Evidence of meeting #139 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was workers.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Adam Brown  Chair, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
Mustafa Alio  Co-Founder and Development Director, Jumpstart Refugee Talent
Bruce Cohen  Co-Founder, Talent Beyond Boundaries
Muzna Dureid  Liaison Officer, The White Helmets
Salma Zahid  Scarborough Centre, Lib.
Madalina Chesoi  Committee Researcher
Ramez Ayoub  Thérèse-De Blainville, Lib.
Dana Wagner  Canadian Partnerships Advisor, Talent Beyond Boundaries
Yasmine Abuzgaya  Staff Lawyer, Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic
Syed Hussan  Coordinator, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change
La Trinidad Mina  Coordinator and Instructor, Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada, Cowichan Intercultural Society, As an Individual

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

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

I'm going to call this meeting to order. This is the 139th meeting of this committee, perhaps the last one for this session, or at least until we rise for the holidays.

We continue our study of migration challenges and opportunities for Canada in the 21st century. I'm just going to let folks know, because we have four statements, that I'm going to be pretty tight on the seven-minute time limit to make sure the members have some opportunities to question you.

We will follow the order that the names appear on the agenda, and start with Mr. Adam Brown, the chair of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.

3:35 p.m.

Adam Brown Chair, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

Good morning.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, honourable members of the committee, and witnesses.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people, where we have the privilege of gathering today.

My name is Adam Brown and I am the chair of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, or CASA. I'm also the vice-president external of the University of Alberta Students' Union, and a fourth-year student completing a business degree in business economics and law.

CASA is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that represents roughly 350,000 students at colleges, universities and polytechnics across the country. Through a formal partnership with the Quebec Student Union, we are a trusted and truly national student voice. We advocate for a post-secondary system that is accessible, affordable, innovative and of the highest quality.

I would like to thank the committee for inviting CASA to participate in this important study on migration challenges and opportunities for Canada in the 21st century.

We live in a globalized world that is becoming ever more interdependent, interconnected and complex. Canada must ensure that its workforce is highly educated and equipped with the skills and experiences necessary to contribute to and succeed in today's global realities. Diverse and cosmopolitan post-secondary experience enhanced by the presence of international students is instrumental in preparing Canada's students to work in an increasingly global community. International students also become prospective ambassadors who serve as a voice for Canada abroad, sharing Canadian interests, values and culture, while strengthening international collaboration in higher education, research, trade and diplomacy.

In addition to the cultural diversity and opportunities for global interconnectedness, international students also help to drive Canada's economic growth. They bring about $15 billion to Canada's economy annually, which helps to create around 170,000 Canadian jobs. International students who decide to stay in Canada after their studies are also essential in addressing the ongoing and increasingly imperative issue of skilled-worker shortages in Canada.

While the opportunity that international students present for Canada's cultural and economic prosperity is great, we have identified many administrative and regulatory barriers that prevent them from easily accessing work opportunities or navigating the immigration system. As a consequence, it becomes harder for international students to stay in Canada after their studies.

With work-integrated learning opportunities becoming an integral part of a quality post-secondary education, international students should have equal access to these experiences. Unfortunately, as it stands, international students must apply for an additional work permit on top of their study permit should they decide during their studies that they would like to pursue a co-op internship, apprenticeship or other work-integrated learning opportunity. This additional permit can take up to six months to get, which prevents many bright and talented international students from partaking in work-integrated learning opportunities that come up often on very short notice during the course of their studies. In order to leverage the valuable opportunity that international students bring to growing our skilled labour force, it is vital that they have access to work opportunities that allow them to build networks in Canada and transition into the workforce after their studies. CASA therefore recommends that the federal government modify the study permit to allow international students to participate in full-time, work-integrated learning placements during their post-secondary studies.

