Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 27th, 2018

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

Good afternoon, everyone. I'm going to call to order the 135th meeting of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

Pursuant to Standing Order 81(5), the supplementary estimates (A), 2018-19, votes 1a, 5a and 10a under the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and vote 1a under Immigration and Refugee Board have been referred to the committee on Wednesday, October 24, 2018 for consideration.

I now call vote 1a under the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, and I welcome the minister. Thank you for coming today and for bringing your deputy and officials with you. We offer you 10 minutes to open the conversation about our supplementary estimates.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, dear colleagues.

I am pleased to be here to present my department's supplementary estimates (A) for fiscal year 2018-2019. Today I'm accompanied by some of my officials from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

They are Marta Morgan, the Deputy Minister; Daniel Mills, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer of Immigration; Paul MacKinnon, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy; and Dr. Harpreet Kochhar, Assistant Deputy Minister of Operations.

The 2018-19 supplementary estimates (A) for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada include a net increase of $59.9 million in resources. The most significant component of this is under grants and contributions. There is $50 million earmarked to support provinces in providing temporary housing for asylum seekers. These amounts support the government's earlier funding announcements that we made in the summer of 2018. This includes a commitment of $11 million for the City of Toronto, $3 million to the Province of Manitoba and $36 million to the Province of Quebec.

Also included in grants and contributions is the renewal of $3 million per year over five years under the global assistance for irregular migrants program to support the government's renewed migrant smuggling prevention strategy. This strategy funding is provided to trusted international, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and partners to help efforts to detect, prevent and deter human smuggling operations.

These estimates also cover three other key categories. First, our increase for operating expenditures totals $7.1 million. This includes $2.7 million to expand biometric screening in Canada's immigration system to verify the identity of all visa-required travellers seeking entry into Canada; $2.1 million to support the protection of classified information under division 9 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, when this information is used to make decisions on temporary or permanent resident applications in Canada; and $1.1 million to support an outreach strategy to key populations to deter irregular migration and dispel misinformation and to conduct in-depth analysis of irregular migration trends and demographic profiles.

There are also capital expenditures of $8.6 million to improve IT platforms or systems in order to deliver on key initiatives. These include $3.2 million to expand biometric screening in Canada's immigration system and perform remaining information technology system enhancements and changes; $3 million for the international mobility program, under which we work with the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada; and $2.4 million for the entry-exit information exchange program to allow real-time exchange of traveller data between Canada and the United States.

In addition, IRCC intends to transfer close to $9.4 million to other government departments. The vast majority of this includes a transfer to Global Affairs Canada in the amount of $9.2 million. This will support growth in IRCC's international network to meet the requirements of our multi-year immigration levels plan.

The government is delivering on its key commitments to welcome those who want to contribute to our country's success, reunite families and uphold Canada's humanitarian tradition.

As our multi-year levels plan for 2019-21 suggests, our priority for immigration is to meet our country's economic needs and address labour market and skills shortages. That is why, from 2020 to 2021, 72% of the additional admissions are being allocated to economic programs primarily under the express entry system and the provincial nominee program.

By helping to meet our labour market needs in regions across the country, our government will plan to help to boost Canada's economic potential in the face of an aging population and slowing labour force growth.

Our government has also introduced new programs and is testing new ideas to help attract the specific talent that our country needs. This past June, we celebrated the first year of the global skills strategy. Since its launch, that program has received over 15,000 work permit applications, meaning more employers across the country have been able to quickly get the talent they need to Canada.

We also recognize the success of the start-up visa program, and we turned it into a permanent program in April 2018. This will drive innovation and support job-creating entrepreneurs to move to Canada and then scale up, because that's where the jobs are. More than 130 start-ups in many different industries have launched across the country with the help of this program.

Developed in collaboration with the Atlantic provinces, the Atlantic immigration pilot program continues to help designated Atlantic businesses attract international graduates and skilled foreign workers to fill job vacancies and help grow economies in Atlantic Canada.

