Status of Women Committee on Nov. 25th, 2014

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Good morning, everyone.

I always go by the BlackBerry time because our clock is a few minutes slow. As we have many guests today, I would like to start on time, especially to commend and thank those who are punctual.

Welcome to the 37th meeting of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. The committee is continuing its consideration of promising practices to prevent violence against women. This is our second meeting on this study.

We are very pleased to welcome Justine Akman, Director, Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration. We are also hearing from Susan MacPhee, Acting Director General, Immigration Branch.

Joining us from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development are Andrew Beynon, Director General, Community Opportunities Branch, Lands and Economic Development, and Marla Israel, Director General, Social Policy and Programs Branch, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Sector.

From Public Safety Canada, we have Angela Connidis, Director General, Crime Prevention, Corrections and Criminal Justice Directorate. Joining her is Kimberly Lavoie, Director.

From the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, we are hearing from Tyler Bates, Director, National Aboriginal Policing and Crime Prevention Services.

I am pleased to welcome everyone.

We will begin. Each of the four groups will have 10 minutes to make a presentation. Afterwards, committee members will ask question.

I would like to start with Susan MacPhee, who has 10 minutes for her presentation

Ms. MacPhee, go ahead.

[Susan MacPhee, Acting Director General, Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

As you mentioned, my name is Susan MacPhee, and I am the Acting Director General of the Immigration Branch, in the Strategic Policy and Programs Sector of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, or CIC.

I am pleased to appear before you on the topic of promising practices to prevent violence against women.

From our perspective at CIC, we have observed that immigrant women may be vulnerable to violence in particular ways. I can assure you that CIC takes the prevention of violence against women very seriously. To this end the department has taken several measures—regulatory, administrative, and other—to address violence against women, and family violence in general, in the context of immigration.

Regulatory amendments have made it more difficult for people convicted of crimes, bodily harm against members of their family or other violent crimes, to sponsor any family-class member to come to Canada.

CIC also brought in new measures in recent years to deter foreign nationals from entering into marriages of convenience to gain permanent resident status in Canada, including two-year conditional permanent resident status for certain sponsors' spouses, common-law and conjugal partners.

CIC is aware of concerns that conditional status in Canada could increase the vulnerability of sponsored immigrant spouses and partners who are in abusive relationships. With this is mind an exception to this requirement has been put in place to respond to instances where there is evidence of abuse whether the abuse is physical, sexual, psychological, or financial in nature. The exception for abuse would also cover forced marriage cases where there is evidence to demonstrate that abuse was present during the two-year period. The exception also applies in situations where there's evidence of neglect, such as failure to provide the necessities of life.

In consultation with several groups, including women's organizations, CIC developed a process to allow newly sponsored spouses and partners, who are affected by the conditional permanent resident measure and who are victims of abuse or neglect, to come forward without having to worry about their status in Canada being at risk.

CIC also publishes a brochure with important information for sponsored spouses or partners. That document explains what conditional permanent residence means for them, and where they can turn to for help if they are being abused or neglected by their sponsor or their family.

The brochure states in no uncertain terms that abuse is not tolerated in Canada, that sponsored spouses don't have to remain in an abusive situation, that getting help is not shameful and that confidential help is available by phone, in person and online.

As you are aware, in the October 2013 Speech from the Throne the government committed to ensuring that early and forced marriages and other harmful practices do not occur on Canadian soil. CIC has been working on improving its operational guidance to visa officers to detect and manage forced marriage cases, taking particular care not to put victims at risk in the process.

In addition, the government has recently introduced Bill S-7, the zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices act. This legislation would help provide more protection and support for vulnerable immigrants, particularly women and girls. One of the bill's proposals is to render all temporary and permanent residents inadmissible if they practise polygamy in Canada. The bill would also strengthen marriage laws and further protect victims of early or forced marriage by criminalizing certain conduct related to these practices.

