Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 31st, 2018

[The Chair (Mr. Robert Oliphant (Don Valley West, Lib.)), Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Good morning, everyone.

Pursuant to Standing Order 81(4) regarding the main estimates 2018-19, today we are considering two areas of reference to our committee: vote 1 regarding the Immigration and Refugee Board, and subject matter on main estimates for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

I will just give you notice right now that at the end of the meeting when we come to a vote, we will only be voting on the main estimates with respect to the IRB vote 1 because the others were already referred to the committee of the whole and voted on last week.

Welcome again, Minister. Thank you for agreeing to appear before the committee, and the same to your officials, who are becoming well known to us.

Thank you as well, Deputy, for coming.

We'll move over to you for an opening statement.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm pleased to meet with you again this week, this time to discuss the 2018-2019 main estimates, as they apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Joining me today are Marta Morgan, deputy minister; Chris Meyers, acting chief financial officer; Paul MacKinnon, assistant deputy minister, strategic and program policy; Mike MacDonald, associate assistant deputy minister, strategic and program policy; and Bruce Scoffield, director general, immigration program guidance.

As the committee is aware, last week I appeared before the committee of the whole during which I spoke of the government's accomplishments, outlined current and future priorities, and addressed important questions from colleagues.

It was an opportunity to highlight both the valuable role that immigration plays to support our economy and the important international humanitarian commitments we have to help those who come to Canada, seeking our protection.

It was also a chance to again discuss the challenges we face from issues such as irregular migration, as well as the decisive measures our government has taken to ensure the safety and security of Canadians. I will say more on this in a moment.

The IRCC budgetary main estimates for 2018-19 total more than $2.35 billion. This represents a net increase of approximately $708 million from the previous year's main estimates.

Allow me to outline some of the most significant components of this increase. To start, we're requesting funding of $287.9 million to support the 2017 and the 2018 immigration levels plans. This is made up of two parts. In October 2016, the government established a new baseline for immigration of 300,000 permanent residents annually, starting in 2017. It provided additional funding of $218.9 million in 2018-19 to achieve this target. As you know, in October 2017 the government built on this new baseline by approving a historic, multi-year immigration levels plan, which increases admissions to 310,000 in 2018, 330,000 in 2019, and 340,000 in 2020, which brings us very close to 1% of Canada's population. Additional funding of $69 million was provided in 2018-19 to support this plan.

This funding will go towards bolstering our operational capacity as well as expanding settlement services to ensure that the newcomers we welcome are well supported on the path to integration and full participation in Canadian society. These investments reflect the government's recognition of immigration as a key driver of Canada's economic growth and contributor to our social and humanitarian objectives.

Next year, we are requesting a total of $236.6 million from the accumulated surplus of the passport program revolving fund to address the forecasted drop in volumes and revenues expected in 2018-19. The passport program is currently in the middle of its 10-year business cycle, due to the introduction in 2013 of the 10-year passport option. Since most passport holders have opted for the 10-year passport, the revenues accumulated will be used to offset the forecasted drop in demand for passports, not only for this year and next year, but also for the remaining five years of the business cycle when fewer Canadians will need to renew their passports. The draw on the accumulated surplus will also allow the passport program to cover its anticipated costs and expenditures over the remainder of the business cycle.

As well, we request funding to cover increased transfers to Quebec, in the amount of $112 million, related to the funding formula in the Canada-Québec Accord. The amount to be paid to Quebec to support settlement and integration services in that province is calculated annually under the terms of the accord. As committee members may be aware, the federal government does not fund Quebec service providers directly. We transfer funds—totalling $490 million this year—to the Quebec government, which then decides how the money is used to support settlement and integration services in that province.

Finally, we request funds to cover increased funding for the interim federal health program totalling $89.8 million. I'm proud that our government fulfilled our promise to Canadians to fully restore refugee health care. For example, this program is being used to support newly arrived Yazidis and other survivors of Daesh, including providing them with access to medical and mental health services.

In addition, I would like to mention some other funding increases we are requesting for IRCC. To expand biometric screening in Canada's immigration system, we request funding of $28.1 million. To enhance procedural fairness in the citizenship revocation process, we seek funding of $6.1 million. To strengthen the process for claiming asylum in Canada, also known as the ministerial reviews and interventions pilot project, we make a request of $5.2 million. Finally, to regularize the reforms to the temporary foreign worker program, we request $2.5 million.

Before closing, I would like to touch very briefly on irregular migration. As you know, our government is reinvesting into front-line operations to strengthen border security and speed up the processing of asylum claims. To that end, budget 2018 invested approximately $174 million towards managing irregular migration. IRCC received $17 million to support the asylum system, and the Immigration Refugee Board received $74 million.

These funds will be used to staff 50 new decision-makers in the refugee protection division, and 14 new members in the refugee appeal division, for a total of 64. This will allow the board to finalize an additional 17,000 claims for refugee protection and more than 3,000 refugee appeals.

In addition to this, the IRB is introducing a new system based on proportionality that will restructure their internal operations to ensure claims are processed as quickly as possible. With the additional investments in budget 2018, and the ongoing collaboration with our various partners and within government departments, we've made significant progress in recent months on managing the situation effectively.

In closing, allow me to note I'm proud of what our government has accomplished so far in strengthening our immigration system, ensuring our policies support economic growth and job creation, respecting our international obligations, and furthering Canada's long-standing humanitarian traditions.

And I am confident we will continue to work with all partners to support newcomers and build the future of this country.

We would now be happy to take any of your questions.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you very much, Minister.

We begin with Mr. Sarai, for seven minutes.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Thank you, Minister. We appreciate your comments.