In addition to helping our country meet its economic needs through immigration, our government is firmly committed to uniting families with their loved ones faster. We aim to reunite 88,500 permanent residents with their families in 2019, and we have slashed the wait times for spouses from what it used to be, 26 months, to 12 months in the vast majority of cases. To help reunite even more parents and grandparents with their families, our government has quadrupled the number of applications from 5,000 in 2016 to 20,000 in the beginning of 2019.

We've also made significant progress in reducing backlogs in our spousal caregiver and parent and grandparent programs. The extra spaces help us to reduce those backlogs.

With respect to maintaining our humanitarian tradition, refugee numbers have more than doubled from pre-2015 levels. The number of spaces for privately sponsored refugees has actually quadrupled under our government. Our goal in 2018 is to welcome 27,000 resettled refugees, and in 2019 we will welcome 29,950 admissions. This includes the additional 1,000 spaces in budget 2018 to provide protection to 1,000 vulnerable women and girls.

Mr. Chair, our government wants to ensure that Canada's immigration system is based on compassion and economic opportunities for all, and that it benefits both Canadians and the newcomers that it serves.

As such, we will continue to work with provinces and territories as well as our various other partners to ensure that our immigration system not only operates efficiently but also protects the health, safety and security of Canadians and grows our economy even further.

My officials and I would now be happy to take any of your questions.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Mr. Whalen, you have seven minutes.

[Nick Whalen, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for appearing, Minister. It's always great to have the opportunity to review changes to the estimates, which is probably one of our primary functions.

With respect to the votes to increase operating expenditures, one of the items that catches my eye—it's not a particularly large number, but it seems to be important operationally—is the $1.1 million to support outreach strategy to key populations. Could you describe a little further what that program is doing and whether we consider this to be an operational increase that will persist for the future or if it's a one-off change in operating?

If it's going to expand, which countries do you intend to expand it to?

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

Thank you very much for that really important question.

You touched on an expenditure that has proven to be much value for money for our government. It has funded the aggressive and sustained outreach program that we've had since 2017 to support our outreach to various communities in the United States and beyond to address misinformation and clarify our immigration system and asylum procedures.

This money has also allowed us to engage with governments like Nigeria, and engage with our partners in the United States to deter irregular migration through addressing issues around misuse of U.S. visas. The fact of the matter is that this investment has had quite an impact in the sense of the reduction in the number of Nigerian nationals who have been coming to Canada irregularly and the progress we have made in terms of addressing the abuse of the U.S. visa system. Equally important is its impact on the misinformation that we've been able to address on the ground in the United States with various communities and individuals who are seeking to find out about our asylum and immigration system, and who were subjected to misinformation about our system.

[Nick Whalen, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

This function, it sounds like one of those situations where a shilling of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I'm just wondering. This function that's being carried out through the IRCC, do you foresee this continuing there, or is this something that Global Affairs Canada should be doing on a regular basis as part of our embassies and our missions abroad, just continually, as regular practice, to manage and monitor migration trends and potential pitfalls for Canada?

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

This has primarily been led by the IRCC, but our missions abroad have been engaged in this. For example, in the United States, our embassy in Washington as well as our consulates across the United States have been engaged in this.

Members of Parliament have also gone there and engaged with many stakeholders, including service delivery organizations, lawyers, community activists and potential asylum seekers themselves, to answer questions directly and clear up misinformation, and really engage with community media, as well. That has had quite an impact.

You can see, for example, the reduction in the number of Nigerian nationals who have come to Canada irregularly this year versus last year, and also, the appreciation that some of these individuals have had in the United States for that engagement, clarifying and pushing back against misinformation and answering their questions on their concerns about asylum.

[Nick Whalen, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you.

It seems like the efforts and the two learnings from the Haitian migrant situation really paid off this last year.

