Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. Thank you for that question. We especially applaud the government on the extension of the definition of “family”. It is something that we absolutely support, but these family reunification measures must also be extended to other communities, to Afghans and to other refugee populations and other folks who are also displaced.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. It is something that we have raised with the government in the past when someone is already working in the language. We see that for caregivers from English-speaking countries as well, such as the Caribbean. It makes no sense if someone is already working in the language.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I believe the government needs to lift caps. I understand the backlog. I think it's something we're all struggling with, in all streams of immigration. The government needs to build capacity in the system. I agree with Madame Bien-Aimé in terms of removing some of the bureaucracy for particular streams, particularly things like family reunification, spousal sponsorship and those pieces.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Dhaliwal, I would suggest that in addition to what the imam has suggested, we also take a look at the collection of data on this aspect. We have lots of anecdotal information. I often say that what gets measured gets addressed, so let's get the hard data so we can continue to prove that our communities have absolutely been correct that they are facing differential treatment based on their countries of origin, religion and race.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Chair. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this important study. I'm the executive director of OCASI, the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. We are the umbrella organization for immigrant- and refugee-serving agencies across Ontario.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I was about to leave.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Sure, that will be great.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. We've said to the minister that folks who are in search of safe haven or seeking asylum need asylum, regardless of the pandemic. We're asking the government to allow folks to come in, especially those who are government-sponsored. We've seen that the few who have trickled in over the last eight months have been able to quarantine safely in hotel spaces or refugee houses where there's space.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's a very good question. Thanks very much. As I was saying, given the restrictions on travel due to COVID and the closing of embassies, what we are strongly encouraging the government to do is to look internally to identify the folks who are here with a precarious immigration status and those who are undocumented and to create a pathway for them to have their status regularized.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  [Technical difficulty—Editor] in Canada and we believe that this is important. I have an unstable connection. We believe the time is right for the government to put in place some sort of regularization program.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We have experience of this in Canada. I believe the last regularization program was in the early to mid-1980s. It was a huge success. As I said, we have a number of folks here who want to stay in Canada, including those in the seasonal agricultural workers program, who have been coming in and out of Canada for sometimes 15 or 20 years.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Our member agencies that provide services are very mindful of creating safe spaces for all of their clients. They create an opportunity for clients who may be vulnerable to exploitation to be able to reach out in case they're feeling a need for support.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes. We've had a number of discussions with Minister Mendicino on this, especially since this is the time we believe Canadians will be very supportive of putting in place a regularization program. We have a number of folks here who are undocumented or with precarious immigration status, especially migrant workers, not only those working in the health care field.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  So yes to landed arrivals for migrant workers—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you.