Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Dec. 13th, 2010

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

There's no way. Okay.

Do these 800 parents who adopt kids know what the consequences would be if they bring their kids in as citizens? Do they understand the consequences?

[Nicole Girard]

We make the information about the two routes available to the parents who are adopting, and I think, as was mentioned earlier, there are improvements being made to the website to ensure that the information is as obvious as possible.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Mr. Dykstra is next.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Chair, through you, there are a couple of questions we have.

One relates to the point you've just made. You've clarified that if a Canadian parent has a child in another country, that child can pass on citizenship if they were to be in the same circumstance.

If the opposite isn't true from an adoption perspective.... If they came here as permanent residents and then became Canadian citizens, they would actually have an additional generation to be able to assist. I think it's important to note that, because you start to....

Mr. Gilbert, you alluded to our international obligations in one of your answers, and this is one of the major reasons that it was good to have you folks here to talk specifically about this. You stated a very clear and concise response with respect to adoption in India and the circumstances upon which adoption and citizenship can work in adoption, and the only process a parent could use is permanent residency.

The concern I have is the idea of a blanket allowance of adoption giving Canadian citizenship immediately. Under international obligations, if we wanted to pass that into law, we wouldn't actually be able to do so.

[Nicole Girard]

You're quite right, in the sense that the citizenship grant that we currently have in place embodies or reflects those international obligations that Canada has.

I mentioned four criteria in my opening remarks, including the fact that the officer who's deciding on the international adoption case and the application for citizenship has to be satisfied that the best interests of the child are protected. Having the grant mechanism in place allows the visa officer to ensure the best interests of the child, because they have to turn their minds to a number of related questions: is there any evidence that the child has been sold? Is there any evidence of child trafficking? Have the parents given free and informed consent?

All of those things speak to the best interests of the child. If you had some sort of automatic process that didn't take these things into account, then we'd be riding roughshod over our international obligations and over provincial jurisdiction on matters of adoption.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

How do the requirements for a grant of citizenship for adopted persons in the Citizenship Act actually ensure that Canada's international obligations and provincial jurisdictions are respected?

[Nicole Girard]

I was just talking about the international obligations aspect. What I should add to my previous comments is that Canada is a signatory to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, which is a bit of a mouthful.

The main goals of the convention include protecting the best interests of the child, which is one of the principles in the Citizenship Act that the visa officer has to look at in deciding an adoption case. One of the other goals is preventing child abuse, including abuse in the form of child trafficking. That is also something the visa officer has to look at.

When it comes to provincial jurisdiction, the provinces are responsible for adoption matters in their territory, so when the adoptive parent lives in Canada, CIC has to work closely with the province or the territory to ensure their requirements are met. In practice, what this means is that CIC requests a letter from the province or territory—it's called a letter of no objection—and this is the mechanism by which the province is able to let CIC know and confirm that it has assessed that the adoption is in the best interests of the child, that a genuine parent-child relationship has been created, and that the adoption respects both the provincial laws and the laws of the place where the adoption took place. CIC doesn't grant citizenship further to an application until they have received this assurance from the province or territory that the adoption is valid and complete.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Thank you very much. That was a very good description.

In your summary, you indicate that the criteria for granting citizenship to foreign-born adopted children of Canadian citizens under the Citizenship Act regulations are similar to those for granting permanent resident status to adopted children under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act regulations. Could you clarify that a little further?

[Rénald Gilbert]

With few exceptions, they are almost copies of each other. The few exceptions would have to do with the residency of the sponsor or parents--that is, whether the parent is a permanent resident as opposed to a citizen. That would make a difference.

Otherwise, with regard to the adoption itself, within the country the provincial review of the parents' fitness to adopt, for lack of better words, is exactly the same for whatever process has been selected, whether it's naturalization or permanent residency.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Do I have time?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

You have a minute.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

I'll turn it over to Ms. Wong.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for coming to speak to us.

I wanted to go back to the basic question. Why does the first-generation limit apply to those adoptive parents who use the direct route to citizenship for the children? A lot of people keep asking this question. Can you clarify that a little bit more, please?

[Nicole Girard]

Sure. Thank you for the question.

Originally, before the legislative changes in 2007, Canadians who were adopting internationally had to go through a two-step process to sponsor the child. First was for immigration to Canada. Then, once the child became a permanent resident, they applied for citizenship. That process was criticized because natural-born children of Canadians living abroad were citizens from birth, so adoptive parents asked for a more streamlined process to access citizenship. The law changed in December 2007 to minimize the difference between the natural-born children of Canadians living abroad and the adopted children of Canadians.

Further changes were made to the Citizenship Act in April 2009, again to be consistent and to minimize the difference between these two groups. When the first generation was limited to the first generation abroad, it approached the two groups the same way and equally applied the first-generation limit to both the natural-born children and the adopted children of Canadians.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

We'll go to Mr. St-Cyr.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

I would like to talk some more about this. I understand the comparison between parents. Parents can choose to adopt abroad, but that choice means that the child will be born abroad. With natural-born children, the parents have a bit more control over where the child is born.

From what I understand about adoption, there is an attempt to create a relationship equivalent to a biological relationship between the parents and the child. Legally, adopted children have the same rights and responsibilities as other children in relation to their parents. It seems to me that the law should respect this principle and consider adopted children as though they were born here to their parents.

I would like to try to understand. Let us take the classic example of two Canadians who were born and live here and who decide to adopt a Chinese girl. If they opt for direct citizenship, about how long will it take from the time they receive the letter from the Quebec government approving the adoption to the time the child acquires citizenship?

[Rénald Gilbert]

I cannot say exactly how long the process in China takes at this time. I know that it has varied over the years. My last posting was in China and when I was there, it took less than a year, from the time when the Chinese government identified an infant until the process was completed on China's end. That being said, things may have changed.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Once a child has been identified, how long until he or she obtains citizenship?

[Rénald Gilbert]

For the child to be identified, the parents must have completed the process, in other words, applied for citizenship. That part is done first, here in Canada, and then at the mission overseas. At the mission overseas—

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

I am trying to understand. Does it involve two different steps? Are the adoption and citizenship two separate matters, or are they done together?

[Rénald Gilbert]

No, they are two completely separate processes. The adoption process—

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

What I want to know is the time needed between the two, between the formal adoption and the formal granting of citizenship. How long does that take, approximately?

[Rénald Gilbert]

That depends on when the parents apply after they've adopted the child. Furthermore, it varies a great deal from one country to the next, largely because of the complexity. In the case of China, for instance, the processing time is under one month. So it may take a few weeks between when the application is received at the embassy and when the citizenship is granted. However, parents can begin the process two years in advance.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

I assume that, during this time, the child remains a Chinese citizen and therefore cannot accompany his or her parents to Canada. Is that right?