Additionally, private members' motion, M-505, sponsored by member of Parliament Stella Ambler, calls on the government to take action on forced and non-consensual marriage by banning proxy, telephone, and fax marriages for immigration purposes. The motion was recently debated in the House of Commons and was supported by the government.

Immigration is a powerful force for women, empowering them to succeed through access to educational, employment, and economic opportunities in Canada, opportunities that could have been limited or non-existent in their countries of origin.

CIC officers are trained to assess the legitimacy of relationships at the visa application stage. Despite our best efforts and intentions, the reality is that some immigrant women can and do face violence or abuse after they arrive, just as Canadian-born women do.

This can happen whether women come to Canada under the spousal sponsorship program, as economic immigrants, or as refugee claimants.

Under our settlement program, CIC provides funding to a variety of organizations that offer programs and services that respond to the specific needs of permanent residents, including immigrant women and their families who may find themselves in vulnerable situations. In 2012-13 more than 200,000 people used CIC's settlement services. Women made up approximately 60% of that number and close to 70% of those accessing CIC-funded language training classes.

Service-providing organizations often represent newcomers' first contact after arrival and provide culturally sensitive support and links to community and social services. CIC settlement services are flexible and designed to the meet the diverse needs of newcomers, including women, who may be facing multiple barriers such as low literacy skills, lack of child-minding, or limited transportation.

Overseas, newcomers can access programs, as well, that help them understand their rights and responsibilities in Canada and provide detailed labour market information so they can make informed decisions upon their arrival. Once in Canada, women also have access to a range of employment-related supports that help them build their skills to enter the workforce and/or advance their careers.

CIC recently completed a call for proposals for expanded pre-arrival services, which included the prevention of family and gender-based violence as a funding priority. Following consultations with the settlement sector, CIC is in the process of producing a departmental publication that will be available in multiple languages and formats, and will provide victims of violence and abuse the resources and information necessary to get help.

CIC-funded organizations provide a targeted program for women. For example, women's-only language classes for immigrant and refugee women cover issues such as family violence, spousal abuse, women's rights, legal rights and responsibilities, and health care, and include bridging or referral to other available services in their communities.

Support services also exist in the area of crisis counselling, in which organizations assist women through short-term non-clinical counselling and refer them to a variety of local resources, including police, shelters, and clinical counsellors, in addition to providing immediate assistance to individuals in violent situations.

Finally, in line with the “Discover Canada” citizenship study guide, the latest version of the “Welcome to Canada” guide states that female genital mutilation, honour-based crimes, and forced marriages will not be tolerated in this country.

Madam Chair, while CIC has taken a number of measures in recent years, we are open to exploring other ways to address family violence and protect the rights of vulnerable immigrant women.

We look forward to receiving the findings of this committee's study, which will further inform our efforts in this area.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today. We'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you.

I now yield the floor to Ms. Israel for 10 minutes.

[Marla Israel, Director General, Social Policy and Programs Branch, Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Sector, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Honourable members, I wish to thank you for inviting Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada to appear before this committee.

I also want to introduce my colleague, Andrew Beynon, director general, community opportunities branch, who's here to answer any questions you may have regarding legislation on matrimonial real property.

I'm so pleased to be here on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to provide you with information on Aboriginal Affairs' efforts to address violence against aboriginal women and girls, and of course, I'm pleased to answer questions you may have regarding our programs following this presentation.

As you are no doubt aware, family violence is an issue with very serious and far-reaching consequences impacting women, children, families, and communities. The causes of family violence and remedies to prevent it are exceedingly complex and require partnerships and the active involvement of professionals, communities, and governments.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada provides a range of programming to address issues associated with family violence. First and foremost, our investments are directed toward protecting women and children from violence.

The department's Family Violence Prevention Program funds the operation of a network of 41 shelters serving women, children and families living on reserve. Core shelter services include a safe and respectful residential environment, the provision of nutritious meals, crisis intervention, individual case planning and referral to other social supports.

In 2012-13, approximately 4,465 women and 2,700 children accessed services in the 41 shelters. In areas where there are no shelters on reserve, first nations can access provincial shelters in order to find a safe haven from situations of violence.

