Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 18th, 2019

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

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, my point of order relates to the “Rules of Order and Decorum” in chapter 13 of O'Brien and Bosc. I raise the point of order under the section related to “Unparliamentary Language”, which states:

The proceedings of the House are based on a long-standing tradition of respect [and] the integrity of all Members. Thus, the use of offensive, provocative or threatening language in the House is strictly forbidden. Personal attacks, insults and obscenities are not in order. A direct charge or accusation against a member may be made only by way of a substantive motion for which notice is required.

I would argue, Chair, that under this particular section of the rules of our area what my colleague just said actually falls underneath that, and that there somehow is an insinuation of intent with regard to the way my colleague has correctly characterized the entry of people from the U.S. into Canada, which the Minister of Immigration himself has used and the Prime Minister himself has used. He has insinuated that somehow my colleague was inciting hate. I would ask my colleague to apologize for further inflaming a debate, when we can all stand here and in agreement—

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I'm going to once again say that the member is moving into debate. There is language that one side considered inflammatory, and there is language that the other side considered inflammatory. This is, then, a debate about that. I did not hear name-calling. I did not hear unparliamentary language. I simply did not hear that as unparliamentary. I think there is a list of things in precedent, and questioning someone because of the use of a word is not unparliamentary. It is debate, however.

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

To clarify, though, I did raise my point under a direct charge of accusation against a member. It can only be made by way of substantive motion. I believe that my colleague actually made a direct charge—

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

And I ruled it out of order, because it was not a motion. That's why I ruled it out of order. So, there's nothing more I can do than have ruled it out of order. You're continuing the debate—but this is a debate, it's not a point of order.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I'm going to go to Ms. Kwan. I'm going to use my prerogative and give you the closing three minutes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I'm going to ask some questions related to the parents and grandparents initiative. As the officials know, people were cut off from the process seven minutes into the process. Some people didn't even get to click on the link. I wonder why that would be the case when everybody has access to the link, everybody is sitting in front of the computer ready to click on the link, and some people did not even have the link open to them. Could the officials provide us with an explanation for that, please?

[Dr. Harpreet Kochhar]

We have gone back to our own procedures. I mentioned earlier this is a very popular program. Quite a few people were intending to sponsor their parents and grandparents. We provided all the instructions many days before the opening on January 28 at 12 o'clock. It was on a first-come, first-served basis. We tested our systems—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Sorry, I'm going to interrupt. I understand that process.

My question is in terms of the technology. If everybody has access to the link and they have it in front of them on their screen.... I have two constituents who had that in front of them. One person pressed on that link and was able to get in and another person was not—at the same time. How is it possible that people can't even get access to the link?

Furthermore, the instructions in the link tell people they have 10 minutes to fill out the form. Some people were finished the form in three minutes but they went back to review the form to make sure they had all their information correct. Then, seven minutes in, they were kicked out. If they hadn't gone back to review the form, if they had just sent in their form after three minutes, they probably would have gotten in before the deadline. There was misinformation being provided to people who mistakenly thought they had 10 minutes to fill out the form once they opened the link, when, in fact, they didn't.

[Dr. Harpreet Kochhar]

Mr. Chair, we put out every piece of instruction for this PCP opening on January 11, where we categorically mentioned that this was on a first-come, first-served basis. Nowhere did it mention that we had a specific period of time. We also mentioned specific instructions that you would need to fill it in, with all the information so that you could also preplan and prepare. As well, there were even instructions to follow if your landing documents were bigger than 2.5 MB, we also posted instructions on how to reduce them. We made all of those things available for people to apply, plus we tested the technology with 30,000, 50,000 and 100,000 heads at the same time, and it did work in our pre-opening of this. This testing was done and it did work. The technology did not fail us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I'm afraid I need to end you there.

Thank you.

I thank our officials for attending today and for your exercise.

There is one undertaking that I would like the committee to get. There was a number of 80,000. Even though the IRB is not in the supplementary estimates, I think it would be helpful for the committee to understand how many of those were irregular and how many of those were not irregular. I think there are some myths about that. It would be helpful to get some data on that, if you could ask your colleagues from the IRB to do that.

We're going to suspend for a moment while we invite our other witnesses to come in.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I'm going to call the meeting back to order. I thank our officials from two departments for joining us today.

This is the last part of our study on migration in the 21st century. The committee had some questions, particularly around temporary foreign workers and the relationship between the way the two departments work on this, through LMIA, as well as the TFW program. We wanted to close off with some questions about how that works and to clarify some of the things that have been said by others, mostly outside witnesses.

Who would like to go first with an opening statement?

[David Cashaback, Acting Director General, Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

I can start. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for inviting us to speak to your study on the migration challenges and opportunities in the 21st century.

I am the acting director general of the immigration branch at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC for short. With me is Helene Panagakos, director of temporary resident programs operations, and Paulette Lefebvre, director of biometrics program operations.

I want to begin today by recognizing the importance of immigration in fostering economic growth. We've heard from many Canadian stakeholders and businesses about the need for skilled labour to grow their businesses, improve exports and create more jobs.