Another barrier that hinders international students transitioning to employment following their studies is the short-term period allotted to secure employment and apply for a work permit. Currently, international students have just 90 days after graduation to find a job and apply for a work permit. This tight time frame is not reflective of the current workforce realities, or of the fact that many other life challenges occur post-graduation. In Canada it takes an average of nearly five months to find a job after graduation. While international students can apply for post-secondary work visas, this is yet another bureaucratic burden imposed on international students that could be easily avoided by modifying the work permit. Since the Government of Canada has identified international students as a key demographic for responding to the shortage of skilled labour in Canada, this government should remove unnecessary barriers that make it difficult for international students to stay in Canada after their studies. CASA recommends that the Government of Canada extend the post-graduate job-search period from 90 days to six months to better reflect the average time it takes to find a job after school, helping to keep international students in Canada.

Additionally, international students must deal with the immigration system prior to arriving in Canada and throughout their studies. Each of these steps can be complex, especially for those operating in their second or third language. With this in mind, institutions should provide a welcoming atmosphere with accessible services to set international students up for success in Canada.

However, the regulatory change brought forward in section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in 2011 has inadvertently limited on-campus access for students to immigration information. Post-secondary staff must now obtain a special certificate, which requires 300 hours of training in the busiest months of the school year at an estimated cost of $2,600.

Not all institutions can afford this commitment of both time and resources. I'll give you an example. Red River College in Manitoba has 1,500 international students, nine campuses, and only one certified international student adviser to serve all of them. As you can imagine, this leaves many international students without any access to on-campus immigration information.

Currently, other organizations, including religious and non-governmental organizations that do not charge a fee for this service, are exempt from requiring the additional certification. Post-secondary institutions do not charge a separate fee for this service either, and they believe it is logical that they should also fall under this exemption.

Therefore, CASA recommends that the federal government exempt post-secondary staff from the requirements established in section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

I would like to thank the committee, once again, for having given us the opportunity to present the issues international students face, as well as the opportunities we are given. I hope that we can continue to work together to make Canada one of the best post-secondary education destinations for students the world over.

3:40 p.m.

Mustafa Alio Co-Founder and Development Director, Jumpstart Refugee Talent

Thank you, Mr. Chair and esteemed members.

Until a couple of years ago, I never wanted to tell the people I met that I was a refugee claimant. I tried to justify hiding the truth about my status. I told myself that, if people knew, they might respond to me with fear, hatred or, at best, with sympathy.

A refugee is a security threat or an economic liability. A refugee is a creature who needs help. Many people, even advocates and sympathetic policy-makers, view refugees only from a humanitarian lens. They overlook them as sources of talent and opportunity. Today, as a refugee, I will talk about refugees as opportunities and power to be harnessed.

I spearheaded non-profits and sincerely worked and still do to make Canada a better place. I co-founded organizations like Jumpstart and the Syrian Canadian Foundation. Jumpstart helps hundreds of newcomer refugees from all backgrounds gain meaningful employment and improve their language skills. As a community leader, I have promoted Canada's refugee program in meetings with government representatives from Sweden, Italy and the Middle East.

I have contributed to the development of the global compact on refugees at formal consultations in Geneva as a member of the Network for Refugee Voices. I met and discussed topics with many state members from the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, the EU and others.

With all of that, the question that still boggles my mind is why so many people shy away from the conversation about refugees' economic contributions.

Why shy away when the City of Vancouver told us that about 2,500 Syrian refugees would contribute at least $563 million to Canada in 20 years?

Why shy away when the Penn Foundation proved that every dollar invested in refugees earned $2 back in less than five years?

Why shy away when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued research showing that refugees gave back $63 billion more than what they took in services in the last 10 years?

Why shy away when my organization, Jumpstart, which was founded, co-managed and run by refugees, contributes $7.50 yearly in tax-saving contributions to Canada for every dollar invested in supporting refugees finding meaningful employment?

Why shy away when the Syrian refugees who started the company Peace by Chocolate in a Canadian town of less than 5,000 hired close to 50 local citizens?

Why shy away when a young Syrian refugee woman, Aya Hamoud, learned coding in less than six months and started working with one of the most successful Canadian start-ups at the age of 20?

Why shy away when my friend, James Madhier, who is a refugee from South Sudan, founded the Rainmaker Enterprise that employs nine Canadians and positively empowers 1,500 people in South Sudan?

Why shy away when Mr. Marty Trim from Alberta gave six acres of unused land of lost potential to two refugee families who turned it into a farm that provides Canadians with fresh local goods and the CRA with fresh tax dollars? They even donated 800 pounds of lettuce to Calgary food banks.

