Evidence of meeting #167 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 immigrants.
A video is available from Parliament.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
I'm wondering if the employers need to prove that they've advertised their job postings.
4:05 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
This isn't the temporary foreign worker program with the same types of requirements that are imposed on employers before recruiting.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
So they won't. Okay.
Will employers need to apply for a labour market impact assessment?
4:05 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
No, they would not.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Do employers need to provide these individuals with adequate, suitable and affordable housing as defined by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation?
4:05 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
No, they would not. One of the factors that we asked communities to identify was the type of housing they had available.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Do employers have to pay for these individuals' private health insurance?
4:05 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
No, they would not.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Do employers have to pay for the travel costs for them to come to Canada?
4:05 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
No, they would not. Any permanent resident would have to have settlement funds for themselves and their families, meaning essentially their start-up costs—and that's a requirement for them to come to Canada.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Will the individual and the employer have to sign an employment contract to guide the resolution of disputes in cases where such disputes arise?
4:05 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
They would need a full-time, year-round job offer. Domestic laws of application around labour and other employment would apply in that jurisdiction.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Will there be any language requirements for any of the potential employees?
4:05 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes, there would. As part of our permanent residency criteria, we would have minimum language requirements in place.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
For those who are selected to come to Canada under this program, will they be able to bring their spouses and children with them from the beginning?
4:05 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes, they would.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Will a spouse be given an open work permit to work with their own employer in any of these selected communities?
4:05 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We expect most would be arriving as permanent residents with their families, in which case they would be able to work without a work permit.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
I've come across one circumstance where the individual came to Canada under the temporary foreign worker program and brought their spouse and children. One child was able to go to high school and has now graduated, but due to his visa, he's prevented from going to university or college. Will this be the case in this pilot program?
4:10 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
If someone comes on a temporary basis and has a study permit, that would be workable in terms of both their secondary or post-secondary education, but if they're coming as a permanent resident, which we expect most would be, then they would be able to study as anyone can in Canada.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
I know that IRCC has started working on the MOUs with the 11 communities that have been selected.
Can you please table with our committee the template being used for these MOUs?
4:10 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Chair, we can look into that and report back to the committee soon.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Could we get that by the end of the week, Mr. Chair? I think we're rising sometime this week.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Nick Whalen
I'm not sure if it's possible.
Is the templates for the MOUs prepared for our review?
4:10 p.m.
Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We are certainly working on them, but it's something we would want to negotiate individually with each community. There are certain standard parts of it, but I'm not sure it's in a final form to table with the committee.