Evidence of meeting #5 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 41st Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was student.
A recording is available from Parliament.
President and Vice-Chancellor, Vice-Chair, U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities, University of Waterloo
That's okay, Mr. "Tolson".
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Many people think we're brothers, actually.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would also like to thank our guests.
This is a very important question for us. The riding of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country is the third largest site for tourism industry jobs. There is a very active committee that advises us on tourism questions. I would also like to thank Barrett Fisher, President of Tourism Whistler, and Stuart McLaughlin, President of Grouse Mountain Resort, who advised us in this area.
I have two related questions. There needs to be a balance between safety and openness towards our visitors. Mr. Cappe reminded us of what Mr. Linklater said.
We have to keep this balance between bringing people in and the safety, I think you said, the security, and the health of Canadians.
My question is in two parts.
I'm going to direct the first part to you, Professor Cappe, and then to you, Mr. Goldstein.
Some people criticize the limits that we have set and say that our criteria are too strict. In your opinion, what would be a good balance between accepting legitimate visitors and protecting Canadians' safety?
On the second part of the question, dealing with Mexico, I had the honour of being the head of the Canada–Mexico Parliamentary Friendship Group until last year. I went down to Mexico and had the opportunity to speak to the press about our improved business-visa processing. We all regret the fact that visas are required, but we all know why. Now I understand that visa processing is much improved, there are more visa processing places, and we're giving the Mexican people good reason to come in under the visitor class of visitors.
Professor Cappe, can you go first?
Mel Cappe
It is difficult to know if our criteria are too strict. I don't know how to determine what the best balance would be.
How do you determine what the optimum balance is?
How many terrorists should we let in that's going to prove to be optimal? Probably the politics of this suggests zero. How many people who are going to stay on a temporary visa and not go back are we prepared to accept? Inherently, it is a political question, and it's something that you politicians have to come to grips with. It's very tough to find the right answer.
There isn't a technical solution to this question, I'm afraid. You need to come to a judgment about what it is.
My encouragement to you is don't search for zero tolerance. Mistakes are going to be made. There is an optimal quantity of errors.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
We have done technical things, like the electronic travel authorization, approved destinations for tourism—things that can improve the technical processing.
Wouldn't you agree that we've made great progress there?
Prof. Mel Cappe
Let me say we've made great progress. I think the five to ten years is a big deal.
In response to Mr. McCallum's question, I understand that in the U.S., for a temporary residence visa, they actually do an interview for 100% of people coming in. We don't. So we have an efficiency there that's probably desirable.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
I'm hoping Mr. Goldstein will comment on it, because you also have to get fingerprinted to get that American visa in Mexico.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
I don't want to come here today and say that there haven't been improvements. In Mexico we have reversed some of the reputational damage that was done to Canada in the process. We're trying to say that a visa as an instrument is a blunt instrument, and I think you have to look at various levels of risk and various levels of accessibility, because not all markets are built the same.
The Mexican visa was imposed at the same time as the Czech visa. We know through the CIDA process—and we're very pleased with the government's progress there—that they came to the conclusion that was a good mechanism to reverse the need for a Czech visa. We think Mexico should be on the list as well.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My first question is for David. It's about the trusted traveller program. I thought you could touch upon how that program is working and how it enhances tourism.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
It's working to its limits, and if there's one key point I want to make today, it is that if we don't reinvest in the system, it's very hard to grow it. Trusted traveller programs have worked to a limited degree, NEXUS being probably the most successful. But there isn't enough promotion behind it, and it's getting difficult to get interviews. It is being consumed by its own success because of the lack of investment.
As mechanisms, they're really important, because, as I said earlier, that's what gets people out of line. Whether it's that or even the innovative stuff that CBSA is doing through ABC kiosks at airports, whatever we do to facilitate the process makes us more competitive.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
When you say lack of promotion, what type of promotion would you like to see?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
I would just like to make it known to the general public that these mechanisms exist. NEXUS is not a household word. I think our community, being the tourism community, and the government and all other stakeholders could be doing a better job. But again, if even a portion of the revenue that's derived from NEXUS applications were reinvested in promotion, you would have more people involved in the program and that would take more people out of line.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
Have you seen any improvements to tourism since the December 2012 launch of the online temporary resident visa applications?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
It's early days, but it's going in the right direction. Our view is that hopefully those processes will eliminate the need for visas in some markets and provide a fast-track system for others. But the full rollout of the electronic travel authorization is not supposed to be until 2015-16, so given the pace of our industry, we are losing market on a daily if not monthly basis.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
As you know, our government also implemented a number of measures to fast-track safe refugee claims with the Balanced Refugee Reform Act in 2010 and the Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act in 2012. Does the tourism sector that you represent support these changes, and could you elaborate on how this has affected our country's security?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
In fact we did support those two initiatives at their legislative stages in the hope that if we truncated that system and created more safety and security on that level, that would take the level of risk out of some of these markets. Therefore, we wouldn't necessarily require blunt instruments like visas in Mexico, Brazil, and other places.
Conservative
Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON
On the academic front, obviously we're very proud of the growth in the number of student visas coming to Canada. I think Georgian College, in my own riding, has tripled the number of foreign students who are attending right now. The community certainly embraces that. How long in advance do you think it's fair to ask students to apply in terms of planning, and how does Canada compare to other countries in terms of the period we require?
President and Vice-Chancellor, Vice-Chair, U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities, University of Waterloo
As I mentioned, Canada right now is way behind Australia and the U.K. for visa processing.
You mentioned a number. I think it's very important for us to be able to attract a larger number of international students. The quality is also a very important aspect. With regard to quality, these students have other options. Our biggest competitors right now are the U.S. and Australian universities. These students have multiple offers. Therefore, it's very important for us to expedite their visa processes as fast as possible. If the student receives a U.S. visa before he or she gets a Canadian visa, then it's a decisive factor for them.
For that purpose, we could learn from the airlines. They are very, very safety conscious. They make sure that the safety of their aircraft is of utmost importance, yet they want their airplanes to spend a minimum amount of time on the ground.
This is the approach we should follow. An application lands on a visa officer's desk; we should use a much more simplified process. This is a very no-risk process. Expedite this as fast as possible. In one day, he or she should be able to get a visa. If there are questions, then you should channel them differently, but don't put all applications in the same basket.
This is so important to us, both for the students and also when hiring foreign talent. We are competing with the rest of the world.
NDP
Ève Péclet NDP La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for their extremely interesting presentations.
Professor Cappe, I would like you to speak to us about a certain article that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen in October 2013. You criticized the government's lack of long-term vision in that article. But, long-term vision is very important for industries, if I have understood correctly.
In the context of short-term immigration, could you tell us more about what you meant in your article and could you make a link with temporary visas?