Shelter expenditures have been gradually increasing year after year. Five new shelters have been built since 2007. In addition, the department has been providing the 41-shelter network with a top-up of $500,000 annually to address issues related to cost of living increases.

The department also invests in prevention efforts by providing funding for projects aimed at providing information on the impact of violence, raising awareness about violence prevention efforts in communities, and offering training supports. Prevention, of course, is a multi-layered, shared responsibility and involves multiple partnerships with the RCMP, public safety, public health, health services, and other partners, each responsible for an important section of those prevention efforts.

Our prevention projects are proposal driven and community based. They aim to promote community awareness about the impact of violence and help reduce the incidence of family violence in order to support a more secure environment for families living on reserve. Examples of community prevention projects include public outreach and awareness campaigns, conferences and workshops, stress and anger management seminars, and community-needs assessments. In 2012-13, a total of 249 proposal-based prevention projects were funded by the program and delivered by first nations to respond to community needs.

In recent years, the department has been working on approaches to distribute prevention funds more strategically by encouraging and leveraging partnerships in the communities and strengthening linkages to ensure that prevention projects reach a broader audience.

I would like to share an example of a successful prevention imitative that the department recently funded.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Miawpukek first nations community family and youth support program provided theme-based sessions to children and youth to raise awareness of family violence. This program involved a family violence support worker, a mental health social worker, and a special needs coordinator at the community school.

One component of the program, healthy relationships school, taught youth between grades 7 and 12 how to deal with unhealthy relationships in their lives. The program also had anti-bullying workshop sessions for children ranging from pre-kindergarten through grade 6, delivered by mental health social workers and members of the RCMP.

We see this example as a best practice as it is inclusive of professionals, community based, and aimed at the vulnerable segments of the population. More importantly these types of projects continue to raise awareness as children progress into their teenage and young adult years, which is an important factor in changing attitudes towards violence.

In 2013-14, in order to enhance linkages between protection and prevention services, on-reserve shelters were added as eligible recipients for prevention dollars under the program. This allows shelters to offer prevention activities tailored to the needs of women seeking shelter services. The department is also undertaking shelter visits to assess capacity, address challenges, and develop plans where needed. In addition, under the first nations child and family services program, the department supports the delivery of culturally appropriate prevention and protection services for first nations children and families.

In 2007 the first nations child and family services program began shifting to an enhanced prevention-focused approach geared to working with families in at-risk situations to address issues in the family before there's an escalation and shelter services could become necessary. Measures include working to improve prevention and parental supports, working with extended families to stabilize the situation, and working with social workers to ensure other services and supports can become available.

Another key element that works to solidify rights for women living on reserve was the introduction of the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act, which came into force on December 16, 2013. This act provides basic rights and protections to individuals on reserve regarding the family home or other matrimonial interests or rights in the event of a relationship breakdown or the death of a spouse or common-law partner. The act sets out provisions for the enactment of first nation laws respecting on-reserve matrimonial real property.

The act also provides for provisional federal rules that will come into force December 16, 2014 to fill the legislative gap in the absence of a first nation's own laws. It will also provide protection for individuals living on reserve in situations of family violence.

Moving forward, it will be important to continue improving the coordination of violence prevention and protection efforts by working in partnership across federal organizations, with provinces and territories, and through the leadership of aboriginal communities and organizations. We understand the important task that is at hand and are committed to working collaboratively and seamlessly with our partners to address violence within communities.

I hope and trust that the information I provided will help inform this important task you are undertaking. I thank you so much for your time.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Ms. Israel, thank you very much for your presentation.

I now yield the floor to Mrs. Connidis for 10 minutes.

[Angela Connidis, Director General, Crime Prevention, Corrections and Criminal Justice Directorate, Public Safety Canada]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Members of the committee, good morning.

Kimberly Lavoie and I are very pleased to be here today to talk about the programs and initiatives that Public Safety Canada has developed to build safer communities and improve the lives of women and girls.

