Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Oct. 4th, 2016

[Robert Orr]

There has not, that we are aware of.

[David Tilson, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

What changes overall in processing times have occurred over the last 12 months in the family class category?

[Robert Orr]

Well, in terms of the spousal applications, for the overseas, it has gone down from 18 to 16 months processing average, and for the in-Canada, it's gone from 26 months to 22 months.

I think it's also worth noting that those people in Canada are eligible for an open work permit and the take-up on the open work permit has been very high indeed. I think we've also talked about some of the statistics on the parents and grandparents class, where the inventory has come down considerably. Processing time still looks very high, because we've got some very old cases mixed with the newer ones, but we expect the overall processing time to drop dramatically in the next year.

[David Tilson, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Are there particular countries that pose difficulties?

[Robert Orr]

We watch the refusal rates and so on of certain countries. I think it varies in terms of program, but in terms of the spousal program, for the overseas part of it the highest refusal rate would be for Vietnam, and then Nigeria, Haiti, and China would be in the top five.

[David Tilson, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

What's the state of the caregiver class, given the large reduction of this year's level plans?

[Robert Orr]

In fact, I believe it's just over 20,000 live-in caregivers this year, which is a significant number and has allowed us to bring down the inventory considerably. The inventory is still significant in that program, but it has come down dramatically over the last few years.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. Orr.

Ms. Zahid, five minutes, please.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and thanks to the officials for coming in today.

When discussing the levels before the committee on June 9, Mr. David Manicom said the processing time backlog for caregivers and family members was at 48 months, and was expected to drop rapidly over the next year or two. Where does the backlog stand today for that class specifically?

[Robert Orr]

The backlog on August 2016 was 12,188 cases, or 33,866 persons. One of the things we're noticing, in fact, with the live-in caregiver program is that, as we are processing cases, more dependants are becoming part of them. While the number of cases we're dealing with is coming down, the actual number of people we're dealing with within that program, because of the dependants, is actually going up a little bit. Nevertheless, we are still bringing the inventory down.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Has it reduced, then, as compared to 48 months, the average time?

[Robert Orr]

Not dramatically since June, no, it's not come down significantly at this stage.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

So it is still at about 48 months or—

[Robert Orr]

I believe it's still around that figure. I don't have the precise figure with me.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Could you provide the backlog for spousal class and family reunification class year by year going back 10 years? Would that be possible? If you don't have it now, you can submit it through the chair to the committee.

[Robert Orr]

Yes, I think it might be easier to submit it to the clerk.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Would it be possible to have it for different processing centres or country by country? In dealing with the casework at my constituency office, I noted that there are certain countries where the processing time is higher. For spousal, for a few countries it is up to 36 months I have seen in some cases.

[Robert Orr]

There's no question that is the case, and yes, we can provide some of that information. As I've said, I think you're going to see more and more of an homogenization of the processing times for various nationalities as we do more and more processing within Canada.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

I have one more request. Would it possible to provide the budget allocations for processing spousal and family reunification class cases for the last 10 years? That also can be provided through the chair to us.

[Robert Orr]

Mr. Chair, clearly, I'm not sure exactly what is available, but we will certainly do our best to provide that information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

With your experience, do you think that there is a link between the size of the backlog and the budget allocations to that?

[Robert Orr]

The biggest issue in creating a backlog in the various categories, including family class, has been the levels space and greater demand than there was space for us to finalize applications. I think it's more a question of levels than it is money.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Is it the efficiency or is it fewer resources? How would you define it?

[Robert Orr]

I think in the broad scheme of things, if you look at it, one of the department's key commitments is to deliver on the levels each year, and we have targets in all the various categories within the levels plan. If you look at the history of the department over the last several years, we've done remarkably well in hitting the appropriate targets, and we are resourced to deliver on those various targets.