In addition to strategies for enhancing the participation of the domestic workforce, IRCC recognizes that new immigration is an important component to meeting Canada's current and future skilled labour needs.

We know that Canada has an aging population. More workers are leaving the workforce than are entering it every year. As such, immigration will be a key source for population and labour force growth, accounting for 80% of labour force growth by 2031.

For today's meeting, I'll be speaking about what I understand are the committee's main areas of interest: programs that facilitate the temporary entrance of foreign workers to the Canadian economy, as well as the processing and issuing of work permits.

There are two distinct programs under which foreign nationals can work temporarily in Canada. The first is the temporary foreign worker program, which is designed to support employer efforts to fill labour and skills requirements when qualified Canadians or permanent residents are not available. This program is administered by Employment and Social Development Canada and my colleagues here will discuss it in a few minutes.

The second program is the international mobility program, which facilitates the entry into Canada of foreign nationals whose work brings broader social, economic and cultural benefits to our economy, or maintains reciprocal opportunities for Canadians to work abroad. It is under this program, for instance, that we facilitate the entry of business persons under various trade agreements and youth under international exchange programs. Regardless of the program under which foreign nationals seek to work in Canada, however, most will require work permits in order to be authorized to legally work in Canada.

Work permits may be issued either by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or at a port of entry by the Canada Border Services Agency.

Our department recognizes the importance of predictable work permit processing so that businesses can develop concrete plans as to the arrival of foreign workers.

As part of our departmental service standard commitments, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada aims to process 80% of all work permit applications submitted outside Canada within two months. From April 2017 to March 2018, IRCC met the service standard 89% of the time. The service standard for work permit extension applications, submitted in Canada, is to process 80% within four months; for the same data range, IRCC met the service standard 97% of the time.

In addition, in support of the government's innovation and skills plan, the global skills strategy was launched in 2017 to facilitate faster access to top talent, so that innovative companies can grow and create jobs and contribute to Canada's economy. As part of this strategy, IRCC provides expedited two-week work permit processing to select foreign nationals in management and professional occupations. Since its implementation, we've approved just over 21,000 work permit applications under this initiative. We continue to receive positive feedback from stakeholders and employers that this expedited processing is generating real benefits in terms of attracting foreign talent and investment to Canada.

That said, we recognize that processing delays can occur. Our ability to meet our service standards can be affected by a variety of factors, such as seasonal volume fluctuations and factors beyond departmental controls like incomplete applications or the need for applicants to submit additional information in support of an application.

While we remain committed to the prompt processing of work permits, we continue to ensure that foreign nationals who are authorized to work temporarily in Canada do not pose safety or security risks to our country.

In support of these efforts, we have implemented a mandatory biometric screening requirement for all foreign nationals who apply for a Canadian work permit. By collecting these biometric data, we are able to quickly and efficiently validate an applicant's identity, while also identifying security risks.

Our biometric policy is among the most generous in the world. To facilitate repeat travel to Canada, applicants for a visitor visa, study permit or work permit will only need to give their biometrics once every 10 years.

Mr. Chair, I hope my remarks today have provided some insight into the facilitation of temporary workers into the Canadian labour market and the associated process of work permit processing.

I thank you for your time and look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you very much.

We now continue with Philippe Massé.

[Philippe Massé, Director General, Temporary Foreign Worker Directorate, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to present on the temporary foreign worker program. I'm the director general for the program at ESDC. With me is Katie Alexander. She's the executive director for program operations at Service Canada.

The objective of the program is to provide employers with access to foreign workers on a temporary basis when qualified Canadians or permanent residents are not available. It also aims to ensure that foreign workers are protected when in Canada.

In 2018, Employment and Social Development Canada, known as ESDC, approved approximately 108,000 positions under the temporary foreign worker program. The program has a very small footprint in the labour market, with less than 2% of all Canadian businesses using the program and temporary foreign workers comprising less than 1% of the Canadian labour force.

However, it is very important to certain sectors that tend to face recurring labour shortages, including the agriculture and agrifood, and tourism sectors. For example, approximately 64% of temporary foreign worker positions in 2018 were in primary agriculture occupations.

To ensure that Canadians continue to have first opportunity at available jobs, employers must submit an application for a labour market impact assessment before being permitted to hire temporary foreign workers. Applications are reviewed to ensure the employer and job offer are genuine, and that the employer has been in compliance with program rules and applicable labour laws.

Applications are also assessed against a number of labour market factors to ensure the hiring of a temporary worker will not have a negative impact on the Canadian labour market. Among these, the employer is required to demonstrate that they have advertised to and recruited Canadians and permanent residents, for example through common online platforms, including Canada's job bank, and their efforts must include efforts to reach out to under-represented groups.

Further, the onus is on the employer to explain whether and how the temporary foreign worker will have a positive effect on the local labour market by filling a labour shortage, transferring skills and knowledge to the local labour force, or supporting job creation and retention of Canadians.

Finally, employers must also certify that the hiring of a temporary foreign worker will not lead to offshoring or job losses for Canadians or permanent residents and will not negatively affect the settlement of labour disputes.

