet the knowledge requirement during an oral interview with a citizenship judge.

We are also requiring applicants to provide evidence of language proficiency up front as of late 2012, so that the assessment of their official language capacity is more objective and speeds up decision-making by citizenship judges during processing.

Over the coming years we're looking at other modernizations, such as online applications and electronic knowledge testing of clients conducted by a contracted third party. The money that is received via budget 2013, combined with other modernization efforts, will reduce the processing times.

You know as well as I do, Mr. Brown, as do your constituents in Barrie, that the new study guide has been extremely popular. Applications are now processed more effectively thanks to amendments that require this language ability to be proven.

Just as another example, under the Liberal system you were allowed an unlimited number of no-shows. You could just not show up, not show up, not show up, and your application would be.... We will not stand for that pattern of individual irresponsibility. We want our citizens to be responsible, to show up for their appointments. If they can't make one, they can come to a second, but they don't have an infinite number of options.

We have a budget of $44 million over two years for these kinds of improvements. We will also be coming forward with new measures, as you know and as we've signalled in this committee, to ensure that the backlog in citizenship applications comes down sharply, smartly, in the months and years to come.

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

How have these changes affected the integrity of the citizenship program, and how have you continued to combat the fraud that sometimes happens within the application process?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Well, citizenship and residency fraud have been increasing concerns for decades, and as a result, we have taken strong measures to detect the fraud, eliminate it from the system, and deter fraud. We have increased our focus on citizenship revocation. Just since we began that initiative, we've investigated more than seven times the total number of revocation cases processed since 1977, and there are 3,100 people currently suspected of having obtained citizenship by misrepresenting themselves through the citizenship application process. There are 1,900 individuals linked to large-scale investigations, who have withdrawn their applications, so they will not become citizens because of the measures we've taken, and 5,200 permanent residents suspected of residency fraud have been flagged for additional scrutiny should they attempt to obtain citizenship.

So we're doing a better job of tracking the people, who are often linked to organized crime, who are trying to game the system, trying to beat the system, trying to obtain citizenship without even living here, and given that we all agree that the responsibilities of Canadian citizens are as important as the rights, that is a sign of deep irresponsibility. Preventing these people from becoming citizens is a huge improvement in the system, and we're proud to have undertaken it.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Mr. Daniel has the floor.

[Joe Daniel, Conservative, Don Valley East, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here

I just want to change the subject a little bit and talk more about passports.

Minister, last week you appeared on the budget implementation act, and I would like to thank you again for your time. I understand the machinery of government change transferred accountability for the passport program from the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

Can you explain to us how this has impacted the passport services for Canadians?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Thanks very much.

First, to finish on citizenship, demand for citizenship has increased by 30% and we're averaging now 200,000 new citizens each year. So that's the net. In spite of our integrity measures, the number of citizens and the service delivered to them continues to improve.

On passports, we are driving towards even better service. It was good when the passport office was with Foreign Affairs. We're going to make it even better. Canadians expect that, as they travel more and as they rely on their passports as a tool of business and family life and communication. They will continue to receive access to the same passport services they received previously, despite the transfer, and passport services have improved continuously under our government. Indeed, service is the priority in a just-in-time passport system, and 5.1 million passports were issued in 2012-2013. And as I think you all know, the 10-year ePassport that was launched this year has been picked up at a record pace, beyond our expectations, with an 85% take-up rate and a million issued in a couple of months.

So we in Canada have one of the highest levels of service. We are respecting those service standards in 99% of cases. Since 2008, the number of Canadians with a Canadian passport increased by 20%—not after 9/11, but since the downturn in 2007—and is forecasted to reach 70% by 2013. That's a very high level. On average, Canadians can obtain a passport in 10 business days. Expedited services are offered for an additional fee, and as you know, 100 countries or so have ePassports in one way, shape, or form. Our new passport has enhanced security measures, an electronic chip that is the gold standard in this business, and we're also moving more services online, to make forms available electronically, and moving towards having more points of service. We have our passport offices. Many people use the mail. Many people use MPs offices, but we are driving towards Service Canada as a natural partner because it is already in many, many times the number of locations. I think it's in 330 locations, compared to the 34 passport offices we have across the country.

[Joe Daniel, Conservative, Don Valley East, ON]

Thank you for that, Minister.

