Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 26th, 2014

[Robert Orr]

It's 9,637 conditional visas until the end of January 2014.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

From 2012 to 2014 since the law....

[Robert Orr]

From October 2012 until this time, so just over 9,500.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

How many of those have actually been deemed not real marriages and people have been sent back? I don't know if you have that data with you.

[Robert Orr]

It would be very few simply because it's quite new. When you're looking at a two-year period as well, it's going to be very limited.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

There's a two-year conditional period and those two years haven't expired yet.

[Robert Orr]

There have been a few, but I think it's very limited.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Thank you.

We know there have been a lot of cuts over the last little while to settlement service agencies. In Ontario and in Toronto specifically, I forget the exact number, but off the top of my head, I think it's something like $60 million, which is a very large cut to settlement service agencies' funding.

A lot of new immigrants may not be able to speak English or French fluently and can't really navigate the legal system. If they're in a violent situation and are seeking support or even to provide the proof that they are in a domestic abuse situation, how would they do that when there are fewer settlement service agencies available or supports available for them to actually do that?

[Robert Orr]

I think we would certainly involve the community organizations.

I'll turn to my colleague from settlement services.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you. Time's up, I'm sorry.

Mr. Shory.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Thank you to the witnesses for being here.

Well, where do I start? As you mentioned in your opening statement, it's a very sensitive issue. I believe that for all of us, more than 90% of our case work files in our offices deal with immigration issues. Mike said he doesn't, but I do. There is definitely a lot of abuse of the system, a lot of abuse of the opportunities. Before I get to that, let me ask you one question.

In January the minister had his round tables throughout Canada. Another theme from the round tables is that there is a need to refine our settlement services to assist in the issue of violence against women, especially before they come to Canada.

What services do CIC currently offer before immigrants come to Canada and can we offer more?

[Robert Orr]

A lot of the information that we provide is on the web, basically. There is certainly broad access and that has been well used. When we look at the number of people who have accessed that information, it is significant. We continue to look at what possibilities there are for some preparation for people who are abroad. We do quite a bit of work in that area, particularly with refugees, which is one of our most vulnerable populations. Most groups and refugees do go through an orientation program before they leave the third country where they are staying at the time.

Perhaps I could turn to my colleague to speak more to that.

[Ryhan Mansour]

Thank you, Mr. Orr.

To build on Mr. Orr's comments, CIC does offer online information and in-person services as well. As part of the online services, we have, of course, our flagship project, “Welcome to Canada”, which is available online to all immigrants to Canada, including pre-arrival.

In terms of in-person services overseas, we have three main programs that are in place currently. The largest one is the Canadian orientation abroad program, which is delivered in 15 permanent sites across the world. They have various curricula, including for migrants, but there are also the longer sessions for refugees that Mr. Orr mentioned. They will be exposed very much to issues that are relevant to the subject of discussion today, which is an orientation to rights and responsibilities in Canada, as well as expectations that are put on Canadian citizens once they live in the country.

These are made and adapted to the clients who are in those sessions, with their level of language. They're delivered in English and French, but also in languages of origin as well. They do this in a class setting, as well as in role play, so that it's well understood.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Thank you.

Mr. Orr, you mentioned about 197 or 199 cases in Toronto itself or in Ontario. There are all kinds of abuse of this marriage of convenience, fraudulent marriages. There are the forced marriages, which sometimes lead to the killing of some children, I would say.

I want you to elaborate; at least, I want to be educated. What are the real steps to be taken by the abused or used sponsors? Do they go to the CIC first? Do they go to the CBSA first? How do they proceed?

[Robert Orr]

The answer is either one. Both have a mechanism to deal with it.

Within CIC, the main way to do that is through our call centre. Our call centre has agents who are specially trained. If an agent receives such a call, the caller is referred to another unit within the call centre that has special training to deal with these sorts of situations. As I've said, over the past year, the call centre has received about 12 such calls of someone who is in an abusive situation, and we've been able to deal with that.

Likewise, through the CBSA and through their border watch line, they get a number of tips. Normally if they go through a sort of screening process, they would refer them to the CIC, and we would begin to look at the situation ourselves. If we think it requires in-depth investigation, then in fact it is the CBSA that would undertake the investigation.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Mr. Daniel.

[Joe Daniel, Conservative, Don Valley East, ON]

Thank you, witnesses.

For my first question, we know that CIC publications include information on family and honour-based violence and the principle of gender equality in Canada. For example, “Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship” promotes gender equality and explicitly states that honour killings, female genital mutilation, or forced marriages are not tolerated in this country. The guide also outlines the role of the courts and police in protection and enforcement.

What other publications and brochures does CIC offer to immigrants? How can we ensure that immigrants see these publications for their own protection?

[Robert Orr]

Thank you for the question.

CIC has very much taken this to heart. There has to be a significant outreach effort to try to reach people.

As we've mentioned, the online resource is one of the principal ways we do this. We also have videos about marriage fraud. Those have been very, very successful, at least if you look at it in terms of the number of people who have watched those videos, which is well over 150,000 people. That's very significant.

There are a lot of web-based communication products as well, which explain the process of the conditional visa and how that works. Then there is the brochure, which also explains the conditional permanent residence process and clearly outlines the exception about abuse or neglect. It's available on the website. It's very much available to our key stakeholders. It's also very much available to our settlement agencies that work with new immigrants. We are trying to make it as available as readily and as easily as we possibly can.

[Ryhan Mansour]

If I could add to this as well, we can't avoid mentioning the publications that are also produced by the service provider organizations that the settlement program funds at CIC. Communities that are located within the immigrant communities do produce their own publications that are targeted, depending on the cultures that are present and they're serving. They are aware of problems that could be existing in their communities. We fund organizations so that they can also produce their own information that reflects Welcome to Canada.

If I could just add one last thing, there is a big popular publication called, “Abuse is Wrong in any Language”. It is a Department of Justice publication that CIC collaborates on and it's available in 10 different languages. It is used by our settlement services inland. The participants in Canadian orientation abroad are also exposed to that publication overseas, before they come to Canada.

[Joe Daniel, Conservative, Don Valley East, ON]

Okay, I'm just going to pick a couple of examples from my riding where we focused on the issue of violence of women against men. I've had a couple of cases where the women got their visas from, in this case Pakistan, and then abandoned their husbands. They've actually come into Canada and the husband who was here and expecting them couldn't do anything about it. In fact, he called the CBSA, and so on, to prevent them from coming in.

Are there any mechanisms in place for that sort of abuse?

[David Manicom]

I think the primary one is the new conditional permanent resident status. If that individual does not remain in a marital relationship for two years, if they've come in with conditional status, then they are subject to removal. We have the mechanisms in place for sponsors who have been abused in that way to advise CIC or CBSA so that we can follow up.

[Joe Daniel, Conservative, Don Valley East, ON]

How would they do that? Do they just call?

[David Manicom]

Yes, they can call the call centre and contact either CBSA or CIC's hotlines.

[Joe Daniel, Conservative, Don Valley East, ON]

With that in mind, I'm really looking to see how well the CIC works with Justice, Public Safety, the RCMP and CBSA. Have you been working with these and other departments on these issues?

[Robert Orr]

Yes, there is a great deal of collaboration between the various departments. I would also add to that the Department of Foreign Affairs, where there is work between the consular sections at missions abroad and the immigration section. So, yes, there is a great deal of interdepartmental collaboration on these issues.