Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Dec. 3rd, 2012

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

Are you saying that Mexico is such a country?

[Les Linklater]

Each country brings specific challenges to us. I would say that where the refusal rates for visas are really quite low, there are some countries, the Czech Republic, for example, where the refusal rate is less than 5%. That may be an area where we want to focus our efforts. But at this point, the focus is on initially rolling out the ETA to visa-exempt countries, and the next step then would be to see where the flexibilities would exist to apply it to countries where we do have a visa requirement.

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

Staying on the topic of tourism, which is very important to the country and to the riding I represent. Our government has issued more than 500,000 visitor visas this year. In 2010, we issued over 920,000. That was a 13% increase over 2005. It's no surprise given that more and more people want to visit Canada.

Under these new measures, how will it be possible to find a balance between making tourism easier and protecting the country? Keep in mind, we do want to attract tourists.

[Les Linklater]

The ETA is a tool that will make things easier, especially in terms of security. We expect that visitors will be screened somewhat more rigorously at ports of entry than they are today, given that they will have undergone risk assessments before leaving, while on the plane and upon arriving in Canada.

This process, or tool, enables us to address abroad half the risk travellers may pose before they leave for Canada, while still overseas. Because people in possession of an ETA who travel to Canada relatively often will have undergone a risk assessment and have provided data, we can respond more efficiently once those people are in Canada.

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

In other words, the ETA will not have a negative impact on tourism.

[Les Linklater]

No, because we anticipate that the ETA will be available online and that the decision will be made in minutes, in the vast majority of cases. It is really well suited.

Perhaps my colleague can add to that and comment on the tourism aspect.

[Dawn Edlund, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

I would add to Les's remarks. Currently, in terms of temporary admission to Canada, whether it's visitors, workers, or students, both CIC and CBSA are quite heavily involved with the federal tourism strategy and examining what the federal government can do to ensure that visa requirements don't become a problem in relation to the important economic interests that are at stake in the tourism industry and with Canadian universities, Canadian employers, etc.

We've been working quite hard with them, monitoring processing times for visa applications, for example, to make sure we're trying to stay as competitive as we can, and also coming up with new and interesting ideas of how we can work together with the tourism industry to reach the goals.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Madame Groguhé.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here today.

Mr. Linklater, you mentioned the growing prevalence of identity fraud, in your opening statement. Have you been able to quantify those cases? Do you have an idea of how many we're talking?

[Les Linklater]

I don't have the exact figures with me, but I can check with my colleagues and provide the information to the committee through the clerk.

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

Thank you.

Beginning in 2013, certain temporary resident visa applicants will be required to provide biometric data. Has the initial list of countries subject to the requirement been finalized?

[Les Linklater]

As I mentioned, we are in the midst of seeking approval for that list. I expect we'll have the approved list by the end of the calendar year.

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

So we have an idea of how many countries will be affected.

[Les Linklater]

Not yet.

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

The list isn't done yet.

[Les Linklater]

As I said, it's not yet done.

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

Very good.

Given the computer security flaws that have come to light as far as our information infrastructure goes, how will we protect the biometric records in the database?

[Les Linklater]

Under our implementation plan, the biometrics program is designed to provide a dedicated channel for the information exchanged between applicants and our case management system. The computers in our application centres around the world will not be hooked up to the Internet in any way. That approach will enable us to combat threats or potential cybercrime.

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

Fine.

As far as biometrics and the ETA are concerned, some witnesses have expressed concerns over the ability to correct a record, if necessary.

Has that aspect been thoroughly examined, and if so, what solutions were proposed?

[Les Linklater]

I can give you more detailed information on that.

In situations where the data we receive is problematic, clients are given a notification. In the case of an ETA, for instance, applicants who do not receive a favourable decision online right away will be advised to contact the visa office in their country to speak with a Canadian officer. Under the ETA system, we anticipate that cases where an immediate response cannot be provided will automatically be referred to a triage centre in Ottawa, which will check the information against other databases. The purpose will be to determine whether a manual clarification is possible with the help of our partners.

If it is not possible to give the client a favourable decision within 72 hours, the individual will be invited to an interview with an officer overseas, in order to seek further details and determine whether things can be clarified and the problem straightened out. If so, the officer will grant the ETA. Otherwise, the client's application will be rejected, as is currently the case for some visitors. The reasons for the rejection will be shared with the applicant, who will have an opportunity to provide further information to an officer overseas.

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

So the client has some recourse.

[Les Linklater]

Absolutely.

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

Very well.

From what you said, service standards were used to measure the processing time for these applications. You mentioned 72 hours.

Do you have a sense of how long these will take to process?

[Les Linklater]

As regards this system, we were fortunate in that we were able to look to the experience of our Australian and U.S. counterparts. I believe their standard is to resolve issues or clarify inaccurate information within a 72-hour period. Given how important it is to facilitate tourism and the entry of foreign students, I imagine we will establish a comparable service standard.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Mr. Opitz.