I will briefly outline the department's initiatives and will then give you more information on a promising practice implemented through the Action Plan to Address Family Violence and Violent Crimes Against Aboriginal Women and Girls.

Women and girls live in families and communities and our work at the Department of Public Safety focuses on increasing community safety and ensuring that these are safe environments for them. These initiatives fall into four main areas: crime prevention; supporting victims of crime; combatting human trafficking, sexual exploitation and abuse; and developing aboriginal community safety plans.

With respect to crime prevention, Public Safety's public national crime prevention strategy provides time-limited funding to communities and organizations to implement and evaluate crime prevention interventions that have proven successful in other jurisdictions. They are focused on four main priority areas: first, children, youth, and young adults who are at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system; second, communities that are experiencing high-priority crime issues such as drugs, gangs, weapon-related crime, hate crime and bullying; third, high-risk offenders reintegrating into communities; and finally, aboriginal communities.

In fiscal year 2013-14, the national crime prevention strategy funded 101 projects through a number of different funds. An example of a successful crime prevention intervention supported by Public Safety is the program Strengthening the Spirit: Building a comprehensive response to family violence in aboriginal communities. The program targeted aboriginal families at high risk of violent behaviour from three first nation communities surrounding the city of Calgary. Its objective was to reduce the incidence of domestic violence in families, reduce the risk of violence for children, and support the healing and wellness of families. A total of 34 treatment groups were held and a majority of participants were women. Among the 47% of participants who fully completed the program, there was a 6% self-reported rate of reoffending whereas the rate for those who did not complete the program was 34%. The total cost to implement the program was approximately $700,000 and 71% of that was funded by the national crime prevention strategy. This program continues to run in all of the sites in which it was piloted.

With respect to supporting victims, Public Safety Canada houses the national office for victims, a central resource that offers information and referrals to victims who interact with the Correctional Service of Canada and the Parole Board of Canada. It also provides input on policy and legislative initiatives, education about victims' issues for members of the criminal justice system, and networking and support to victims in their interactions with the criminal justice system.

As well, the Minister of Public Safety co-sponsored with the Minister of Justice the Canadian victims bill of rights, which will enshrine the right of victims to information about the offender, protection from the offender, participation in the criminal justice process including during court and parole hearings, and restitution. It has also created the remedial process for breaches of these rights. This legislation is intended to assist all victims of crime and provide them with a more effective voice in the criminal justice system.

With respect to human trafficking, in June 2012, the Minister of Public Safety launched the national action plan to combat human trafficking. This action plan has a four pillar approach that consolidates efforts by focusing on the four Ps.

First is the prevention of trafficking by enhancing training of our police, border agents, and other front-line workers so that they recognize the signs of human trafficking, and by raising awareness among Canadians and then working with communities to identify people and places most at risk.

It also offers protection and assistance to victims of human trafficking by increasing financial support for victims' services and identifying and protecting domestic and foreign nationals in Canada who are vulnerable to trafficking, including females aged 15 to 21.

It helps in the prosecution of offenders by strengthening the laws within our criminal justice system, providing specialized training and education for prosecutors and law enforcement, and improving intelligence collection and collaboration. To help achieve this, the government launched a law enforcement team to conduct human trafficking investigations.

Finally, it works in partnership with stakeholders to build on existing policies and tools, to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach, and to promote strong research and better information sharing to improve our methods of collecting, tracking, and reporting on data related to human trafficking. The Government of Canada is investing more than $25 million over four years to implement this plan.

I'd like to turn to our work on community safety plans in aboriginal communities. This is something I'm very excited about. As part of the government's action plan to address family violence and violent crimes against aboriginal women and girls, Public Safety will expand its successful initiative of working with aboriginal communities both on and off reserve across Canada to develop community safety plans. The action plan, as you know, is built on three pillars: preventing violence, supporting victims, and protecting aboriginal women and girls. Community safety plans support the first pillar, preventing violence.

