Human Resources Committee on May 8th, 2020

[Philippe Massé]

That is part of the assessment. That's not the only element that we look at, as I've just mentioned. Of course, the labour force survey is not up to date, and we're looking at other pieces that we can bring to bear.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Okay. Thank you.

To immigration, can you please provide the total number of new work permits issued since March 15, 2020, and under what classifications?

We've already heard the ag numbers from the minister, so I would assume that the other numbers would be available too.

[Catrina Tapley]

We're happy to get back to the committee, Mr. Chair.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you. I would specifically like information on the total number under skill levels A, B, C and D broken down for all committee members, if possible.

To Citizenship and Immigration, how many temporary foreign workers are expected to arrive in May and June, including agriculture? We heard the agriculture numbers, so I would assume you have the other numbers, too.

[Catrina Tapley]

I have the agriculture numbers in front of me. Other numbers will be down considerably to what they have been in previous years, given difficulties travelling. No, I don't have those exact projections in front of me.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

If you could please provide that information to all committee members, that would be very helpful, and please provide which work permits would fall under essential services and which would not.

Again to the deputy minister, since March 15, how many work permits have been renewed in Canada? I believe that the minister said this was a priority, and this follows along the lines of questioning earlier.

[Catrina Tapley]

Mr. Dumas, would you have that, by any chance?

[Louis Dumas]

I do not, but we'd be happy to get back to the committee with that information.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Okay.

To the officials at ESDC, how do you believe the new labour force survey data, which was issued just today, impacts your determination to move forward in determining who should be issued a favourable LMIA survey? As you will note, it said that more than one-third of the potential labour force have not worked or have worked less than half of their usual hours since March 15.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Please give a short answer.

[Philippe Massé]

We're, of course, looking at that as well as other data that becomes available, such as data from our CERB and EI systems, to inform those assessments. Of course, that is reflected in the guidance given to officers assessing applications.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Vis.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

Can it be the will of the committee that we receive the answers I asked for from the officials within 10 business days?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I don't see that as unreasonable. I would ask the witnesses to make their best efforts to provide the information in a timely fashion.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Ms. Young, you have five minutes, please.

[Kate Young, Liberal, London West, ON]

I would like to give my time to Mr. Dong, if he's there.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Yes, I'm right here. Thank you, Kay, for giving me your time.

Thank you, Chair.

I want to thank the officials for being here with us at the committee today.

In my riding, which is a very diverse riding, there are many neighbourhoods that house newcomers and some international students as well. For example, in Parkway Forest there are lots of young professionals and recent graduates who went through the study permit program, and they are looking at the provincial nominee program as a pathway to citizenship. For example, people will be taking a master's degree and, in certain fields after two years' study, sometimes they're waiting for the opening of the PNP, because they're in suspense throughout the year. There is, unfortunately, a lot of unpredictability in the PNP.

To the officials, are we working on increased transparency or predictability of PNPs, particularly in Ontario, when it comes to the student stream?

[Catrina Tapley]

Mr. Chair, we work closely with our provincial counterparts. The additional transparency in the Ontario program would be the responsibility of the Province of Ontario. I would add that we have continued with express entry draws throughout this period. We've done some rather large draws, and when we've done those larger draws, that minimum cut-off score has lowered a bit, which has been helpful, particularly to more of the students who were in that pool.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

That's great.

With COVID-19 going forward, because we have a very ambitious goal to welcome 350,000 immigrants to Canada, as was announced, are you looking to expand the PNP program and give more numbers to the provinces, large provinces like Ontario?

[Catrina Tapley]

Mr. Chair, at this time we're not looking to make changes to the levels planned that the minister announced on March 12. I believe the minister indicated this in response to another question. We are thinking about next year's levels plan. We started consultations with province and territories around the levels plan, and we are now considering how best to do broader consultation throughout the summer so that we can come forward. As you know, we have a statutory obligation to table our levels by November 1.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

That's very good to know. I encourage you to consult with as many professionals in various communities as possible, because I'm sure the message you will be hearing will be very different now, considering COVID is affecting our economy and a demand for labour in various fields.

I want to move to people who apply for citizenship and haven't been able to become a Canadian citizen due to the cancellation of their citizenship ceremony.

Is IRCC considering any alternative ways to help them complete the final steps to becoming a Canadian citizen?

[Catrina Tapley]

Yes, as the minister indicated, we now have done one ceremony virtually, and we are looking at making sure we have plans in place to be able to proceed with more of those ceremonies.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

I strongly encourage you to do more of those ceremonies, and very quickly as well. Otherwise, we will have a backlog when this whole thing's over and put an additional burden on already very stressed-out citizenship judges, because I've been told they held many ceremonies across the country last year, so the virtual setting I think is the way to go.

My other question has a bit to do with what Ms. Kwan asked. Can you confirm to the committee again that receiving CERB will not affect one's ability to sponsor parents and grandparents?