I'd like to follow up on that further. If I understand it correctly, taxpayers are not subsidizing the application fees for passports. The fees themselves will actually cover the costs, etc. Can you explain?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Correct. This is a very important point. Thank you for raising it, Mr. Daniel.

It is full cost recovery. These are fees, not taxes, nor anything else. They are fees for the cost of the service. They're adjusted according to the cost of the service. They are higher if the service is expedited—and Canadians tend to zero in on the best value for money. A 10-year passport, which has a high security value, is fewer dollars per year of passport validity. That's one of the reasons why this new passport has been very popular.

But why have we succeeded in offering such good service on passports? It's partly because there is a revolving fund authorized by Parliament—formerly in Foreign Affairs, now in CIC—that allows the fees we receive to be matched to the services we deliver. So if we get a spike, an unexpected extra demand for passports, we can immediately improve the service and deliver that benefit to Canadians.

We do not have that system at the moment, let me remind everyone, when it comes to visitor visas. We do take visitor visa fees in, obviously, but we don't have the ability to redeploy those resources when there is excessive demand in support of better service. I would argue—on a personal basis at this point—that there is a model in the passport office that deserves consideration in some of our other service lines.

I know that your committee will be considering options in that respect.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you, Mr. Daniel.

Mr. Minister, the committee agreed at past meeting that you could be excused at 12 o'clock, because I understand you have another engagement. So you are excused. We will eagerly await your return at another date.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you for appearing before us.

We will suspend.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you very much.

We will reconvene.

The minister has left the room. We've agreed that the deputy minister and her colleagues will continue to answer questions.

Their names are before you. They are the deputy minister Anita Biguzs, associate deputy minister Wilma Vreeswijk, and assistant deputy minister and chief financial officer Tony Matson.

Mr. Linklater, who of course seems to come to this meeting every other meeting, is the assistant deputy minister of strategic and program policy.

Mr. Orr is of course another regular attendee. He is the assistant deputy minister of operations.

Welcome to you all.

I've agreed, Ms. Biguzs, that you have approximately three minutes to make some opening comments. I'm very strict, I might add.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Anita Biguzs, Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

I'll be careful.

Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to join you today for the first time. Since late September, I have held the position of Deputy Minister at the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. I do not have any formal remarks to make following the minister's presentation. However, with your permission, I will offer a few comments and thoughts on the good work my department is doing.

In addition to the very ambitious policy agenda that has been under way to ensure that our immigration activities are more responsive to our labour market needs and more nimble, I want to stress the level of effort that has been under way in the department to modernize the department's processes and activities. I'm very conscious of all your questions, on processing times, in particular.

We're very conscious of the fact that the world is changing at a rapid pace around us in terms of global restructuring, competitiveness, and the information revolution that is changing the traditional model of how we work. The objective of our modernization work has been to ensure that we are adapting and optimizing all aspects of our activities and business processes to be as effective and efficient as possible, and our relevance depends on this.

It means we've been looking at how we manage our workload, how we manage our workforce, and how we manage risk. Fundamental to this effort is making sure we move forward in a way that provides good client service while maintaining program integrity. So while it's still early days in this modernization journey of ours, we actually are in the process of implementing a number of measures that are bearing fruit, and I wanted to review a few them with you.

We've been developing new ways of processing by defining and separating the more routine and straightforward processing from the more complex through centralization of some functions. Our new global case management system, which provides a more advanced information system, makes it possible to move work across the network, which would not have been possible previously. The bottom line is that this is helping us to improve processing.

The department has also been deploying third-party service providers in the case of visa application centres around the world. By 2014 we will have over 130 VACs in 96 countries. The VACs provide improved client service by helping ensure that applications are complete, which reduces unnecessary delays or refusals.

I want to mention that I had a chance recently to visit one of our VACs in our missions abroad, and I'm astounded actually by the difference it makes in service delivery. I saw the photographs of the lineups that were weaving outside the door everyday outside our mission in Delhi, people waiting to submit their applications, and I saw the VAC in action as well. They have a service standard of a 10-minute wait time for people. They are not decision-makers; they basically help to receive the applications, make sure the applications are complete, that all the documents have been submitted. They package them, they triage them, and they submit the files to our mission. What that does for our visa officers in our missions is that they are focusing on the value-added work, which is actually reviewing applications to make decisions, rather than just doing the paper processing part of it. It's quite impressive and quite outstanding, and I think overall around the world this will actually ensure better service to clients.

We've also—oh, the time is up, sorry.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Mr. Cash.