It's also important to note that to prevent suppression of local wages, employers are required to pay temporary foreign workers at the prevailing wage rate in their occupation and region.

Service to clients is a key priority area for the government. The program is committed to continuously reviewing its operations to ensure it effectively balances providing employers with timely access to workers with maintaining the thoroughness required in the assessment of employer applications.

Primarily due to a tightening labour market, there has been a 26% increase nationally in the volume of applications received from April to February compared to the same period in the previous year. This has resulted in longer processing times recently. Service Canada is making every effort to provide the best possible service to employers and is processing these applications as efficiently and accurately as possible to minimize the impact on employers.

Recognizing the urgent nature of the labour shortages across Canada, ESDC recently reallocated $3.4 million across all regions in Canada to handle the increased number of applications and reduce processing times.

Service Canada is also reviewing its current process to find new and better ways of service delivery for the program. In particular, Service Canada is considering, or already implementing, a number of measures to increase the quality, consistency and timeliness of assessment, and it is engaging with industry stakeholders to ensure their input is taken into account when developing policies and systems. This includes, for example, reducing the administrative burden for seasonal agricultural worker program employers by allowing multiple arrival dates on a single application.

We launched a national quality monitoring program in December 2017 to improve consistency in decision-making and processing of applications. In November 2018, the program was streamlined to focus on key critical factors, reducing the amount of time a review would take by approximately two hours.

In addition, the department has implemented a workload management strategy to help maintain consistent and timely decisions across Canada and will be piloting a new online platform starting in the spring of 2019.

To conclude, ESDC and Service Canada are committed to continuing to improve the efficiency and timeliness of the delivery of the program to ensure it works for employers, workers and the economy.

I would be pleased to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Zahid, for seven minutes.

[Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Chair.

My first question will be for IRCC.

I would like to draw your attention to the presentation Statistics Canada made to our committee on February 28. In two charts, they showed how the labour force participation gap between immigrant men and their Canadian-born counterparts has narrowed over the years, and they are pretty much on par five years after landing.

The situation is different for women, however. The gap is as much as 20 points for newly landed immigrants, and even for those who have been here for 10 years or more there remains a stubborn gap in labour participation compared to that of Canadian-born women. While there can be cultural differences, I know many immigrants who want to work but face barriers or who are underemployed in positions beneath their skills and education.

Are you aware of this gap, and can you please tell us what specifically the department is doing to increase the participation of immigrant women in the job market?

[David Cashaback]

Thank you for drawing our attention to the Statistics Canada study. We'd like to make sure we are monitoring that gap.

The settlement program at the department is targeted to immigrants and refugees in order to help them find and retain employment. That's the key, and you mentioned it. Years after landing is a big measure for us in terms of knowing whether the program is successful.

Employment-related services help to overcome some barriers. We expend quite a bit of effort in making sure that, all things being equal, language skills are supported and that we're able to bolster a newcomer's professional networks through supports such as work placements, mentorship, employment counselling services and job-matching services. The settlement side is an area where we try to deploy the resources to try to address...and make sure that newcomers here have those opportunities and are getting those outcomes.

[Salma Zahid]

My question was whether there are any specific programs for women, because for women that gap exists but for men that gap is narrowing as they get into five years of being here in Canada. Are there any specific—

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Just to be fair to the witnesses, they came to talk about temporary foreign workers, and that's what they're prepared to discuss. I just want you to draw that question into TFWs or LMIAs, because that's the topic for today. It isn't about wage gaps and those things. Just to be fair to the witnesses, they came prepared. I know Mr. Cashaback has some overall responsibility, but not really in this area.

Am I correct?

[David Cashaback]

You're absolutely correct.

[Salma Zahid]

If there can be some information provided to us, that would be fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Actually, I don't think that's fair to this branch to do that. I think that is for our settlement services study. I don't think it relates to today's meeting. I'd ask all the members to try to keep us on track about temporary foreign workers and LMIAs. Thank you.

[Salma Zahid]

My next question is in regard to the Statistics Canada data that job vacancies and unemployment rates vary across economic regions, with Atlantic Canada and certain rural regions reporting higher job vacancies. Could you discuss how the Atlantic Canada immigration pilot and the rural and northern immigration pilot are helping to encourage new immigrants, as well as the other programs we have for temporary foreign workers to settle in these regions where there's a need for skilled workers.

[David Cashaback]

Sure, I'm happy to.

A lot of those programs that you mentioned are permanent immigration programs. The Atlantic immigration program has been in existence for three years now. The objective is really to try—through some new approaches to working with employers, with personalized settlement plans—to ensure that a permanent resident will be interested and motivated with the supports that he or she needs to remain in the Atlantic. Retention was a big question that we had around the Atlantic immigration program.

We're trying to build on that with the rural and northern immigration program, realizing that the labour needs in those rural areas can be fairly specific. We're looking to partner with employers but also with local economic agencies to try to increase that stickiness—let's call it—and the value that a community can put forward in terms of attracting and retaining newcomers in their labour markets. I'd say they are primarily addressed to attract and retain folks as permanent residents.