The other budgetary item on the operations side that caught my eye was the biometrics screening. That's because oftentimes when we think about biometric screening, we think about capital costs associated with technology and training costs associated with using the technology. Then, anytime you implement a technological solution, it seems like it can be a never-ending money pit.

With this $2.7 million, is this one of these situations where we foresee spending $2.7 million every year extra, or do you see growth within the biometric cost? From the estimates perspective, it's not clear to me how this expenditure is going to grow over time.

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

That's a very good question.

Let me address the need for biometrics. It is really about supporting our security screening of foreign nationals coming to Canada before they arrive in Canada. By having a system that fundamentally gives us even more confidence in terms of being confident of the identity of the individual, it contributes to stronger safety and security of Canadians.

It also, on the other side, allows for facilitation of frequent travellers. Once you get your biometrics done, it's good for 10 years. Therefore, the next time you come to Canada it facilitates your travel because we know who you are. We don't have to worry about your identity.

It is in line with what our closest allies have done. They've had biometrics in place for a while now. We're catching up to that and making sure that we have the same system. This allows us to really, as I said, deter those who shouldn't be coming to Canada.

It allows us to know about them and to do a security screening before they arrive here. Then for frequent travellers who are bona fide travellers it allows more facilitation, at a time when you see longer and longer lines at airports, for people coming back to Canada or visiting for the first time. This will certainly help in that process.

[Nick Whalen, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Of the amount of money that's been spent to date and projected into the future, this $2.7 million is on top of everything that's already been budgeted. I want to get a sense of the scope of commitment to this project. If there are cost savings in other places, it would be nice to know about that as well, but it does seem to be growing quite fast.

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

I'll let my officials address that particular aspect.

[Daniel Mills, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Finance, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Chair, the amount of $2.7 million in supplementary estimates (A) is needed because of a delay in the project last year. So, these are funds from last year that are being transferred to this year. They are not additional funds, but the request is due to a delay in the implementation of the biometrics system.

This year, we will be completing the last phases of the project. The $2.7 million...

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I apologize for interrupting you, but the member's speaking time has elapsed.

Ms. Rempel, you have the floor.

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

Thank you.

For the benefit of the officials and the minister, my questions relate to resources allocated to support casework processing inquiries, including the ministerial enquiries division, the minister's office, the information centre for members of Parliament and senators, and the client support centres run by the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

Minister, first, it's my understanding that under subsection 24(3) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, an immigration officer shall “act in accordance with any instructions that the Minister may make.”

Is this correct?

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

I'll let my officials address that particular aspect of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

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

I'm just looking for.... It's from the act. I typed it out.

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

I don't have the act in front of me, so I trust my officials.

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

Okay. Are you aware that for some of the casework inquiries that may come in from MPs to these various streams, they may call upon you to make determinations using your authority under that section?

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

We have engaged with members of Parliament from all parties to work with them. My team works with them to make sure we help them in their work, assisting—

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

That's perfect, great. Thank you.

Can you tell us how many times you've used your authority under subsection 24(3) of IRPA, based on requests made by Mr. Raj Grewal, his constituency staff; Mr. Jagdeep Mann or any employees or associates—

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I'm just going to remind the member that we are here to discuss supplementary estimates (A). If you could tie this in to supplementary estimates (A)....

There's no point of order.

[David Tilson, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

What do you mean, there's no point of order? Of course there's a point of order. I just made a point of order, Mr. Chairman.

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

If I may, Mr. Chair, I have outlined on the front end of my comments today the relevance I'm tying this in to. It's with regard to the resources allocated to assist MPs with processing casework.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Is that in the supplementary estimates?

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

On page 1016 of Bosc and Gagnon with regard to supplementary estimates, it states that “the questions...at these meetings are generally wide-ranging”. On page 1078, it says, “There are no specific rules governing the nature of questions which may be put to witnesses appearing before committees, beyond the general requirement of relevance”, which I have established.

Thank you. I will continue at 1:30 of my time.