Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 15th, 2016

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Sure, and my question is very specific. You just mentioned that there were risks that were flagged for the government but that you can't comment on them. Is that correct?

[Olivier Jacques]

That's correct. There's some risk, and I think that for every visa exemption there's always some risk, indeed.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Okay.

Would you be able to provide for the committee any broad strokes on what those risks might be and why they were ignored by the government in lifting the visa requirement?

[Olivier Jacques]

I'm afraid I will not be able to comment on that, because I consider that to be advice to the minister.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you.

Are you aware of any measures that have been put in place by the Mexican government to educate its population on why they shouldn't be making false asylum claims to Canada?

[Olivier Jacques]

Canada and Mexico are working very closely to deter Mexican citizens—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Just in the time I have, are there specific measures?

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

You have five seconds.

[Olivier Jacques]

There's an awareness campaign going on.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Zahid, go ahead for five minutes, please.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thanks to all our witnesses.

My first question is for Sharon Chomyn.

I've heard a lot from my constituents about the wide variances and processing times across different regions. I'm sure you see those variances across different offices under your responsibility. Could you discuss the factors that contribute to longer processing times in some regions? Are the applications from some regions more complex, or are there efficiencies employed in some countries or regions that we can apply elsewhere?

[Sharon Chomyn]

It's difficult to answer a question like this, because there are so many variables involved. It may be that there are variations in the population that affect processing times in one region as opposed to another. There may be variations in our ability to use technology, because we do use an electronic processing platform, and in some locations the infrastructure is better than in others. Mr. Giralt made some comment about that in reference to Haiti. There may be climatic issues that make it challenging to do work. Political factors can have an influence. The security situation in a country or the general state of health in a country can make a difference. There is really a wide range of factors.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

You mentioned today that 80% of the cases are done for the spousal visa in 12 months, but I get a lot of cases in my office from Islamabad, and it takes even more than two years for the spousal visas. Is there any specific reason for that?

[Sharon Chomyn]

Thank you for the opportunity to address that issue.

When the spousal cases were transferred to London back in 2014, some of those cases were already quite old in terms of the time they had sat in inventory. They weren't left behind; it simply was difficult for us to process them in Islamabad because of the circumstances there. As we brought them to London and we began processing them, already some of them had been waiting for some time, so that by the time we issued those visas, waiting times appeared to be very long. As we worked our way through that caseload, those who followed also had to wait.

Now that we've worked our way into a situation where we're almost able to begin processing files as soon as they arrive in the office, most clients will notice quite an improvement in processing times over those clients who applied two or four years ago. That said, there are complexities inherent in these applications that make some of them go more slowly than we would like them to go.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

You mentioned that the rate of interview in Pakistan is about 15%. How is it in comparison to the other regions? What would it be in London, for example, which is also under your responsibility?

[Sharon Chomyn]

In the case of the London files, we actually don't interview that often. We may, if there is a complex legal case or a legal element that has to be addressed or if there are issues surrounding the guardianship of children, but we don't interview often with respect to questions related to the genuineness of the relationship, because those files are all processed in Canada and they are considered to be of lower risk in triage. They're part of that 10% that are done in Canada.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Is there any specific reason why 15% of the spousal visa applications are interviewed from Pakistan?

[Sharon Chomyn]

Yes, we interview when we can't satisfy ourselves, without an interview, that a relationship is genuine, that there are no admissibility concerns in the applicant's background, or that there are other factors that would not make them inadmissible under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Sorry for cutting you off, but I have less time.

I have heard a lot from my constituents about the lack of cultural sensitivity and knowledge of marriage validation in making the process very stressful. It is leading to false evaluations of marriages because now people from London—who don't know the cultural norms of that region—are going to Islamabad to interview the people. Are there any training processes that you provide to your staff before they go to conduct interviews?

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Could you provide a brief response, please?

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Cultural norms there are very different from the western standard of marriage.

[Sharon Chomyn]

The short answer to your question is yes, we have quite a comprehensive training program. We also have officers on staff, who have had previous experience on assignment in Pakistan. We have London-based locally engaged staff, who are of an ethnic or religious origin that would be typical of cases found in Pakistan. We have regular training programs for new officers who have joined. We do case conferences, so that officers can sit together to look through applications to make sure that they are approached in a common way.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Just before we conclude this session, Ms. Chomyn, I have a quick question for you.

I represent the riding of Etobicoke Centre. In the last year, we've opened 515 case files. Of those files, the largest number, approximately 15%, are from Ukraine. When I look at that segment, the largest number is for family reunification and the most significant number, or subgroup, within family reunification is parents and grandparents. My question is—with a quick response if possible, in two parts—based on the department standards of 80% within 12 months, what are the numbers for Kiev and for Ukraine at the present time? Also, does that standard apply generally or is there a different standard for spouses, children, and specifically, parents and grandparents?

[Sharon Chomyn]

Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. I don't have that information at hand, but will undertake to provide that to you as soon as possible.