Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
I form the impression that the provincial nominee program is a bit of a program of contrast. When run well, it has been very successful in a number of provinces and has really met, and I think exceeded in many cases, the objectives of the program that, as you pointed out well in your report, is to spread the regional benefits of immigration and allow provinces some say in targeting immigration settlement to their particular demographic and economic needs.
There have been some problems as well. We're familiar with some of the problems that occurred, particularly in some maritime provinces—difficulties over meeting the objectives of the program. In your report you touched on the fact that in 2009 the federal Auditor General pointed out that although provinces and territories are required to conduct due diligence to ensure that applicants have the ability to economically establish, it says, “...CIC is unable to assess the extent to which provinces and territories have carried this out.”
The 2010-11 departmental performance report notes that the first federal evaluation of the provincial nominee program began in 2010. We're almost at 2012, so I'm wondering if you could update us on any preliminary evaluation findings that might touch on this subject.