What should occur is the use of the CRA model in information intake—one file, one person. You enter your personal information and update it over time. You then select the service requested—visitor visa, extension, study, work, PR card, sponsorship, or even citizenship application. The failure to do this is costing the Canadian economy over three million hours per year, assuming one hour per application.
In addition to the complexity of the Immigration department's website system, how do you navigate and find the right form? Single person, single portal, single entry for your lifetime—this simple fix would reduce member of Parliament representations driven by confused constituents.
I'll stop there.
The other two points are related to marriage of convenience and.... In that, I would recommend softening the impact of an evidentiary rule, res judicata. I would propose, five years following an immigration appeal determination of marriage of convenience, to expressly provide the immigration appeal division jurisdiction to consider compassionate humanitarian relief.
Finally, ministerial instruction for the department's processing choices.... For example, within the parent and grandparent processing category, announce the number to be processed from inventory in the year, alongside the number of new cases to be accepted in the year. Until we achieve an equilibrium where we take in as many cases in a year as we can process in a year, letting the public know that intake will be less because we have to take care of the queue is appropriate. That would be a recommendation.
Those are my opening remarks, Mr. Chair.