Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 17th, 2019

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

I'm wondering if the employers need to prove that they've advertised their job postings.

[Natasha Kim]

This isn't the temporary foreign worker program with the same types of requirements that are imposed on employers before recruiting.

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

So they won't. Okay.

Will employers need to apply for a labour market impact assessment?

[Natasha Kim]

No, they would not.

[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?

[Natasha Kim]

No, they would not. One of the factors that we asked communities to identify was the type of housing they had available.

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

Do employers have to pay for these individuals' private health insurance?

[Natasha Kim]

No, they would not.

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

Do employers have to pay for the travel costs for them to come to Canada?

[Natasha Kim]

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.

[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?

[Natasha Kim]

They would need a full-time, year-round job offer. Domestic laws of application around labour and other employment would apply in that jurisdiction.

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

Will there be any language requirements for any of the potential employees?

[Natasha Kim]

Yes, there would. As part of our permanent residency criteria, we would have minimum language requirements in place.

[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?

[Natasha Kim]

Yes, they would.

[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?

[Natasha Kim]

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.

[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?

[Natasha Kim]

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.

[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?

[Natasha Kim]

Mr. Chair, we can look into that and report back to the committee soon.

[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.

[The Chair, Liberal, Nick Whalen]

I'm not sure if it's possible.

Is the templates for the MOUs prepared for our review?

[Natasha Kim]

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.