Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Oct. 29th, 2009

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Qayyum.

Thank you very much, Mr. Audet. First, I have a question for you. I want to refer you to the following table you provided... Well, there are no page numbers. It looks like therefore I'm showing you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

What is this one? Is it page 3?

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

It looks like the one I am showing you. It doesn't have a page number.

[An hon. member]

Federal (Cases) or Quebec (Cases)?

[Marc Audet]

There are two tables at the top.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

It's “Applications Received Abroad—Investors”. It's the federal case.

[Marc Audet]

In the top right corner, it says “Federal”?

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

No, I don't have a page number.

[An hon. member]

It is “Federal”.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

We see here that, in 2009—I am obviously referring only to the first quarter—there is a 25% drop in the number of applications made in the investor class.

Do you believe that the negative reputation of Canada's Immigrant Investor Program is the reason for the decreased number of applications to the program?

[Marc Audet]

There are several factors for this, the first perhaps being the global economic situation. Unfortunately, for some investors, one of the criteria is proving a minimum net worth of $800,000. And some investors have seen the value of their assets drop below the $800,000 mark. This element affects some of these candidates.

Another important element: our neighbours, the Americans, have a similar program to ours, called the EB-5. A $500,000 U.S. investment is required for various pilot projects under this program; they are increasingly efficient and are trying to process applications more rapidly. So, our American colleagues are currently promoting this program heavily around the world. They are simply asking immigrant investors if they are prepared to wait five years, although the Canadian program is a good one. So we now have competition in terms of the wait times, and it is a bit of a thorn in our side. Other than that, we have an excellent program.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Do I still have time?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Sure.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Qayyum, I have one question for you.

You mentioned that Quebec seems to be dealing much quicker with their applications on this file. What do you think, or rather know, are the main reasons given to explain the delays?

[Imran Qayyum]

Do you mean the investor delays?

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Yes.

[Imran Qayyum]

I think there have to be resources. When you set targets for investors, you set them globally, and in our opinion, the targets for this year are 2,155. Once again, that's for final disposition. According to figures that I'll be more than happy to share with the committee, up until August 31, 2009, they had reached 1,697 out of 2,155. Of the 1,697, 446 applications were withdrawn. That's where I'm getting the $1 billion of lost capital.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Why were they withdrawn?

[Imran Qayyum]

What we're mostly hearing from our fellows who are dealing with clients is that it is frustration over the five-years-plus waiting time.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

I see; it's the delay.

If I could go back to Mr. Audet—

[Marc Audet]

If you wish, I could add to that.

With regard to the wait times in Quebec compared to those at the federal level, it is important to understand that the two systems differ. In Quebec, a process was established under the Canada-Quebec Accord: the provincial government pre-selects the immigrants. During the first part of the process, for which Quebec is responsible, a selection certificate for Quebec must be obtained.

At present, this process takes approximately 12 months, an average calculated for all countries. So, an application is filed and a Quebec selection certificate is received about 12 months later. In some places, it may take 8 months; in others, 14 months. Then, candidates have to send their file to the federal government for security reasons.

Since the number of files in both Quebec and Canada is rising, we have determined that the problem is due to the federal government's limited resources. The federal government cannot look at just Quebec's files or just federal files. That is why Quebec is seeing longer wait times. Previously, permanent residence visas were being granted within three or four months once a Quebec selection certificate was obtained. Now, it takes nearly 20 months. This means that 12, 15 or 20 months are being added to the 12 months for the overall process, and we are seeing processing times of about two or three years.

Why are we saying that it is faster? Because at the federal level, it typically takes five years. However, there is a difference between three years and five years.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Currently, that's about the best we can hope for. That means waiting three years before—

[Marc Audet]

That depends on the mission and the candidates. However, in general, we tell our candidates around the world not to call us for two years for their permanent residence visa. Otherwise, we would be giving them false hope.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

The Quebec selection certificate (CSQ) can, however, be issued within one year.

[Marc Audet]

The CSQ can be issued. This is one of our recommendations, that when a candidate has been selected, the federal government be responsible only for the medical exam and the security check. This process could be expedited, which would promote investments and encourage people to come here.