The driver for Public Safety's approach is that many aboriginal communities do not have the capacity to work collectively to identify and address their safety needs. This leads either to no effort to improve safety or to crime prevention investments that do not target the real problems. The objective of this program is to support communities in developing community safety plans that define the risks that lead to crime and victimization, build on existing strengths, and identify gaps in responding to those risks.

The community safety plans serve as a blueprint to address the root causes of victimization and help communities determine what resources are available within the community and to more effectively target external resources, such as federal or provincial programming. Funding is not given to the community itself but is directed to providing training and capacity building to mobilize the community to find solutions to their safety issues. Public Safety reaches out to communities to determine their interest. These will include communities in regions the RCMP's analysis has identified as having a high incidence of violent crime perpetrated against women and girls.

Once the community's leadership has agreed to participate in this process and created a community core group to promote positive change, a trained aboriginal facilitator delivers a series of workshops to build skill sets and identify gaps and solutions. Ultimately, they will develop a safety plan that outlines an integrated response to addressing the causes of victimization and responds to community safety issues.

This builds on an initiative that was first funded by the Government of Canada in 2010. Since then, 53 communities, including three urban centres, have participated in mobilization workshops where community members discuss needs and resources. Ten of these communities have developed targeted safety plans. Results suggest that this approach supports aboriginal communities to address issues in a more comprehensive way. It allows communities to take ownership of issues and potential solutions and fully participate in the government's response.

Many aboriginal women grow up in marginalized situations without support networks as a result of difficult circumstances at home and in their communities. In some communities violence has become normalized, creating a sense of hopelessness that often seems inescapable. While not specifically targeted at women and children, by working with these communities to build their capacity to develop safe communities, we will reduce the number of aboriginal women going missing, being murdered, or being victims of domestic violence.

We attribute the success to date to the fact that this process utilizes an integrated, comprehensive approach to move communities from fixing problems to building communities into civil and sustainable societies that build upon the strengths and gifts of the people in each unique community. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and the strength lies in the ability to allow communities to determine their own priorities and support them to find ways of moving forward using a strength-based approach.

Public Safety will continue to work with partners at all levels of government to continue to support the development of community safety plans: police, the justice system, and most importantly aboriginal families, communities and organizations.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you.

I now yield the floor to Superintendent Bates for 10 minutes.

[Superintendent Tyler Bates, Director, National Aboriginal Policing and Crime Prevention Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I also want to thank the honourable members of the committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in your study on promising practices to prevent violence against women.

As director of the RCMP's national aboriginal policing and crime prevention services, I'm pleased to discuss some of the initiatives under way both nationally and provincially to help address this important issue.

Much of the RCMP's efforts to prevent violence against women are guided by the recent operational overview of missing and murdered aboriginal women completed earlier this year. The review provided a wealth of information on cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women and revealed a number of vulnerability factors associated with violent victimization. We're now in phase 2 of this initiative, applying the information learned from the research to direct our prevention efforts. Using RCMP occurrence statistics, we've identified communities most vulnerable to violence against women, and we're focusing our initial efforts within these communities.

We know that the underlying factors associated with violent victimization of women fall within the mandate of multiple departments within several levels of government, and we're initiating phase 2 by bringing together these federal partners, detachment commanders from vulnerable communities, community leadership, RCMP crime prevention specialists from across the country, in a workshop in Prince Albert later this year—December, in fact. The objective of this initial meeting is to share the police perspective with federal partners, identify programming and service delivery gaps, and discuss new opportunities and best practices.

It's anticipated that subsequent meetings at the provincial and local level will follow this national meeting. Ultimately, the RCMP is asking detachment commanders in the most vulnerable communities to develop long-term action plans and partnership with their communities to help reduce levels of violence against women. Public safety's community mobilization, community safety planning process is being extended to the vulnerable communities to mobilize community support, develop capacity, and generate commitment to this planning process. This is an example of the integration of our federal approach in supporting the most vulnerable communities.

