Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Oct. 4th, 2016

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Thank you.

You mentioned that the service standards for your key lines of business are published. Is that something you could share with the clerk, so that we could get access to that in the future?

[Robert Orr]

Absolutely.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

I would be grateful.

In terms of your client survey, is that offered just in English and French, or in other other languages?

[Robert Orr]

I don't know the answer to that, offhand. I believe it's just in English and French. We could confirm that through the clerk.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Is it just randomly given out in your different key lines of business? Do you have any more information on that?

[Robert Orr]

No, the survey is done independently, but we could share the methodology for that survey with you.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Okay.

If people had a concern about call centres, the length of time, or the service they've provided, how is it that someone would actually provide feedback? Is that easy? How does one access the feedback loop?

[Paul Armstrong, Director General, Centralized Network, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

That is provided through the client feedback mechanism. It's a way that all our clients can provide feedback, whether positive or negative. That feedback is reviewed centrally, and then we look to adjust our procedures and our training if necessary.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

How is it that someone actually gives that feedback? Is it just online?

[Paul Armstrong]

Yes, they can do that online.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Is the client service strategy also a public document?

[Robert Orr]

No, it's not a public document. It's an internal document, but it's used very seriously within the department.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

When an application is submitted and there is one error, we seem to find that the whole application is absolutely rejected. Why is that the case?

[Robert Orr]

I don't think it generally is the case. We try to use some common sense on things. Obviously, we want a complete application. It's simpler for the client. We can provide better service. We can deal with the application more rapidly, and so on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Mr. Saroya, you have seven minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The minister mentioned earlier today that we are in competition with Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, among other countries, on the website issue. Who is winning the war? Who is taking the best of the best immigrants? Where do we stand? Are we number one, number two, or number three?

[Robert Orr]

That's a very difficult question to answer in that it often is apples and oranges because the criteria for different countries is used in such different ways. What we would really need to look at is the outcomes of immigrants in the various countries to be able to really establish what's more effective in certain countries than in others.

However, we work closely with our five-nation colleagues to monitor what's going on to ensure that we're on the same wavelength. We recognize that we're in a friendly competition with them, as well. I don't think it's possible, though, to answer who is coming out on top.

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

Are we totally satisfied that we are getting our fair share of the immigrants?

[Robert Orr]

I think that's fair to say. I think it's also important to note that various countries will copy what another country is doing. Certainly, other countries have copied what Canada has done and what it continues to do at this moment. There's a lot of interest in what we're doing at the moment in various areas, and I think that signals that Canada is certainly well within the league.

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

Fantastic.

On another note, caps were introduced in 2014 for the intake of applications for family class sponsorship and for parents and grandparents. What was the purpose of these caps limiting the intake of parents and grandparents?

[Robert Orr]

Back in 2011 and prior to that date, there was no cap on the number of parents and grandparents. There was limited space within the levels, and we were not able to deal with those applicants. We built up a backlog of about 168,000 applications, which is not good news for anyone who is going to be waiting for that long.

At that point, there was a pause on applications for some 26 months, from November 5, 2011, until January 1, 2014. Then it was reopened for parents and grandparents, but with a cap so that we were able to control the numbers and not build up a backlog again.

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

Are all these new applications being processed in a priority manner?

[Robert Orr]

They are dealt with largely on a chronological basis, so first in, first out.

When we contact the applicants, we contact them on the date that we receive the application, so we do try to respect the date that they applied.

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

What effect has this cap had on the overall goal of reuniting families?

[Robert Orr]

What we are seeing is that the processing times are coming down. We expect that they will come down quite significantly over the next year as we largely work through that pre-2011 backlog.

Obviously if you're dealing with cases from that date, the processing time seems extremely long, which is why I said it's about 73 months at the moment. Once we get to the new cohort coming in from 2014, the average processing times will be far more palatable.