Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 21st, 2013

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

The changes to the application process, the intake system.

[David Manicom]

The individuals whose applications were terminated were advised that their applications had been terminated. All of the information about how to apply for various programs is on our website. There was no specific communication to individuals whose applications were terminated, but it's all publicly available information. There's an application wizard, which helps walk potential applicants through programs that might be available to them and for which they might qualify.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

You have 30 seconds.

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

I have 30 seconds, so I'll just go right back to one question that you may not be able to answer and you might need to send to us as well.

With respect to the EOI again, could you please let us know what date the criteria will be made public? If it's your colleague who's not here who can provide that, please provide that in writing.

[David Manicom]

That date is not yet known.

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

It's not yet known? So maybe, when it is known, is it possible for CIC to forward that to the committee?

[David Manicom]

Yes. The criteria under which CIC will make draws from the expression of interest pool will be through ministerial instructions, which are all published in the Canada Gazette.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

Thank you. Sorry about that, but your time is over.

Mr. McCallum, you have the floor for five minutes.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Thank you very much.

And thank you to the officials for being here.

My first statement is a comment on a question. In view of the statement by the minister in the House a couple of weeks ago that the average overall waiting time or processing time was 12 months, it's interesting to look at page 11, where we see that the true number is 29 months overall, 37 months for family class, 53 months for parents and grandparents, which is exactly what I said at the time. So it's confirmed by the department's numbers, which is nice to see.

My first question has to do with parents and grandparents. I believe that, as of January 1, 5,000 new applicants will be allowed. My question is this. How long do you think it will take for those applications to be fully made? Some have said it will take a matter of hours, or at most a matter of days. Do you have any idea of the length of time it will take for those application spots to be filled?

[David Manicom]

We can't know for sure, sir. There are 5,000 applications, so it will probably be approximately 10,000 or 11,000 individuals. Because the program has been closed for new applications for some time, combined with the fact that the criteria for sponsoring parents and grandparents will have changed, that combination of factors makes it difficult to be certain. We would anticipate that, because of the closure for two years, the 5,000 cap will be met in a period of days or weeks. It's difficult to be certain, but it's a short period of time.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

With respect to the Philippines, I think it's great that Immigration is facilitating things, but I also think the devil is in the details. Similar action was taken for Haiti, and people from Haiti claim that very little happened. I believe your announcement said that the Filipino cases would be “prioritized” for people from “affected areas”. Now that sounds reasonable, but also very vague. At some point will we know how many additional people from the Philippines are actually let in as a consequence of this, whether it means that specific waiting times will be dramatically reduced for family members, and so on?

[Diane Burrows]

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to that question, sir. Yes, the department is working very hard at this point across our network—which is of course illustrated on page 2 of the diagram—in Canada and overseas to identify the applications, or the interest of people to apply, people who have been in the affected areas. We have identified specific parts of the Philippines according to the DFATD's affected areas information, so we're working in a consistent manner on identifying the affected area.

People have been asked, on our website and through various statements by the minister, to identify themselves or relatives who may be in the affected area and to contact Citizenship and Immigration Canada either through a web form that's available on the website or through the call centre where there's a priority number to make the contact. Or, if someone is in the Philippines, they can also do so through the mission e-mail. There's indeed a lot of work going on at the mission level to cull through applications and, in the case of processing centres in Canada, to cull through the application process to do exactly that and put them to the front.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

I do commend you for the initiative, but I think there's a certain amount of cynicism about how effective it will be. At some point will you report to Canadians, to the public, what the impact of this speeding up has been and how many people have been allowed in who otherwise would not have been?

[Diane Burrows]

I certainly hope that will be the case, sir. That would be something I think we would put forward to the minister for consideration. We're prepared to do that.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

This is my last question because I think I am running out of time.

Recently, in the Canadian experience class there are a number of occupations that people can no longer use to apply, such as international foreign students. I think many tens of thousands of such students came here in the expectation that they could apply, and now all of a sudden the carpet is pulled out from under them and they cannot. I guess my question is whether that is fair, whether there couldn't be some grandfathering initiative to allow an opportunity to apply to those who are already here and who perhaps came here partly because they would have a chance to become permanent residents.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

You have 10 seconds to reply. We're short of time.

[David Manicom]

There are a small number of occupations that are not open for application in the Canadian experience class for 2014. Those may change in the future. Those occupations were closed because we had a largely disproportionate number of those specific occupations in the case inventory and wanted to ensure a more reasonable balance between occupations so that the program wasn't dominated by several occupations.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

Thank you very much for answering so quickly. It's very appreciated.

Mr. Lauzon, you have the floor for seven minutes.

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

Thank you, Madame Chair.

Mr. Lamarche seems to be lonely here. Very briefly, most of my questions are for Mr. Manicom, but I want to get him engaged in the conversation here.

[David Manicom]

No, that's okay.

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

I read somewhere—and I couldn't find it again—that 80% of Canadians currently have a passport. Is that a fact?

[Jean-Pierre Lamarche, Director General, Passport Program Management and Strategic Initiatives, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

We'll soon be reaching 70%.

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

Seventy percent. So this is gospel if it's coming from you, I'm sure.

[Jean-Pierre Lamarche]

Yes.

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

Thank you very much; that's a clarification.