These examples can go on and on, so you tell me if resettling refugees and welcoming refugees is good for Canada.

My recommendation lies in the fact that there will be only two full-time working Canadians for each retiree, and this tells us that Canada is in great need of immigrants and refugees. Adopting the global compact on migration and the global compact on refugees and co-hosting global refugee forums to share best practices of inclusion and partnering with other nations is the right path to pursue.

Economic studies tell us that Canada's investments in refugees and immigrants are, above all, the smart thing to do. We had better constructively criticize and improve our settlement and resettlement efforts to be more efficient, rather than spread fear to divide this nation that was built on the shoulders of refugees and immigrants.

It is in Canada's interest to build on the success and the leadership of innovative programs that enable the mobility of refugees between countries, including private sponsorship, humanitarian admission, and the economic mobility pathway project, a world-leading pilot program pioneered by Canada.

Canada would benefit by realizing and advocating for refugees to be seen as legitimate contributors, as policy-makers who can themselves participate in settlement and resettlements efforts, peace-building, transitional justice, and reconstruction. Nothing about us should be without us.

Finally, I could never think of a better story to leave you with than that of Omar, a seven-year-old kid in one of the Lebanon camps. Omar kept jumping up and down, yelling, telling the camp supervisor that he is smart, and he can count and write in English, from one to 100, something he learned on his own in the camp. Not thinking, the supervisor told Omar to bring a pen and paper to show him. With a sad, thoughtful face, Omar told the supervisor to wait, and then he started running from one tent to another. Then Omar ran back to confess that he did not have a pen or paper. While confessing, Omar squatted down on the ground, dug his nails and fingers into the mud, and started tracing out the numbers. Omar is a symbol of 68 million resilient human beings who are refugees, waiting on nations like Canada to see their power and determination, and to do something.

Thank you.

3:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

Thank you very much.

Next are Mr. Cohen and Ms. Wagner from Talent Beyond Boundaries.

3:45 p.m.

Bruce Cohen Co-Founder, Talent Beyond Boundaries

Honourable Chair, vice-chairs and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit a brief and appear on behalf of Talent Beyond Boundaries.

We are engaging the global private sector and national governments to provide safe and legal economic migration options for skilled refugees in addition to traditional humanitarian protection. Our goal is for skilled refugees to be able to move from places where they cannot work to companies and countries where they can do so safely and legally, to move to secure futures based on their skills, not just their status.

To do this, we are demonstrating the wide range and depth of talent among refugee populations. We're engaging private sector employers who need to fill skill gaps, and we're working with governments to identify barriers in economic immigration systems that unintentionally penalize refugees. Economic immigration streams were not designed with refugee circumstances in mind. That has led to unintended barriers to the participation of skilled refugees in economic immigration.

If allowed to compete for positions, skilled refugees can be part of the talent pipeline that fills skill gaps and fuels economic development. We know that among refugee populations there are many educated and skilled people who want to compete for international employment. In 2016, we created a first-of-its-kind, online digital platform for refugees to share with us their education, skills, work experience and language abilities.

In less than a year, more than 10,000 refugees in Lebanon and Jordan had registered and become part of a searchable talent catalogue database. They span more than 200 occupations, from engineers, IT developers and health care providers to carpenters, tailors and chefs. Across Canada, Talent Beyond Boundaries is now working with employers facing labour shortages in diverse sectors, including IT, health care and manufacturing. While these employers have embraced our mission to help open new solutions for refugees, they partnered with us because they face a critical need for skilled workers.

Let me give you a couple of examples.

Bob Collier is the president and founder of Davert Tools, an advanced manufacturer in Niagara Falls. He had long-time employees retiring and could not find anyone to fill the position of a tool and dye maker. He interviewed refugee candidates and made a job offer to a tool and dye maker who's a Syrian refugee currently residing in Lebanon.

Bonfire is a fast-growing e-procurement firm in Kitchener–Waterloo. They cannot find software developers fast enough. After a competitive recruitment process, they offered a full stack developer job to another refugee who had fled to Lebanon.