There was concern in my riding of Surrey Centre when we were originally increasing the numbers that settlement services should be appropriately compensated equivalent to the increase in levels. I notice a 30% increase in the overall budget in the main estimates.

Can you explain the need for the increase, and does it correlate to the levels plan increase, i.e., more claimants equals more money needed?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

First of all, it's important to note at the outset that the asylum process is very different from the rest of our immigration streams. The asylum seekers are processed by the Immigration Refugee Board. Not every asylum seeker, obviously, has a legitimate claim for refugee protection. Those folks will be removed from Canada, and therefore they are not part of the mix.

Asylum seekers who are found to be in need of Canada's protection get to stay and are able to apply for permanent resident status down the road, but it takes a long time for them to be processed and then to become permanent residents. Once they become permanent residents, they will be able to access the settlement services that are open to other immigrants.

In terms of—

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Is the increase in the overall main estimates due to the increased levels planned as well? So if we are increasing the number of permanent residents, are we're correlating the amount of—

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Yes. Absolutely. In fact, that was the main thrust of the argument last year. As a government, we believe very strongly that if we are going ahead with an increase in the number of permanent residents we welcome into Canada every year—which is something that provinces, employers, and everyone was asking us for—we should have a corresponding increase in settlement funding to enable those newcomers to get the services and the supports they need, so they can succeed faster and contribute to Canadian society faster.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

And perhaps, as well, they'll be able to contribute more.

How does this correlate with the federal health program? Is the $89-million increase due to some of the new programs that are included in the federal health act, i.e., that refugees will get the basic necessities of medical assistance, including preliminary dental, etc.? Is that what the increase is for?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Yes. I would also just remind the committee that it was our government that restored the program. The program was cut by the previous Conservative government, and we made a commitment to Canadians to restore that program because when the program was cut, the health care needs of asylum claimants or refugees did not disappear. They just ended up being borne by provinces and territories. We felt the federal government had to play its role and restore that program.

I'm proud that that program is now being used to support the most vulnerable, including the Yazidis and other survivors of Daesh who are accessing medical and mental health services because of the interim federal health program.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

I understand that $860 million is allocated for settlement programs and resettlement assistance. In the main estimates that's an increase of about $77 million. Can you explain the programs that will be funded by this increase or any funding breakdown, i.e., LINC language training or other types of programs?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Yes. First of all, the overall increase reflects the fact that there will be many more permanent residents than ever before in Canadian history. The funding is distributed via open and transparent processes to over 500 settlement organizations outside of Quebec. In addition to that, we have an innovation fund that came into place after budget 2017 to encourage stakeholders in the settlement service-provider environment to test out new ideas to determine, for example, better ways to deliver language training outside of the classroom, by embedding language training in the workforce, for example, and more specialized services for subsets of permanent residents, such as refugee youth or vulnerable women and so on. That's part of that.

Budget 2018 also helped us with additional money to assist racialized newcomer women to transition into the labour market, because we know they've had a number of obstacles in their way as they have attempted to transition into the labour market once they've gotten into Canada.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

I notice that there is $179 million, almost $180 million, for visitors, international students, and temporary workers. Surrey is home to many thousands of international students, and I'm glad to see there's that funding of $180 million allocated to visitors, international students, and temporary workers.

Can you explain how the $179.9 million will be spent among these three streams?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I'll have the deputy minister, Marta Morgan, answer.

[Marta Morgan, Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

That funding is our base funding in the department, which allows us to process temporary resident visas for all applicants who come in through all of those streams. It's split sort of evenly among those streams, depending on volume. It's really volume driven, but the majority is for visitors because of the many visitors we have coming to Canada every year.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Do we see a net increase in the number of visitors in the last three years? Do you have numbers on that?

[Marta Morgan]

We'd be pleased to provide those numbers. I don't have the exact numbers with me, but, yes, year over year, we're seeing significant increases in all of those categories, particularly visitors, for temporary resident visas. We've been in the 8% to 10% per year growth over the last number of years.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

My understanding is that the international students bring about $11.5 billion to our economic stream, and I think in tourism we can notice about $97 billion, almost $100 billion.

Would it be fair to say that as we increase the number of visitors, the tourism industry also benefits from that?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Absolutely, and we are doing our part to enable Canada to attract even more tourists. I was in China last year to open an additional number of visa application centres because we recognize that 2018 is the Canada-China year of tourism.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I'm afraid I need to end it there.

Thank you very much.

Ms. Rempel.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Will the minister and his department please table with the committee the percentage of refusals from Venezuela, by year since 2015, for temporary resident visas, including student visas and work permits, as well as permanent resident visas, such as the federal skilled work category and the Canadian experience class?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, I'm happy to provide those numbers to the committee.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you.

Recently, we've heard that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of refusals of visas for Venezuelan visitors to Canada, as well as from other countries.

Is your department proactively refusing visas given the burden caused by the number of people illegally entering the country from the United States and subsequently claiming asylum in Canada?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Visa decisions are made by independent visa officers who use their training and judgment to determine bona fide travellers. They make their decisions independently, free of political interference.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I recently had a woman in my office who regularly has her family visit Canada from Venezuela. Her sister wanted to come to Canada to see her niece graduate. Despite the fact that nothing has changed in her situation, her application to visit Canada was recently denied. The factor that was cited on her application was “other”. That “other” was that the visa officer felt that due to the deteriorating political and social climate in Venezuela, she would not return home.

How is this compatible with the Lima declaration that Canada signed earlier this year, stating that Canada would help with cases of migratory accommodations and identity documents for Venezuelans?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Before I answer that question, I want to deal with the previous point the honourable member made. Asylum seeker processing has absolutely no impact on the regular migration streams processing.