Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 25th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

I'd like to call the meeting to order.

Pursuant to the motion adopted by the committee on February 23, 2016, officials are here to discuss the situation facing Zimbabwean and Haitian nationals in Canada in regard to deportations to their countries of citizenship.

I would now like to invite Mr. Dupuis and Ms. Welbourne to proceed with any opening comments that they may have. There are 10 minutes for each of you should you wish to use all of that time.

Mr. Dupuis

[Michel Dupuis, A/Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Good morning, Mr. Chair.

My name is Michel Dupuis, and I am the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister of Operations at the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. With me is Maia Welbourne, Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic and Program Policy.

Thank you for the opportunity to tell you about this important matter concerning temporary suspension of removal for Haitian and Zimbabwean nationals in Canada.

For more than 10 years, Haitians and Zimbabweans have been allowed to stay in Canada due to unsafe conditions in their home countries. They benefited from what are known as temporary stays of removal or deportation. These are measures applied when people who would normally be removed from Canada are allowed to stay.

Temporary suspensions of removal for Haiti were in place beginning in 2004 and for Zimbabwe in 2002.

After a thorough review of country conditions and consultation with stakeholders, including non-government organizations, the former government decided to lift the temporary suspensions of removal to Haiti and Zimbabwe on December 1, 2014. Following this decision, about 3,200 Haitians and 300 Zimbabweans could have been subjected to removal from Canada.

Following the lifting of the temporary suspension of removal, the government allowed Haitian and Zimbabwean nationals, subject to removal order, to apply for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

The government gave affected individuals six additional months to stay in Canada. This was meant to allow them enough time to either return to their home countries or apply to stay in Canada on these humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Almost 2,200 people applied during the six-month period, between December 1, 2014, and June 1, 2015.

The government recognizes that many people from Haiti and Zimbabwe have been in Canada for a decade or more and they have developed ties here. Some continue to be worried about their future.

The government recently took steps to give these individuals another chance to permanently make Canada their home. Earlier this month, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness announced that the government was reinstating special measures for nationals of Haiti and Zimbabwe in Canada.

Effective February 4, Haitian and Zimbabwean nationals in Canada, who are out of status or under a removal order, including failed refugee claimants who may be subject to the 12-month bar from requesting humanitarian and compassionate considerations, have once again the opportunity to apply for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Applicants who meet the criteria and who apply for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds by August 4, 2016, will not be removed from Canada while their application is being processed.

Additionally, Haitian and Zimbabwean nationals, who had refugee claims pending before the reinstatement of special measures on February 4, will have six months to apply for humanitarian and compassionate consideration following a negative decision by the refugee protection division of the Immigration and Refugee Board.

These special measures give affected Haitian and Zimbabwean nationals the chance to continue to build their lives in Canada.

To protect the safety and security of Canadians, foreign nationals who are inadmissible and are subject to removal on the grounds of criminality, international or human rights violations, organized crime, or security will not benefit from these measures.

As of February 3, the government has received 1,700 applications for permanent residence under the previous special measures. These applications represent almost 2,200 people. So far, 742 applications, representing approximately 1,038 people, have been approved in principle on humanitarian and compassionate grounds for permanent residence. Only 67 applications have been refused.

This represents an acceptance rate of over 93% for this group. It is significantly higher than the average 40% acceptance rate that we usually find for applications for humanitarian and compassionate consideration.

The government continues to encourage affected individuals to apply so that they may have the chance to remain in Canada as permanent residents.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Welbourne.

[Maia Welbourne, A/Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

I have nothing to add. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

We'll begin the first seven-minute round. For the Liberals, we have Mrs. Zahid.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and thanks for your remarks.

You mentioned that about 2,200 people were here on December 1, 2014, when the first six-month suspension was allowed. How many of these applications were approved, denied, or are still in processing?

[Michel Dupuis]

The number of people who would be impacted or affected by these measures and have not submitted an application would be about 900 from Haiti and about 125 from Zimbabwe. The other applications, from the 2,200 people who applied and received a decision, remain to be processed.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Could you describe the application process for these refugee claimants? What is involved and what are the factors that are considered in the decision to grant or deny their claim?

[Maia Welbourne]

Are we talking about the applicants under the special measures, the applicants for humanitarian and compassionate consideration?