These are two successful job candidates who can immigrate to Canada with provincial nominations through economic pathways and not through a refugee stream. They can move on the basis of their skills and are headed to good jobs in sectors that need more talent.

Having successfully identified skilled refugees who can help fill skill gaps, and private sector companies that need and want them, we are now working with the Government of Canada to ensure that there is a viable economic immigration pathway for those with needed skills and the human capital.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has developed the economic mobility pathways project, EMPP, to test refugee access to federal and provincial economic pathways. We are working with them to identify barriers, and we hope to develop solutions. The EMPP does not create a new pathway to Canada. Rather, it considers refugee access to existing economic pathways. Provinces and territories taking part in this project are Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Yukon. Eligible skilled refugees are from East Africa and the Middle East.

This innovative project evidences Canada's commitment to understanding how the global refugee talent pool can fit into Canada's skilled immigration future. We believe that Canada can strengthen its economic pathways to ensure Canada's competitiveness as a country that attracts top talent from anywhere in the world, including among refugees.

Talent Beyond Boundaries is committed to working with the government to build on the economic mobility pathways project and to removing barriers across federal and provincial economic pathways.

Adjusting economic streams to be more equitable to skilled refugees makes sense. Labour mobility is a market-based solution that generates economic benefits while contributing to resolving a humanitarian crisis. It is complementary to traditional humanitarian resettlement and Canada's community sponsorship programs.

Canada has the opportunity to develop this new, durable solution for refugees and their families that benefits Canadian businesses and communities in need of talent.

Thank you very much. I look forward to your questions.

3:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

Thank you, as well.

Our last witness is Muzna Dureid.

3:50 p.m.

Muzna Dureid Liaison Officer, The White Helmets

I'm going to be talking in French, so I will ask you to put your headphones on.

3:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

That is not a problem. Thank you very much.

3:50 p.m.

Liaison Officer, The White Helmets

Muzna Dureid

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your invitation to appear before you. My name is Muzna Dureid and I work with the White Helmets as liaison officer. First, I would like to thank the Canadian society and the Government of Canada for their historic intervention to protect the White Helmets members who were given the opportunity to flee Syria, the country of fear and death. Without your moral intervention, our team and their families would have died in Syria.

The life of the members of our team who remain in Syria is still in jeopardy, and they are targeted by the forces of Bachar al-Assad and Russia. A lot of them have been killed, and we lost 302 volunteers. The White Helmets were set up in 2013 to come to the assistance of the victims of war. We are also known by the name of the Syrian Civil Defence. That humanitarian organization was funded by Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.

Inspired by the UN Blue Helmets and aiming to support emergency assistance, Syrian Civil Defence brings together volunteers who intervene on the ground or in prisons. There can be as many as 3,000 volunteers. We carried out approximately 200,000 rescue interventions. In Canada, the 19 White Helmet families are continuing to arrive. They now live in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. We hope that our mission will continue; that is why we are in contact with the Canadian Red Cross and the National Search and Rescue Program. We want to integrate and serve our new country, Canada, as our new homeland. We hope to be able to continue to be active in the same way in Syria, and we would like to contribute to saving lives here, if possible. I thank you for your efforts. We are grateful for the work done by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

In 2016, the United Nations announced that it would begin to work on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in the context of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. This declaration came to be following the wave of migrations that led to the death of over 7,500 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea in 2015 and 2016 alone. Since the year 2000, as the refugee crisis unfolded, the number of irregular immigration victims went up to over 60,000. The destination countries did not carry out rescue operations; they only countered the ocean-going migration attempts. To support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, human rights and the protection of the most vulnerable, the compact includes among other things the establishment of a forum to review international immigration. As a follow-up mechanism, a meeting will be held every four years as of 2022. We recommend that Canada support that forum.

In that context, following up on the commitments made by the countries of the pact will be essential. That is why we are asking the UN to respect the plan described to that end in the Global Compact, which plans to include civil society organizations as stakeholders, including migrant community organizations. The Global Compact is not legally binding. There is a risk that its progressive measures will only be lip service if no leadership is shown in that regard.

