I thank you.
It is interesting that you also spoke of the costs for provinces, because there are studies that have been recently published on the matter. For example, the latest one I have read was published May 8, 2014, by the Public Library of Science. It is entitled:
“The Cost and Impact of the Interim Federal Health Program Cuts on Child Refugees in Canada”.
Could you explain how exactly you calculate these savings? A year after the reforms to the program, more and more studies are showing, for example, that parents are increasingly worried about the bills they will have to pay if they no longer have a right to free care. They thus delay their hospital visits more and more. As a consequence, more and more children, who are as you call them illegitimate refugees—though they aren't so necessarily—go to the emergency room or increase the costs for provinces and hospitals in another way.
You really do not use the same methodology to calculate these costs as the one used by these researchers and by the hospitals participating in the study or even that of the provinces who complain that their costs are increasing, precisely because of the reform made to the Interim Federal Health Program.
I took note of the $600 million number. I thank you for your reply.
As for the Express Entry program, you say that the applications will be processed in six months or less. Has that period of time been calculated starting from the moment the applicant has submitted their application and gets a positive answer and an invitation to come to Canada? Do you calculate the time during which a person must wait before receiving an invitation from a business or a province?