Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Sept. 29th, 2011

[Les Linklater]

I think the parent and grandparent application process is much more complex than you would think at first blush. We do find that we spend an inordinate amount of time with processing--actually chasing applicants down to respond to our requirements for documentation, for example.

Because the backlog has grown and we have the two-step process, once our processing centre in Mississauga actually releases a sponsorship to our overseas network, it can take any number of months for folks to actually respond to our request to fill out their application forms completely, provide supporting documentation, and do their medicals. We also find in some areas that there are certain medical challenges, particularly with tuberculosis, and that does tend to lengthen the processing time.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Sure.

I only have five minutes, so I'm going to move on with a couple of other questions.

When you look at the provincial nominee program at 37,000 to 40,000, you're now projecting 42,000 to 45,000. The province of Manitoba alone consumes a great number of those certificates. Has there been a significant increase from other jurisdictions outside of Manitoba--Saskatchewan, let's say?

As well, what do you envision in terms of future projections? Are we going to continue to see increases, or is there an indication that we will be putting in caps?

[Les Linklater]

I would say that all provinces and territories have made concerted efforts to grow their programs. Manitoba was early off the mark with their program, so it's the most mature, I would say, outside of the Quebec program.

As I mentioned in my opening remarks, for the levels plan the challenge is finding the right balance between various streams and substreams. We have seen, I think, about 400% growth in the provincial nominee program in the last couple of years, driven primarily by B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Some of the Atlantic provinces have also taken significant efforts to grow their programs.

We've seen a shift in settlement patterns whereby the share of immigrants going to Ontario has actually declined quite considerably as people have made other provinces outside of Ontario their destination.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Sure.

For the live-in caregiver program, on the other hand, targets again were 10,680 to 11,444, but we exceeded that significantly at 13,909.

Is there a growing demand for the program? Is this a number that we're going to continue to see grow? It's something that's not listed in your 2011 projections.

[Les Linklater]

Right. There has been a growth in the number of work permits for live-in caregivers, particularly 2008-09. That has now started to taper off in 2010, and we expect that to continue in 2011, likely because of the downturn.

What that means is that after those folks have done their two years of work in Canada, they can then apply for permanent residence and bring their family members. So we would expect to see that trend of live-in caregivers peak this year or 2012, and then start to come down again.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Okay.

Turning to the number of working visas and temporary visas that are issued in regard to student visas, do you have regional breakdowns of those? Can they be provided to the committee?

[Les Linklater]

By province? I believe we can do that, yes.

I would also suggest that you and your offices would find helpful on the CIC website the research and statistics site called “Facts and Figures”. Just this week we posted the final results for 2010. It gives quite an exhaustive amount of statistical information on the movement each year.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

In regard to the working visa, does the department track the number of individuals who came under a working visa but who are not, for whatever reasons, employed right now and might still be in Canada, looking for other employment related to the work visa? Do we have a sense of the numbers?

[Les Linklater]

If someone came to our attention as having quit their job or looking for a new employer and a new labour market opinion, we would be able to know. But without an exit information system at the border, we are unable to track how many people come in, whether as tourists or.... We know when people come in as immigrants, because we stamp them in. We know when they arrive as visitors or as temporary foreign workers or students. But we don't know when they leave.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you, Mr. Linklater.

Ms. James, you have seven minutes.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you.

I just want to reiterate what my colleagues have already stated. This is an excellent session to have you here and to go over this process. Obviously, as a new MP, all of this information is just terrific for me to have at hand.

I also just want to mention as well that my staff actually visited the Scarborough CIC centre and received some overview training. They found it was absolutely fantastic.

There are a couple of questions, though, that I've brought from back in my riding. One has to do with permanent residency applications and adoption of children. There have been some questions that have come into my constituency.

Obviously I'm not going to discuss a specific case, but we're curious to know what the typical processing time for that type of application is. I've heard from one to two years. Just as a parent myself, I'm thinking of people who are trying to adopt children who need a family. In early childhood, the key is to get that bonding process started as early as possible.

I'm curious to know, is one to two years typical? If it is typical, are there any plans or things we can do to expedite that process for the applications?

[Dawn Edlund]

We'd have to get back to you in terms of the processing timeframe and whether one to two years is typical.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Okay.

[Dawn Edlund]

I can certainly tell you that whether the adopted child is going to be processed under the Immigration Act or under the Citizenship Act--because they now have a choice--is up to the parents.

