Evidence of meeting #21 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was information.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
We have finished the first page, so we're going to start all over again.
I'm going to ask one question first. I'd like you to tell me the difference between the security screening for temporary applications and that for permanent residency applications, if any.
Vice-President, Operations Branch, Canada Border Services Agency
The security screening for temporary residents is for people who are coming here temporarily. The security screening for people who are permanent residents is for people who are coming in here permanently. We now have service standards for the temporary resident side. They're very different from those on the permanent side. I can elaborate more on those, if you wish.
The security screening is to make an admissibility decision based on specific areas of the act, IRPA. We're looking at whether there are reasonable grounds to believe, whether the individual who is applying is permanent or temporary, that the person might pose a risk to national security, such as espionage, terrorism, war criminality, or organized crime. In one case the process is much longer. It takes about eight months right now.
Vice-President, Operations Branch, Canada Border Services Agency
For permanent, it takes about eight months. On the temporary side, just over the last few months we finalized the service standards. For a VIP or urgent request, it's 48 hours; for China, it's five days; for what we call tier 1 countries, which includes Saudi Arabia, India, Haiti, Pakistan—there's another one missing—it's 10 days; and for the other countries, for tier 2, it's 20 days.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
Thank you.
We have Mr. Gill and Ms. James. I don't know who's going first.
Ms. James, go ahead for seven minutes.
Conservative
Roxanne James Conservative Scarborough Centre, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to ask some general questions about security threats and organizations or groups that may be deemed to be a security threat to Canada. I'm just wondering how many groups actually in Canada are listed as a security threat. I don't know how many there are. Are there 5, 50, 500? How many groups or organizations are actually on that list?
Vice-President, Operations Branch, Canada Border Services Agency
I don't know how many there are. I'd have to get back to you on that.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
What I would make sure that people understand is that under the Immigration Act, it's not about organizations having been listed as being inadmissible to Canada. We always look at it case by case. We look at what the person has done. We always look at the situation. We do not have a listing process for inadmissible organizations from an immigration perspective.
Vice-President, Operations Branch, Canada Border Services Agency
Maybe if I could just add to that....
Vice-President, Operations Branch, Canada Border Services Agency
There are regimes, though, at a specific point in time in a given country for which that list does exist.
Conservative
Roxanne James Conservative Scarborough Centre, ON
Okay.
You're going to get back to us on the number of groups where membership in a particular group might be deemed a security threat. Is that information actually available to the public? Is it something that I can look up personally? Is it something that can be presented to this committee? Or is there an issue with public security to even disclose that list?
Vice-President, Operations Branch, Canada Border Services Agency
I don't have the list of regimes and at which point in time with me, but that is public information and something that I believe we can give you.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
That's under the war crimes provision of inadmissibility. Of course, we take most of our advice about the security of organizations from CSIS, and I would say that is a little bit more security.
Conservative
Roxanne James Conservative Scarborough Centre, ON
Thank you.
I'm just wondering about these particular groups or organizations. What is the exact process for determining whether someone is a member of those groups? Is every person who is affiliated with a group or organization, or a member or past member of a group, automatically deemed inadmissible to Canada, or is there some sort of criteria or scrutiny, a checklist perhaps? If there is such a thing, is it something available to us as a committee? Can you disclose that information?
Vice-President, Operations Branch, Canada Border Services Agency
Every case that is referred to us by visa officers abroad is really taken on a case-by-case basis. Of the 76,000 we received last year, I believe about 70,000 were referred to CSIS. Then they give us their assessment, and that's for national security reasons. So the vast majority are referred to CSIS, and then CSIS has their processes whereby they give us an answer.
Conservative
Roxanne James Conservative Scarborough Centre, ON
Do you know if the particular criteria that CSIS uses to determine someone's inadmissibility to Canada are available to us to examine? Can you provide that criteria?
Vice-President, Operations Branch, Canada Border Services Agency
It would be better to ask that of CSIS.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I would just say, just to be very clear, that CBSA and CSIS give advice to CIC in terms of a final decision. So when we make a decision about inadmissibility, it's weighing possibly the security or criminality aspects with other aspects of the legislation. The legislation has a provision where a person could be inadmissible but we could overcome it with the tools and the process.