I would like to address family reunification. It's important to recognize that the process does not finish for refugees once they are granted refugee status. They still need to get permanent residence and in many cases reunite with family members from whom they have been separated. It's scandalous that Canada allows family reunification for refugees to drag on for years in many cases. A few examples: one out of five cases in Islamabad takes more than 39 months, one out of five cases in Colombo takes more than 35 months, and in Nairobi it takes more than 30 months.
The long delays, of course, are very costly for the refugees, for their family members, and for Canadian society at large. As long as refugees are separated from their spouse and their children, they cannot settle down. Families that are reunited after a long separation are more fragile. Children who wait two to three years in a vulnerable situation before arriving in Canada are more likely to have health problems and to be behind in their schooling.
A particular and inexcusable problem is that there is no mechanism for children recognized as refugees to be reunited with their parents and/or their siblings. This is clearly in violation of Canada's obligation to facilitate reunification of children with their parents.
Recommendation: that family members of refugees be authorized to travel immediately to Canada to finalize processing of their permanent resident applications in Canada, and that the regulations be changed to allow refugee children to include parents and siblings on their application for permanent residence.
There are also many other concerns relating to family reunification that also affect some immigrants. We particularly highlight the devastating impact of the so-called excluded family member rule, regulation 117.( 9)(d). This creates permanent separation of families, including of children from their parents.