Evidence of meeting #31 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 children.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Interim Vice-President, Research and Innovation, Ryerson University, As an Individual
I'll jump in to say that, yes, it's onerous. Therefore, we need to look at that carefully. Again, studies tell us that if it used to take five years for a newcomer to catch up with the average Canadian salary, now it's taking about 10 to 13 years. The threshold we have kept is quite high, and again, we need to—
Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Newcomers
Yes, and if we take into account also that most of these people who are wanting to bring their parents over are also supporting their parents back home, where they are coming from, then lowering that threshold and enabling those family members to come here would mean that money would actually stay in the country. That's important to note.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Thank you. Unfortunately, we'll have to move to the next questioner.
Ms. Dzerowicz, you have five minutes, please.
Liberal
Julie Dzerowicz Liberal Davenport, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Professor VanderPlaat, I think you were talking about the longitudinal data. I happened to be talking to someone about it this morning who told me it's unique data that only Canada actually collects. I'd love the data. I think it's split out by cultural groups, like the Portuguese and the South Asians. Is that true?
I think we've already requested that information.
Professor, Saint Mary's University, As an Individual
Yes, I do believe that's true.
Liberal
Julie Dzerowicz Liberal Davenport, ON
Okay. I am very curious about that.
I just want to continue the threads and pick up on the pieces. The reason we have around 300,000 as the number this year is that it's our capacity. My sense is that you're always looking at what is the capacity of settlement agencies, health care, or schools, when you're looking at an overall number.
It seems to me that we now get down to some research. You all have recommended that we do a little more research to dispel some of the myths, but I guess also to gather some data. I wouldn't mind some advice on what kind of research we might be looking at beyond what percentage actually end up on social assistance. What kind of research do you think we should be looking at in trying to get to the right number around family reunification? That question is to all of you.
Liberal
Liberal
Professor, Saint Mary's University, As an Individual
Any kind of research in this area has to use the family as the unit of analysis. To just look at parents and grandparents is not going to tell you anything. If you're going to look at economics, or any of that, you're going to have to look at how they fit into a larger family strategy for immigration settlement and retention.
The issue of whether or not they're going to put a burden on the health care system is pure speculation. It's the equivalent of saying they're old—like the quote from the journalist that they're going to die soon—as opposed to looking at them as actually making a contribution. Little kids get sick too and are very expensive.
We are working with a lot of myths, and the only way to really get around those is to look at how they fit into a much broader social network.
Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Newcomers
To add to the point, it's really important, as you're doing research—because the financial piece and that economic burden are so important—to really look at these cases, where parents are able to work and work longer hours and potentially able to better themselves and progress, and how much it is impacting their ability to earn that they have parents at home who can take care of their children and can be there and serve that role.
Understanding that economic impact in terms of how much they saved on child care, how much they were able to earn.... In terms of stresses on their lives and in terms of their children's abilities, I would venture, based on my own personal experience and that of others, that children who get raised with the help of their grandparents are very happy children because they're getting a lot of attention and they're getting a lot of love in the home. Looking at those kinds of studies, are there any differences between that group versus other children who may be latchkey children or who don't have those kinds of supports?
Interim Vice-President, Research and Innovation, Ryerson University, As an Individual
If I have a second I'll add to that by saying that if you do a cross-sectional study, almost like an economic modelling, of how families function with and without grandparents, the years when they came, the size of the family unit, and so on, we'll get to have a good understanding, especially if we have children who have to go to a day care or who require after-school assistance, etc. I think we can do that as a cross-sectional study.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj
I would like to thank all the panellists for appearing before our committee today.
With that, the meeting is adjourned.