Evidence of meeting #6 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 backlog.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:45 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
But then they were going to impose caps. They were only going to take 1,000 applications worldwide for any particular occupation. Is that correct?
12:45 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Then a third ministerial instruction came after that, which cut it to 500. Is that right?
12:45 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Let's say there were crane operators who were in the queue from 2004 or doctors who were in the queue from 2004. What happened to their applications as a result of these ministerial instructions? Have they been dealt with?
12:45 p.m.
Lawyer, As an Individual
After the first set, there was a second set, in 2010, and then a third set.
As soon as you come out with the third set of ministerial instructions, the other ones are completely forgotten. We start over again every time a new set of ministerial instructions comes in, even if, on the first and second lists, as you mentioned, 19 professions were exactly the same.
12:45 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
How is it fair for a crane operator or a doctor who applied in 2009 to be processed before an application that was submitted three years earlier?
12:45 p.m.
Lawyer, As an Individual
It's absolutely against procedural fairness, and that's what--
12:45 p.m.
NDP
12:45 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
I'd like to ask Mr. Atkinson a quick question.
Mr. Atkinson, you said that projected skill shortages are not a temporary problem. I agree with you. Do you agree that temporary foreign workers who come here, once they're trained and settled with an employer, should have greater opportunities than is presently the case to apply for citizenship, so that they can stay and continue working with those employers?
12:45 p.m.
President, Canadian Construction Association
Yes, we'd certainly like to see that. We'd like to see a number of other changes to the temporary foreign worker program as well, including issuing LMOs to multiple employers instead of to just a single employer on a regional basis. The temporary foreign worker program is currently running a number of pilot programs that are very advantageous to our industry, including allowing applicants under the NOC C and NOC D applications, which is very important for us.
Quite frankly, I'd be surprised to see a crane operator in the list under the federal skilled worker program. They're obviously not getting very good advice.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
I'm sorry. Even with extra time, we're out of time.
We'll go to Mr. Lamoureux.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm sure that the witnesses are familiar with the current system in which you can log on to the Internet and get a kind of e-client update. Assuming you're familiar with that, I'd appreciate it if you could please advise the committee if you find that it is accurate, to the best of your knowledge. What I'm thinking of, again, is if that is so especially when you click on the average processing times. Can you provide comment on that?
12:45 p.m.
CanPars Immigration Services Inc., As an Individual
Actually, there are two services online. One is e-CAS, which you can use to find out what's going on with your file. It is totally unreliable, and this is one of my problems with my clients. They go there to see what's going on with their files, and they receive fake information. For example, one of my clients who we had just sent the AOR to, called me and said that it was on the website that they had already received his medical documents, which was not true. It was impossible. He never received any papers to go to a designated doctor.
12:45 p.m.
CanPars Immigration Services Inc., As an Individual
Yes, it's very common. I can tell you that 30 out of 200. Thirty per cent is inaccurate, absolutely.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Ms. Parker, you can lead a response on this. Specifically, they say they don't want you to correspond with the immigration officers abroad if in fact you're within that processing time. Let's say, for example, that they'll say your processing time is 11 months. They don't want to hear from you within that 11 months. To what degree do you feel that is accurate?
Ms. Parker, did you want to start off?
12:50 p.m.
Lawyer, As an Individual
In regard to the Internet aspect of it, on every file that was processed or submitted after February 2008, or after the first set of ministerial instructions, all the actual information on timeframes or processing delays is vague. There's actually nothing that can be found. As you mentioned, you're not supposed to be writing to program managers overseas. You're not supposed to be corresponding. When you were promised 12 months, as you said, and it has been well over 12 months--we're talking about another 24 months afterwards--then there's a definite problem.
12:50 p.m.
CanPars Immigration Services Inc., As an Individual
In the AOR letters, it was indicated that if it took more than one year, 12 months, to please contact them directly. Every single applicant who received the AOR and applied within the first ministerial instruction had this letter that mentioned that if you didn't receive any contact or any message or any updates from them within 12 months, to please contact them directly. That's something that's common. But the timeframe they are announcing on the website moves. Sometimes it's going down or sometimes it's going up. It's increased or decreased and it doesn't make any sense at all.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
The other area that I want to briefly comment on is in regard to the occupations and the list. We all know that health care professional is one of the top ones. We all know that the construction area is one area where there are a lot of deficiencies.
To what degree are your clients who are health care professionals and coming here getting their credentials recognized? What do you believe is the greatest barrier to their getting that?
You have to make it really short, because I only have two minutes to go.
12:50 p.m.
CanPars Immigration Services Inc., As an Individual
The big problems are with doctors. We have nurses that can get into the system more easily, compared to doctors. Doctors are struggling too much because they have to pass three exams and then they have to find a position.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
So if you were to guesstimate, roughly how many doctors would you have brought into the country yourself through your firm in the last five years? How many of them would actually be practising medicine today? Could you give us a ballpark guess?
12:50 p.m.
CanPars Immigration Services Inc., As an Individual
I can't tell you exactly how many because many of them are still in processing. I can tell you that only 1% to 2% of them could manage to get into the system.