Beyond our focused efforts in the most vulnerable communities, RCMP initiatives to counter violence against women span a broad continuum, from education and awareness to focused intervention and crime reduction. At the national level the RCMP is working to increase awareness in a number of ways.

For example, recently in collaboration with the Native Women's Association of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations, we distributed posters focused specifically on the issue of relationship violence, urging those who are silent in those situations to speak to police and bring those situations forward, reminding them that there are support services and that there is assistance for those in crisis.

We're also finalizing a public service announcement encouraging women to speak out on the issue of intimate partner violence and to report incidents to the police. We're planning a second public service announcement targeting men and boys to engage them in changing societal attitudes and behaviours.

RCMP members are actively raising awareness within schools, sensitizing youth to issues of gender-based violence. The RCMP Centre for Youth Crime Prevention website provides numerous topic-based lesson plans, self-assessments, presentations, videos, and fact sheets that are accessible by front-line police officers, teachers, and others working with youth in the classroom.

Our innovative RCMPTalks series is an interactive video conference session that brings classrooms together from across the country to dialogue with experts and social service providers on issues that are of importance to them. To date, several RCMPTalks sessions have focused on the issue of cyberbullying and bullying, and we're currently refreshing the RCMP's national youth strategy to identify future topics for RCMPTalks, specifically working to integrate relationship violence into this series.

We know from research that much of the violence experienced by women is committed by somebody they know, frequently someone from a current or previous intimate relationship. RCMP efforts to address violence against women therefore include a significant focus on relationships and family violence. Under the federal family violence initiative, the RCMP administers a funding program to help develop community-based projects supported by our detachments to help address family violence. The $450,000 envelope funds projects up to a value of $25,000 apiece. In small communities this funding can have a significant impact.

An example is the Five Pillars of Freedom seminar in Saskatchewan. Funded under the family violence initiative, the workshop empowers victims of abuse to stop the cycle of violence towards themselves and their children.

In 2013 and 2014, six seminars were held across the province, including several in communities identified as the most vulnerable. Registration for all six seminars exceeded capacity, with more than 400 people participating, surpassing the projected number of 120. Post-event surveys indicate high levels of satisfaction and that transparency and trust have developed, creating a ripple effect within the affected communities that encourages open dialogue for all who have been touched by domestic violence.

Family violence initiative funding also helps support YWCA Canada in developing online resources for family violence support workers working in rural and remote communities, where access to criminal justice resources and programs is limited. The online resource includes modules in key areas of the law and highlights barriers to justice for women from remote communities. The Violence Against Women Legal Information Resource was launched May 29, 2014. YWCA Canada is active in monitoring traffic to the website and will promote and update the site as opportunities arise.

On the investigational side, the RCMP's resources and response to cases of family violence are governed by policy and differ from the responses to other violent crimes in several important ways. In family violence cases, investigations must be built around evidence that can stand on its own, as victims of violence will frequently recant their stories. If evidence exists to proceed with charges, charges must be pursued, regardless of whether or not the victim recants.

Secondly, the police priority is victim safety rather than offender accountability. Information on risk is gathered the moment a call is received. The use of standardized risk assessment tools is helping to bring consistency to the determination of risk levels. The information gathered in the risk assessment is used in a number of ways, such as making decisions whether to detain or release an accused and developing safety plans.

A victim safety plan is critical to the management of family violence files, identifying safe accommodations, available victim supports, relevant and enforceable release and bail conditions, and communication plans should conditions of release change. In high-risk cases, partners such as crown counsel, corrections, probation, child and family services, transition houses, and many others assist in safety planning, victim support, and offender accountability. Training and online resources available to RCMP officers at the national and divisional levels ensure that domestic violence investigators are current on best practices, legislation, policy, and provincial protocols for the coordination of high-risk cases.

Discussions on violence against women must also include the concept of family-based honour crime. To increase RCMP understanding and capacity to investigate such crimes, we're currently finalizing an online course specifically on honour-based violence and forced marriage. It's anticipated that this course will be available to police across the country in the coming months.

