Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning. My name is Rénald Gilbert, and I am the Director General of the International Region of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
I would like to thank the committee for its interest in hearing from representatives of some of our visa offices abroad. Before the remarks of my colleagues from overseas, I would like to very briefly provide some general context.
I understand the committee's particular interest in the six visa offices relates to processing times for permanent residence applications, especially for family class and investor cases.
I would like to set the stage by saying that, while we recognize that there is always room for improvement, efforts have been made to improve processing times within the limits established by immigration levels.
A number of factors influence processing times at each of these offices. For instance, while priority family class cases are processed without a limit on numbers, investor and non-priority family class applications are subject to annual targets, which do have a significant impact on processing times. Secondly, resource allocation, particularly having the right level of resources in the right place at the right time, is always a challenge. Thirdly, there are competing priorities for resources from other lines of business and from temporary resident application volumes.
I would also underline that, while visa offices have many processing issues and challenges in common, there is also considerable diversity given the broad range of countries and clientele served. The importance of local context means that processes and practices that are successful in one place may not be so effective in another, and this should be kept in mind before making direct comparisons between offices.
My three colleagues here today, in addition to being immigration program managers of three of our largest foreign offices, are also area directors collectively responsible for all visa offices in the Asia-Pacific region. I invite you to put to them directly any questions you may have that are specific to their offices or regions, but I would also be pleased to answer any questions you may have that relate to the visa office network as a whole.
Thank you.