International adoption is quite a complicated area involving a number of players, as I'm sure you're aware. There are provincial and territorial authorities who do assessments of the parents, the home, and the bona fides of the adoption. And then our visa officers overseas look at the best interests of the child. They want to make sure this is an adoptable child and not a child who has been trafficked, and if there are still biological parents living, as is often the case, that the parents have freely and completely consented to that adoption and understand what that means in terms of cutting the parental link.

There is, unfortunately, a fair degree of fraud in particular pockets of our programming, so our visa officers take extra care in terms of the best interests of the child, to make sure that is looked into. We've actually cut off a couple of countries from international adoption because of those fraud concerns.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Stop the clock for one second.

Ms. Edlund, you gave an undertaking to Ms. James. Once again, could you send that information to the clerk so the clerk can distribute it to the members of the committee?

[Dawn Edlund]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Sorry, Ms. James. Go ahead.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you.

In your reply to the group here today you mentioned there are two routes they can go through. One was immigration and one was citizenship. In general, which is going to be processed more quickly? Is there a definitive answer to that, or what would be the benefit of either direction?

[Dawn Edlund]

For a citizenship application, the child becomes a citizen prior to coming to Canada. So that's a benefit that people see.

When you go through the permanent residency application, the citizenship proceedings can happen immediately when the child arrives in Canada with the parents. There is no wait time, but it does turn into a two-stage process.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you.

I actually have a second question related to visitor visas, and my colleague touched on it. Again, it's relating not to a specific case in my own constituency but certainly we hear about it time and again. Obviously lots of people want to come here on a visitor visa, and we welcome that here in Canada. We hear time and again that they have been refused because possibly there is some thought or decision made that they may not go back to their homeland after the visitor time period is up. In many cases they have justifiably shown that they have family or good jobs back home, or other particular criteria.

You mentioned that a letter is actually sent to them outlining the reasons they may have been refused. I'm just wondering, in general terms, what type of criteria is looked at and what the other possible reasons would be, other than having family back home and a stable job that they need to get back to, to disqualify them from being allowed to receive a visitors' visa to come to Canada.

[Dawn Edlund]

What our visa officers look at primarily are the bona fides of the application in terms of the facts that are presented to that visa officer. They look at the ties in the country of origin, whether that be family or professional business ties, etc., and what are they up to? They look at the travel history of the individual. Does the person have any travel history at all, or is this the first time they're proposing to travel outside the country? They look to determine that the person is able to financially support themselves for the time they're going to be in Canada. They look at whether there are other family members in Canada in terms of who they are coming to visit and what is the purpose of their visit--those kinds of questions. And they make the best decision they can under the circumstances.

When one looks at the refugee claims made in Canada, there is a significant percentage of those claimants whom our officers overseas decided were bona fide visitors but who made refugee claims when they arrived. So we got it “wrong” in those circumstances.

But I would say there are undoubtedly times when someone could have received a visa and was refused. And people then have the opportunity to re-apply and to be considered by a different officer.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Okay, thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I'm going to have trouble with three names here. You're going to have to be patient with me but I'm going to do my best.

Ms. Groguhé, you have up to five minutes.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Thank you.

Thank you for your presentation. First, I have a few questions about asylum requests for humanitarian and compassionate reasons.

What criteria do you use to evaluate risks when conducting a pre-removal risk assessment? Is there a predetermined list of criteria that officers use to support their decisions, or is it left to their discretion? How does the process actually work in concrete terms?

[Dawn Edlund]

The criteria our officers use when making pre-removal risk assessment decisions are set out in the legislation. So it is the same set of criteria that applies to the majority of claimants and that the IRB uses. It has to do with what is considered to be persecution and the Convention Against Torture and

other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in terms of section 12 of the charter.

So officers receive requests under the pre-removal risk assessment program, and clients must show the immigration officer that they meet the criteria.

Basically, humanitarian considerations are part of the criteria, which are set out in the legislation, including the best interests of children. The legislation also takes into account hardship, and that is assessed. It is the claimant's responsibility to indicate everything they believe to be a humanitarian consideration, their degree of establishment, their ties to Canada, their difficulty leaving Canada, the existence of a spouse or common-law partner. All of those factors enter into the equation when humanitarian considerations are involved.