The issue of violence against women is receiving significant attention in the RCMP, but we face a number of challenges. Differing provincial and territorial approaches and civil measures can complicate cases crossing jurisdictional boundaries. Privacy legislation can restrict interagency partnerships and protocols for intervening with an offender and providing victim support. New immigrant communities represent additional challenges due to cultural differences and language barriers, and technology is bringing new forms of cyber-violence.

But we are confident that we are moving in the right direction with increased police training, focused and coordinated efforts to address the most vulnerable communities, and education and awareness initiatives to change societal attitudes and behaviours.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to your work by discussing some of our initiatives. I look forward to the results of your study. We would be pleased to respond to any questions that you have today.

Thank you.

[The Chair, NDP, Hélène LeBlanc]

Thank you very much, Superintendent Bates.

We will start the question round with Ms. Truppe for seven minutes.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, everyone, for being here today. It's so nice to have such a large group. I'm sure we have many questions, and our time goes really quickly.

I'm going to start with CIC and immigration, with Susan MacPhee.

You mentioned that you had a call for proposals for expanded pre-arrival services. Has that expired, or can people still apply?

[Susan MacPhee]

I'd like to defer to my colleague, Justine Akman.

[Justine Akman, Director, Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you.

No, the deadline has passed.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Are there any current projects out there about which we could tell the organizations that help women in all the ridings across Canada, projects that are perhaps ongoing? Or is there one that was just called that would help?

[Justine Akman]

The settlement services that CIC provides are ongoing. It's a program that the government invests $600 million in per year across the country.

The people who are eligible are generally permanent residents. Citizens are not eligible, but permanent residents and refugees are eligible for the program. There's a huge range of different projects, and many of them are focused on supports for immigrant women.

There are some courses given just to women and some of them are very focused specifically on violence against women. Most of these services are through grants and contributions funding, so most of them are provided through non-governmental organizations across the country. Some of them also provide economic supports for immigrant women so that they have more economic independence, which helps obviously with situations of violence as well.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Can organizations apply for the funding to help these individual people?

[Justine Akman]

Yes, exactly.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Right. Okay, and that's ongoing. Great. Thank you.

Then back to you again, Susan. You also mentioned that they can access programs and policies overseas before they come here, read about it, and see if that's for them basically.

What if they don't access that and they don't look it up and then they get here and maybe they don't go to settlement services, they just get here and go home? How are they made aware, or how can we make them aware of things that are not tolerated here in Canada if they haven't accessed those pre-services before they got here?

[Susan MacPhee]

That would be unfortunate, given all of the effort that's gone into reaching beyond our own shores to provide services before the people come to Canada, as you say, to give an understanding of what lies ahead, and then all of the investment that was made in settlement services, and so on. They would be missing out on something that obviously the vast majority of women are taking advantage of, over 200,000 persons included.

Justine, is there anything more that you'd like to add about that? Once they're here, what other services beyond our own settlement services might be available?

[Justine Akman]

I'll start by saying that in terms of pre-arrival services, the government is increasing the investment so that 50% of economic applicants will have access to those services, and 75% of refugees. So that will capture a lot of people.

When they get here, yes, there are settlement services, but there are also publications available, like the “Welcome to Canada” guide. Then, if they apply for citizenship, there's the “Discover Canada” citizenship guide that mentions all of these different issues.

If they come through the family class, there's specific information on violence against women as well as that information. We are reaching out to them in a number of ways through our own departments.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

You're doing your best.

[Justine Akman]

And supporting obviously what other federal government departments do in this area.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Just very quickly, sort of a yes or no, are there projects that engage men and boys specifically with immigration, like when they get here, or is it just..?

[Justine Akman]

Specifically for them?

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Yes, because a lot of times that's the initial problem. Maybe that doesn't even fall in your department; we'll ask the other ones too. I was just curious.

[Justine Akman]

I'd have to look into the details. There's a vast array of projects out there.