Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 17th, 2019

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

What are the numbers that IRCC figures each of these rural cities would take in a year? Is there a number? Is it a collective number, or is it a per city number?

[Natasha Kim]

The maximum we can accept under a pilot program is 2,750 principal applicants a year. If you add in family members, it's close to 10,000 people overall per year. That's the maximum. As was mentioned earlier, we're taking a very community-driven approach, so local considerations are first, which may mean that different communities may need different numbers of immigrants, but we'll be working closely with them.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Is it PR on arrival, or is it conditional PR after a set amount of time living in that community?

[Natasha Kim]

It is not conditional PR; it's a permanent resident program.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

So they are PR on arrival.

[Natasha Kim]

That's right. They can arrive earlier on a work permit, if that's helpful, but their PR application has to be in to us for that to happen.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Is there any requirement to stay in that community? Is it expected that they stay there, but are there any conditional requirements to stay in that community for a set period of time?

[Natasha Kim]

If you're on a work permit while your PR application is being processed, there may be geographic or employer restrictions, but if you are a permanent resident, then you enjoy the charter freedoms that other Canadians have.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

When you enter the pilot program, it's not based on a work permit program. That's if you entered a different stream. In this rural pilot, you would be accepted for a job. You would be accepted by IRCC, and then you would come and be a permanent resident on arrival.

[Natasha Kim]

That's right.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Have you looked at some of the pros and cons of the Atlantic pilot project and seen how you can tweak it to improve this? Have we perhaps learned any lessons from that?

[Natasha Kim]

Yes, absolutely. Maybe I'll just highlight two lessons that we've learned. One is that it's important to have support for the people participating in the pilot. We have a dedicated service channel. That's something we rolled out in the Atlantic immigration pilot midway through the first year.

Right off the bat, we'll be providing communities with dedicated service channel support as part of this pilot. The other element is really to ensure that there are settlement supports and infrastructure available in these communities. That was one of the criteria, and I'll ask my colleague, Corinne Prince, to expand on that.

[Corinne Prince]

Certainly. The settlement component is an important element of the pilot. If I can look just to British Columbia and the concern that the existing settlement dollars may not go far enough, the Province of British Columbia is spending over $100 million in settlement services within the province this year.

When we look at the two communities that have been chosen in British Columbia, the community of Vernon had 372 clients who took settlement services last calendar year, while the communities in the West Kootenay region had only a hundred clients last calendar year. Within the province, should there be some pressures, there is an ability to move some of those settlement dollars around to meet any needs and pressures that may appear.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Just quickly, have the cities committed to offering not just settlement services, but other services to make them feel welcome? Was that a criterion when determining which cities would take it?

[Natasha Kim]

Yes, it was certainly a criterion that they act as that convening power on the ground to unite that economic development lens with the settlement lens. The direct provision of services obviously happens through our federally funded service providers, but certainly bringing all the local community actors together is part of their role.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Yes, Ms. Prince.

[Corinne Prince]

We're truly blessed in Canada, given that immigration is a shared jurisdiction. Not only is the federal government providing settlement services, but so are provinces as well as many municipalities across the country. We're really looking to see if this community model will work, and if it does, we can add it to the tool box.

[The Chair, Liberal, Nick Whalen]

You have only a few seconds left, Mr. Sarai.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

I want to share my time with Mr. DeCourcey.

[Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, NB]

My question is going to be along the lines of the approach to settlement really being an entire community-driven approach. It's not just the responsibility of the service-providing organizations, but also of the economic development agencies, the communities and the employers all working together to help with settlement and integration. Is that not the goal and what these communities indicated on their application, that they could settle, as an entire community, newcomers when they arrive?

[Natasha Kim]

Absolutely, I think we have—

[The Chair, Liberal, Nick Whalen]

That's perfect. Thank you very much.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Nick Whalen]

Mr. Maguire.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Thanks.

So this pilot program isn't like the Atlantic one, in which you have to be there for a certain length of time before you apply for permanent residency? In this one, you are a permanent resident as soon as you get the job?