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Yes.

[Maia Welbourne]

To explain a little bit about our humanitarian and compassionate provisions, these are discretionary provisions under our act that allow the department and the minister to approve deserving cases that are not anticipated in the legislation, or for whom there would be a disproportionate impact of having to leave Canada.

Every case is assessed individually based on the evidence that is provided. It includes factors such as: the time a foreign national has spent in Canada, the evidence of a person's establishment in Canada, how well that individual has integrated into Canadian society, and the best interests of any children involved in the application.

If an individual's prolonged stay in Canada, for instance, due to a temporary suspension of removal, has resulted in their being established here, this would be considered an important factor in any decision in the assessment of their humanitarian and compassionate application.

I can provide you with additional factors, if you would like. There's quite a list.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

That would be great.

[Maia Welbourne]

As I mentioned, there is establishment in Canada for those who are already in Canada when they are applying. There is the consideration of ties to Canada; the best interests of any children directly affected by the humanitarian and compassionate decision; factors in their country of origin including adverse country conditions; health considerations including the inability of a country to provide medical treatment; family violence considerations; the consequences of the separation of relatives; their inability to leave Canada has led to establishment; the ability to establish in Canada, for overseas applications; and any unique or exceptional circumstances that might merit relief.

As you can see, there's a fairly broad range of considerations and factors taken into account in humanitarian and compassionate applications.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Are there any specific or unique factors that are preventing or making it difficult for these claimants to apply for this status on humanitarian or compassionate grounds?

[Michel Dupuis]

I would say that when we look at the applications of these people, unless we know who they are and why they are or are not applying, it's pretty hard to figure out why people decide not to apply.

I was involved in this program many years ago, and when we met people in the communities, we found that sometimes people were afraid that submitting an application could trigger their removal from Canada. I think their understanding of the program was one of the elements that could make people decide not to apply.

Another element found in the communities among those who had applied before was also that some people were under the impression that because they had submitted an H and C application in the past, years ago, that they were not eligible to submit another one, which is not the case.

There was a communication issue and a misunderstanding of the program. These seemed to be some of the reasons why people sometimes decided not to apply even if they were aware of the program, but it is very hard to determine the reasons these people decided not to take some steps in this regard.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Can you describe the factors that were considered in granting the additional six months in suspension of removal for nationals of Haiti and Zimbabwe on February 5?

[Maia Welbourne]

Just for clarification, this is what was taken into consideration in deciding to have the additional time. They were the same kinds of factors that were considered during the original decision.

Ultimately, it was a decision made by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to allow any foreign nationals affected by the measures in the first instance who had not taken advantage of those measures to have another opportunity to do so, again recognizing the amount of time that those Haitians and the Zimbabweans had been in Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Ms. Welbourne.

Mr. Saroya, you're up.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Sixty-seven applications were denied. Is there any special reason for the denials?

[Michel Dupuis]

When we look at the number of applications that have been refused, it's very small compared with the number of people accepted. That would be connected to how to make your case for an H and C application to be approved.

It could be because people raised the issue of the best interests of the child, when in fact they didn't have children or they had adult children in Haiti, for example. It could be because some of the people had returned or travelled back to their country of origin several times since the TSR, or that they had simply returned to their country of origin. There's a mixed bag, if you will, of reasons, but there is no simple, unique reason why people have been refused.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Are those who made these 67 applications still living in Canada or were they removed from the country?

[Michel Dupuis]

This I would refer to the Canada Border Services Agency, because we don't have those numbers here with us.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

How long does this process take, please?

[Michel Dupuis]

On the average processing time for regular H and C application, we have to be a bit careful here because these cases are processed in priority, and normal processing times for them won't apply. We don't have the processing times with us. We have only the regular ones for other types of cases, but not those ones. When people make these applications, their cases are flagged in the system that they are subject to these special measures, and then they're assessed by experienced officers on a priority basis. But we don't have the numbers to see how much time. We can assume, with the number of applications we've received and the numbers that have been approved, that those have been dealt with effectively faster than other types of cases.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Looking at these numbers, approximately 1,000 people haven't applied for it. Is there anything that can be done or could you help out, or whatever? Why would they not apply? Is there anything that can be done for them to come forward with it, rather than staying in limbo?