I am pleased to be here to present Citizenship and Immigration Canada's (CIC) supplementary estimates (B).
The most significant allocations in these supplementary estimates are for the global case management system, the immigration loans program, and for our new immigration application management system, express entry.
In vote 1, we are seeking $5.3 million in a transfer from the Canada Border Services Agency for our global case management system. These funds represent the final missing piece to make our global case management system a single interface for immigration files and transactions. They will enable us to complete the migration of one of the remaining information technology systems, the old legacy field operations support system.
Mr. Chair, the government is committed to providing protection and support to genuine refugees. Refugees often have few personal financial resources and are unable to access traditional lending institutions. The immigration loans program provides refugees with access to funding to cover a number of expenses, including travel to Canada and medical examinations required to establish a person's admissibility. In cases where loans are not repaid, the department can make a request to Treasury Board to write off the account. This option can occur when further collection expenses are unjustifiable because the amount of the debt is very small, or when the person is deceased, bankrupt, disabled, or cannot be located, for example.
So in this case Treasury Board approved writing off 1,316 uncollectible immigration loans valued at $1.1 million. The majority of these uncollected loans, 1,043, are for small amounts of less than $25. The remaining 273 accounts represent an average value of $4,183.
I'd also like to highlight that our collection rate of approximately 91%, as well as its cost of collection, compare favourably to private sector collection agencies.
Finally, the most significant allocation in these supplementary estimates is for our new immigration application management system, Express Entry.
We want to attract the world’s most ambitious and talented individuals, those who can contribute to job creation and the Canadian economy. To do so, we have worked to transform our immigration system, so that it becomes faster, fairer, and more responsive to the labour market, while maintaining Canada's well-earned reputation as a generous and welcoming nation.
To date, we have made tremendous improvements overall in terms of the system.
Perhaps I'll just turn then quickly to express entry. In budget 2014, the government announced $32.5 million in total funding for express entry. This year's amount is $6.9 million for the department, which will allow CIC to align our IT systems and perform other final preparations for the launch of express entry on January 1, 2015.
This new system will result in a much faster and more efficient service to potential skilled immigrants. It will also allow the government to be more flexible and responsive to Canada's changing economic conditions and priorities.
Essentially, Express Entry will enable CAC to more directly target the skilled newcomers with the skills and characteristics that Canada's economy needs. That is because we will be able to select the most highly-qualified candidates from a pool, rather than simply processing those who apply first.
This new approach to managing and processing applications will apply to existing economic immigration programs. If a candidate meets the criteria, they will then be ranked against others in the pool based on a comprehensive ranking system, which will consider factors linked to immigrants' economic success once in Canada.
With that, Mr. Chair, I will not go through all the remarks, but just focus on our supplementary estimates items.
Thank you for this opportunity to address the committee.
My colleagues and I would be happy to respond to any question that you may have.