Citizenship and Immigration committee  I am not really sure of the reason for the federal government not funding refugee claimant services in B.C.—that is a question I do not have the knowledge of—but, of course, I would say yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's a very good question. In the province of British Columbia, all of the services directed to refugee claimants are only provincially funded. There is only one federally funded program, which is called Reaching Home by IRCC. It is only for some of the transitional houses.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you so much for asking that. As I mentioned a little bit earlier, when they cross the border irregularly and they are not intercepted, they need to claim inland. When they claim inland, the whole process of the refugee claim is way more difficult and longer because of the backlog we see with legal aid.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  MOSAIC has always received many refugee claimants, as I mentioned. We are one of the major organizations in B.C. working with refugee claimants. We have a specific stream of services for refugee claimants. Like any other organization, we had decreasing numbers during COVID, but then as the borders opened in November 2021, we started receiving many more refugee claimants.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As a settlement agency that provides services, we would really support a dignified claim process for refugee claimants. We all know that when they try to cross irregularly, it is contrary to being dignified or having dignity. If there were encouragement, or a certainty, that could be given to asylum seekers that if they crossed regularly through the official ports of entry, they would be processed faster in a dignified manner, and would be able to stay in Canada if they were found to be eligible, they would not really risk their lives going through forests and putting themselves and their families in danger, as we see today.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for the opportunity to appear on this very important subject. My name is Marzieh Nezakat, and I am the manager of refugee settlement and integration at MOSAIC. MOSAIC is one of the largest not-for-profit organizations in Canada, serving immigrant, refugee and mainstream communities throughout the province of B.C. and overseas via online programs.