Investing in refugees is an investment in the future. We are human, just like everyone else. I lost my friends to the Mediterranean Sea, people who were looking for a better life. All of those who say no to the pact are voting in favour of human trafficking, slavery, rape and the murder of all these human beings who are looking for a better future. I am an asylum seeker here in Canada. I arrived in Montreal in November 2016. I used to work with the women in the camp before I left for Canada. I used to deliver whistles and flashlights to the women simply so that they could go to the washrooms during the night. Just imagine the situation of these women in the camps. They make up 48% of the refugee population.

I was one of the finalists among those chosen as the 25 best immigrants in Canada after spending only one year here. I was chosen by the Quebec Ministry of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion as a Montreal leader.

I also took part in consultations on Canada's 2017-2022 National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. I did all of that in a year and a half.

All we need is the opportunity to change our reality. You will see that we deserve it. What we don't deserve is that our lives be wasted. We should not be used as a political threat.

Thank you.

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

Thank you.

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. They each took less than seven minutes and that's very good.

Ms. Zahid, you have the floor.

December 11th, 2018 / 3:55 p.m.

Salma Zahid Scarborough Centre, Lib.

Mr. Chair, before I start my questions, I have one request. Can we please ask our analysts to assemble the evidence we have heard in this study for when we come back after the winter recess?

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

Does everyone agree, that we give them a holiday project?

Stop the clock for a minute.

I would like to thank the clerk and the analysts for their work last week.

I was generous to the opposition in offering to do the translation from the House. That caused quite a little bump in the process. Thanks to both the analysts and the clerk for navigating the bump. We got that done.

On the whole committee's behalf, thank you for getting that report done at the request of the committee.

4 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, I would like to notice that the opposition brought gifts for the analysts and the clerk.

4 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

I bet the Liberals didn't do that.

4 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

It's equalization from Alberta; we're always giving. We're a giving province.

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

I think we consider them from all of us, in our unanimity.

4 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

That would be what a Liberal would do. A Conservative from Alberta would bring something to Ottawa, and then they would take it.

Merry Christmas.

4 p.m.

Madalina Chesoi Committee Researcher

Thank you.

Merry Christmas.

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

Merry Christmas.

Thank you.

4 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

It's alcohol.

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

Very well.

We'll start the clock over.

4 p.m.

Scarborough Centre, Lib.

Salma Zahid

Thank you to all the witnesses for coming before the committee in this important study.

My first question is for Mr. Brown.

I read the brief you prepared for the lobby day on the Hill a few weeks ago. I agree with your two asks about international students. The first one was around the co-placements, and the other one was on the IRPA section 91 concerns around campus officials offering limited immigration advice. Hopefully, IRCC is receptive to those two things and can make changes to address your concerns. I just wanted to let you know.

Now, let me ask you a broader question. What can we do to encourage more international students to stay in Canada after graduation and move on to the permanent residency and the citizenship paths?

4 p.m.

Chair, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

Adam Brown

As I highlighted, I think one of the best things that the federal government can do is make the pathways to citizenship that much more accessible. Our ask with section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is a solid way to make sure that international student advisers who are able to legally offer this advice are on campuses so that students can go straight to them. What we see right now is shortages on campuses, so students have to find out where else they can go; whereas they already have many well-developed relationships with international student advisers who offer different program or academic advice as well.

I would say that's one of the best ways to help encourage them to stay in the country; that is, make sure that the pathways to permanent residency and citizenship are clear and accessible and it's possible to navigate them well.

The other thing would be continuing the dialogue that there is a shortage of skilled labour in Canada and that there are places for international students here, creating a welcoming environment where they know that they have a place here and that Canada values their contributions to our country. That will also help to facilitate that dialogue with them.

4 p.m.

Scarborough Centre, Lib.

Salma Zahid

Is the change to IRPA section 91 across all universities? Is it in some campuses but not in all of them?

4 p.m.

Chair, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

Adam Brown

The state in which it currently exists is that any post-secondary staff who wants to be able to give this advice has to go through this training, which happens in January and September, obviously the busiest months of the school year, when many international students are asking for advice. It makes it extremely inconvenient for those staff to do that. That's why we're looking for this change, so that post-secondary staff, who would likely be in the international offices that most post-secondaries have across the country, be exempt from that so they are able to give that information, and would be supported by their post-secondary institutions in doing so.