Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 7th, 2013

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

We'd like to stay out of the politics, if we can.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

That answers my question. Thank you.

My second question has more to do with the new immigration system you're setting up. You talked about a pool of skilled prospective immigrants to Canada that employers could consult. Will employers have to show that they were unable to find skilled Canadian workers to fill the position before using the pool?

[Maia Welbourne]

This is something that we're working on with ESDC, Employment and Social Development Canada, again, coming to the point that EOI does not in itself change the current requirements related to the programs that will be run through EOI.

The example I talked about is with the federal skilled worker program where currently an individual who is coming through the employer stream of that program, if they have a job offer that would allow them to advance, that job offer has to be subject to a labour market opinion. That would not change, because EOI wouldn't change the program requirements and structures of the individual programs to be run through.

If there are changes to the requirements around the federal skilled worker program, those would be reflected in EOI, but EOI doesn't change any of that.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Earlier, you said it was possible for someone to be turned down. Does that person have any recourse in terms of being able to appeal the decision, as is the case with many other administrative decisions?

[Maia Welbourne]

Again, like all decisions that we make, there are various opportunities or rights of appeal, and those are not changed by the introduction of EOI.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

As I see it, that is very similar to the system Quebec already has in place. Under that system, employers can use selection certificates to show a shortage of workers in a specific area, thereby justifying their desire to bring in workers from outside Canada.

Will your proposal change the dynamic between federal and provincial programs, particularly Quebec's?

[Maia Welbourne]

There again it doesn't really change anything. Quebec is aware of our intentions to move ahead with EOI. It has selection authorities. The Quebec skilled worker program is one. Those will not be subject to EOI, but I do understand from a recent announcement that they are exploring establishing their own expression of interest model.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

I have a question about passports, which will probably please Ms. Imrie. It's something that really concerns me because we don't have a passport office in Sherbrooke. My constituents often call my office or Service Canada.

The documentation says this:

Under this transfer, the Minister of Employment and Social Development will support the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration as Service Canada (SC) will serve as the delivery agent for passport services on behalf of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

Does that change things at Service Canada, which is already able to check passport applications? Will it be able to do what any passport office anywhere in the country can do, meaning printing passports and reviewing them, sometimes in a matter of hours?

[Caitlin Imrie]

Through the transition process our guiding principle has been to ensure no disruption of service to Canadians. The transfer has actually happened already, as of July 2, and we have achieved that goal of no disruption.

The passport offices and the passport...the service delivery network remains as it was, largely. That is, we will be taking our time to do our plans to ensure that we're able to take advantage of the opportunities that can be presented by having Service Canada do the first in-person service. Of course, Service Canada has a large network of Service Canada offices across the country.

The goal of the transition is really to improve service delivery to Canadians.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you.

Mr. Lauzon.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Welcome, witnesses. It's good to have you folks here.

I would like some clarification.

First, you said in your speech that the “candidates invited to apply will be those with the right mix of high human capital, ability to work in Canada as demonstrated by an offer of employment...”.

Am I right in assuming that they have to have an offer of employment to get on the list, to get into the system?

[Maia Welbourne]

No, although having a job offer will be an advantage when it comes to selecting the candidates we wish to invite to apply.

The way we're envisaging it, it can be that an individual has such high human capital, such high points overall, that they would make an excellent candidate with a good chance of success, and/or plus a job offer, and/or a provincial or territorial nomination.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Okay, so it's not that difficult to qualify to get into the system.

Do you foresee having more people in the queue, or less?

[Maia Welbourne]

I'll break that question down.

To get into what we've been calling the EOI pool, to be accepted as an EOI candidate, there will be certain minimum entry criteria with respect to skill level and language ability. As long as the candidate met those minimum entry criteria, they would be admitted and then would become an EOI candidate.

From a design perspective, we'd like to maximize the number of EOI candidates to make our ability to choose the best and brightest; again, the best and brightest, or top candidates, being those with really high human capital, or a job offer from an employer, or a provincial or territorial nomination.

We would like to maximize the number of EOI candidates, but then when it comes to inviting candidates to apply, that's where the number would be smaller and aligned with processing capacity and our—

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Basically they self-apply, right?

[Maia Welbourne]

Yes.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

So this is not going to be labour intensive at all from your perspective, from your side of the equation. I'm assuming there will be some savings here, because you don't have to do a whole lot of paperwork and cull all these applications, etc.

Is that a correct assumption?

[Maia Welbourne]

We will still on the application for permanent residence side have to—

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

But you'll have a heck of a lot less, won't you?

[Maia Welbourne]

We will have more, yes, streamlined and aligned—

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Yes, because they'll be pre-selected, so to speak, self-culled, in other words.

There should be in fact some savings there, and a heck of a lot less work to perform. Is that a fair assumption?

[Maia Welbourne]

As I mentioned, we're working on cost and resource implications, so in terms of quantifying—

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

So you'll be asking for fewer resources from Treasury Board, I'm sure.

I just want to understand the process well. Let's say I'm a small employer and I need welders. I guess the first step is that I get the LMO to say that I need a welder with three years' experience. I go to Service Canada and get an LMO report that says there are no available Canadians. Is that the first step?

[Maia Welbourne]

It depends on what you're looking for and whether you're looking for a permanent person or a temporary foreign worker.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

I'm looking for a permanent person.