Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 19th, 2012

[Les Linklater]

No, the individual traveller would need to go online to complete the form.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Have you developed the questions? I think you said you had not.

[Les Linklater]

No. We would expect that they would align with the questions that are now asked of individuals who are applying for a temporary resident visa, but, as Ms. Welbourne said, in some countries there are issues that run deeper than what we think we may need for the eTA to function effectively. It will be as light-touch and user-friendly as possible.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Mrs. Groguhé, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses for being here this morning.

You said that the implementation was planned for spring 2015. I would like to know if there will be a period of voluntary compliance before the electronic travel authorization becomes mandatory.

[Les Linklater]

We plan to work with the agency responsible for border security to ensure that the program is aligned with that agency's advance passenger information initiative. This system will make it possible to send the eTA decision to airports and airlines. So that the airlines receive accurate information as quickly as possible to determine whether the individuals can travel to Canada, CIC technologies need to be aligned with the agency's technologies.

We plan to implement the eTA program at least six months before implementing the IAPI. This way, travellers can have their eTA in hand before CIC and the airlines share the information in the context of the IAPI.

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

That is very good.

I would like to know to what extent personal information is going to be shared with third parties or foreign countries, how that will be done and what kind of information will be shared.

[Les Linklater]

For the moment, we aren't planning to share the information we collect with other countries, not even the United States. Our current framework makes it very difficult to do so. We are negotiating a treaty with the United States on information concerning the people who submit visitor requests. But to broaden these provisions, we will have to open the treaty to add that information.

All the information that we share with the United States within the perimeter strategy will be guided by Canada's Privacy Act and by the principles that we have established with the Americans to frame the perimeter strategy.

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

So based on what you are telling me, that would be the only country that we would share information with.

[Les Linklater]

We may expect to as part of the eTA, but sharing this information is not a decision that has currently been made.

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

All right.

What recourse would users have if an error was made by the service provider?

[Les Linklater]

We expect that eTA users will be able to avoid turning to third parties, such as visa application centres. Since the Internet is available almost everywhere in developed countries, we expect that these people are going to use their smart phone or home computer to submit their eTA application.

If there is a problem with the information or if more information is required, the triage centre here in Ottawa, will be the first step. Someone will review the information provided by the individual and determine with our partners from Public Safety Canada if there is incorrect information or if it is possible to clarify the situation with the person involved. If so, the triage centre will issue the eTA from Canada. If the centre needs more information to clarify the situation, the person in question will be directed to a visa office abroad, where the person will have to be interviewed by a CIC officer.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Mr. Weston.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to welcome our witnesses.

I'm very intrigued by what you're discussing this morning.

Coming from a riding where tourism is such a key economic driver, and referring to what you said in your opening remarks, Mr. Linklater—that part of the focus is to make sure the changes we're making are in sync with the economic needs of Canada—I have ongoing discussions with Whistler tourism and the Canadian Tourism Commission. In fact, we'll be doing a town hall on tourism in January to see how our government is doing in areas that relate to what you're talking about this morning.

What is your expectation regarding the impact of this electronic travel advisory on tourism? Certainly, any time we bring in a new regulation, those who are in that business ask us if we are helping the tourism business or adding an impediment. You've obviously thought this out. Can you elaborate on your responses?

[Les Linklater]

We have had initial conversations with industry around how the eTA will affect them, in particular the airlines. One of the critical aspects of our work will be working with our partners in the private sector, particularly the airlines, regarding how they can benefit as much as possible from the eTA, in terms of ensuring that passengers who have an eTA are facilitated through their arrival once they are in Canada if they've been screened overseas. These are questions we need to work through with industry and with CBSA. What sort of reception is required at the port of entry if they are a valid eTA holder? Do they need to talk to a Border Services agent? Maybe they do not. Could we use kiosks to record entry into Canada as opposed to having a conversation with a BSO who then swipes a passport? We could be much more creative in terms of facilitation for legitimate holders of eTAs once they arrive in Canada, given the pre-screening that takes place overseas.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Let's drill down. Someone in the tourism business likes to think of large groups that come to Canada. If you're going to succeed in tourism, you want to make sure that the Business Persons Association of Ohio is thinking about coming to Whistler rather than going to Aspen for a conference. Do you think it's going to be an advantage to the human resources person or the organizer in that group to be able to get these things done in advance?

I chose the wrong one. I should have chosen Europe or Asia.

[Les Linklater]

Absolutely.

A number of issues we have, which are irritants for the tourism industry, relate to people who have criminal convictions or security issues that need to be addressed. Those are only determined once they arrive at the port of entry. The person is examined. They may have to go to “secondary”. They're inconvenienced only because the information comes to light at the very last minute.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

The changes we're making will remove those impediments and perhaps make a conference or tourism organizer more confident that he or she can get the whole group on board the plane into Canada and they can then spend their valuable tourism dollars here.

You talked about this a little bit, but can you elaborate? How do we inform our targeted tourists, our visitors, well in advance so that we don't have unhappy surprises?

[Les Linklater]

We will be planning fairly aggressive communications around the launch of the eTA. We think there will be about a six-month period between the eTA being available for application and its actual use by airlines through the IAPI system that CBSA is advancing under the perimeter strategy.

Of the two, eTA will sit on top of the IAPI architecture, which is actually the connection to the airlines at the desks in airports around the world. We'll be mounting very aggressive communications strategies in key markets. We also have a very regular dialogue with the Tourism Commission. They're quite interested in our visa processing issues. The minister has met with them. My colleague, Dawn Edlund, on the operations side of the department, is pretty much integrated into their consultative committee. We'll be able to use that network as well to get the word out well in advance of eTA going live.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Ms. James.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome to our guests who are here this morning.

I've listened to the speech, and we have your notes here as well. I have a couple of questions I need to ask.

First, would you agree that currently there is limited capacity to screen individuals from visa-free or exempt countries who come to Canada?

[Les Linklater]

Yes, I would agree.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

A gentleman who was before our committee on March 6 indicated—and I'm going to quote this—that:

Security abroad of people coming to Canada is essentially non-existent. That is the most serious threat, in the broader term.

Would you agree with that?

[Les Linklater]

If there is adverse information available, it's certainly likely not to be shared with airlines, so if an individual who is of concern does manage to board a plane, the first point of contact is the port of entry.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

We talk about visa-free or visa-exempt countries. What countries—if you could list a few—are we actually talking about?