Evidence of meeting #32 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was accounts.
A video is available from Parliament.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Does the minister right now have the power to revoke a company's temporary foreign worker permit? Does that exist within the legislation right now, as it's designed?
Director General, Temporary Foreign Worker Directorate, Department of Employment and Social Development
The minister can revoke the labour market opinion now.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
An employer in the Lower Mainland has put workers to work for 12 hours a day and not paid them. Other federal bureaucrats have said this fits the definition of victims of human trafficking. Yet that company still has permits. I question the government's sincerity.
The last question I'll pass to Mr. Caron. How many companies sit on the government blacklist that was announced two years ago, of employers who abuse the program?
Director General, Temporary Foreign Worker Directorate, Department of Employment and Social Development
There are two lists online. One is on the Citizenship and Immigration website and the other is on ESDC's website. I don't know the exact number offhand but several employer names are on the transparency list on our department website.
Director General, Temporary Foreign Worker Directorate, Department of Employment and Social Development
The list went up probably in the last month or so. I can't remember the exact date.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
There's some concern that within Alberta alone there have been some 212 citings of employers who have abused the program. The government has found two to put on the blacklist and those two were found within the last couple of months.
I'll now pass to Mr. Caron for a couple of questions.
Thank you for your responses.
NDP
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Welbourne, I would like to go back to the question I asked the minister, which you answered.
If I correctly understood your answer about the termination of the immigrant investor program, you said that letters inviting investors to invest are still being sent even though the program was officially terminated on February 11, 2014. Is that what you said?
Senior Director, Policy Integration and Innovation, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I'll clarify a couple of terms we're using.
There are no letters of invitation within the program. That applies in the future entry express program. The IIP, the immigrant investor program, has had a pause in place since July 2012. No new applications are being accepted at this time. A significant backlog of applications is being worked through. Under the proposed legislation any applications that have a selection decision prior to February 11, 2014, will proceed to a final decision. A selection decision is a decision made that the applicant meets the eligibility criteria of the program. Any applications that do not have a selection decision, where no decision has been made prior to February 11, 2014, will be terminated.
NDP
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
If I understand correctly, some immigrant investors may still receive a letter asking them to deposit, say, $400,000 to be eligible for the program. Is that correct?
Senior Director, Policy Integration and Innovation, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Those individuals who have received a positive selection decision will continue to a final decision and may be approved under the current program parameters.
NDP
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
So the department is still issuing visas for immigrant investors who received a selection decision before February 11. Visas will still be issued for those who received a positive decision before February 11.
Senior Director, Policy Integration and Innovation, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
That's correct. Processing continues and the termination would apply, as I said, to individuals who have not received a selection decision prior to February 11.
NDP
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
I have one last question for you.
Has the department set a deadline to wrap up the process for those who received selection decisions before February 11?
Senior Director, Policy Integration and Innovation, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
So those individuals whose applications will proceed—
NDP
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Do you have any idea of when the last one will be processed?
Senior Director, Policy Integration and Innovation, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I don't know offhand, but it's determined, to some extent, by the amount of level space in our annual levels plan provided for those categories. So we'll continue to process up until we meet the levels plan for the year and then if there are remaining applications that have those positive section decisions, we'll continue to process them in the coming year.
Conservative
Gerald Keddy Conservative South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS
Just on the immigrant investor program, my understanding is that the program is going to be stopped completely. The backlog will not be accessed. It will be left in abeyance, and we'll move to a new program under expression of interest to match skills for new immigrants coming to Canada to existing jobs that we're looking to fill in Canada.
Is that correct?
Senior Director, Policy Integration and Innovation, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
There are two separate but related issues there. The existing IIP and entrepreneur programs are being terminated. As I said, there's been a pause on new applications for a couple of years. They are being terminated. The backlog will be eliminated, and the minister is exploring the creation of a couple of new pilot programs to essentially get at some of the objectives behind the immigrant investor and the entrepreneur program. Those are in development and details will be forthcoming.
As a separate issue, we are developing an expression of interest system, which has been recently rebranded “express entry”, and that will apply to other economic immigration programs, namely the federal skilled worker program, Canadian experience class, the federal skilled trades program, and a portion of the provincial nominee program, and the system will allow us to receive expressions of interest from individuals who are interested in coming to Canada in one of those programs and select from among those expressions of interest those individuals who have the attributes that will make them most likely to succeed economically once they're in Canada.
Conservative
Gerald Keddy Conservative South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS
Just to be clear, we're streamlining them into a direct immigration process, or a permanent residency process, not into a work visa.
Senior Director, Policy Integration and Innovation, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Correct. They will land as permanent residents, yes.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you, Mr. Keddy.
I'm assuming I have unanimous consent to continue for a few more minutes here. Thank you.
Mr. Brison, please, on this.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Does clause 302 give the immigration minister authority to establish administrative monetary penalties in other areas of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that are not related to the temporary foreign worker program?
Director General, Temporary Foreign Worker Directorate, Department of Employment and Social Development
My understanding of the legislation is that it's specific to the temporary foreign worker program.