Citizenship and Immigration committee  Right. There has been a growth in the number of work permits for live-in caregivers, particularly 2008-09. That has now started to taper off in 2010, and we expect that to continue in 2011, likely because of the downturn. What that means is that after those folks have done their two years of work in Canada, they can then apply for permanent residence and bring their family members.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  By province? I believe we can do that, yes. I would also suggest that you and your offices would find helpful on the CIC website the research and statistics site called “Facts and Figures”. Just this week we posted the final results for 2010. It gives quite an exhaustive amount of statistical information on the movement each year.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think you've pointed to one of the key issues the department faces in terms of managing the number of applications we get in any given year versus the amount of space in the immigration levels plan. So we do see the backlogs grow as more parents and grandparents have been applying than have been processed under the immigration levels plan.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think the parent and grandparent application process is much more complex than you would think at first blush. We do find that we spend an inordinate amount of time with processing--actually chasing applicants down to respond to our requirements for documentation, for example.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would say that all provinces and territories have made concerted efforts to grow their programs. Manitoba was early off the mark with their program, so it's the most mature, I would say, outside of the Quebec program. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, for the levels plan the challenge is finding the right balance between various streams and substreams.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As of December of 2010, globally, both domestically and overseas, there were just over one million people waiting to have a decision on a file.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The numbers are there on slide 12 of the presentation.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's a very good question. In response, Mr. Chair, I would say that immigration is one source of new labour for the Canadian labour market. School leavers now and in the future will continue to form the vast majority of new entrants into the labour market. So while people look to immigration as the solution, it is part of the solution for labour markets and population growth.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, and I think, looking at the economic situation, with unemployment rates where they are and the regional variations, that's clearly something that's top of mind. Again, in the west, Manitoba I think is at 5% as opposed to 12% in some parts of Atlantic Canada. One of--

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I was just going to say that one of the key issues the minister has been working on, and that I think came out through his consultations over the summer, is that we really need to work better with employers to understand what their key needs are and to work with provinces and territories as well to understand what the specific needs are so that we're focusing more on those, so that we're bringing in the key structural shortages we're seeing in the labour market.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Chair, we can review the literature and the information we have around the studies that have been done, largely by the private sector, on the benefits of international immigration to Canada.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, absolutely.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  [Inaudible—Editor].

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We have seen a few studies carried out by organizations like the Conference Board. Those studies provide figures on the impact international students have on Canada's economy. I can't list them off the top of my head, but it is well-known that provincial and territorial institutions see international students not only as a source of funding, but also as a source of diversity that helps build trade ties.