Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 15th, 2016

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Thank you.

Now, if I could move to a very different area of concern, we've heard from various witnesses that blended families are an area of concern. Could any of you kindly explain to us, in more detail, why the blended family applications pose such a challenge for processing?

[Sharon Chomyn]

Mr. Chairman, perhaps we could have a fuller explanation of what's meant by “blended family”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Mr. Ehsassi.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

I do remember that one witness who appeared before us had talked about this category, but I guess I'll leave that particular question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Perhaps we should move to the next question.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Okay. Absolutely.

One witness who appeared before our committee, Ms. Go, recommended that regulation 4(a) of the IRPR should be amended so that immigration officers must prove a marriage is both not genuine and was entered into for the purposes of immigration. Do you think this recommendation would be helpful?

[Sharon Chomyn]

I would comment that our officers are well trained to interpret and apply the act and regulations as they're written. As far as making changes goes, I personally don't have any recommendations to make. I am aware that, back in 2010, a change was made to simplify that regulation and to make the test a double-headed test, but I really don't have any comment on whether it should be changed or left as is. Officers applied that regulation very effectively beforehand, and they've applied it as effectively since it's been changed.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Could we ask the other officials?

[Mark Giralt]

I would second that. Clearly, officers need clarity in terms of the decisions that they're making. In either circumstance, officers will make a decision based on the legislation as it stands. They're quite adept at doing that, and it is helpful to have that clarity.

Again, that would be the extent of my comments.

[Olivier Jacques]

Indeed, I would second the comments made. We are trained and we do apply and interpret the act and regulations. I believe we have the tools right now to make such an assessment.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Thank you.

Perhaps I will go back to the first area I was talking about, which was technology, Mr. Jacques was explaining to us some of the challenges in Haiti, and how you communicate with applicants through cellphones. I would like to ask all of you about the role of technology, and whether it would be possible for us to rely more extensively on technology and other types of infrastructure.

[Mark Giralt]

My comments on text messaging in Haiti were really an attempt to illustrate some of the things that we take for granted in Canada, the U.S., and in other markets, that are just not happening in other markets. One of the other attempts that we've made in Haiti, in particular, is we've added an online capacity for people to set up an online account to link into a paper-based application, and we've done an email out.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Ms. Rempel, you have five minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Hello, Mr. Jacques.

It's my pleasure to ask you some questions this morning.

We all watched the American election with great interest last week. We heard reports after the election that there were high-level meetings that took place with officials at IRCC and in other departments looking at the potential surge in Mexican migrants coming to Canada as a result of these meetings. This was reported on CBC. I'm just wondering if you wanted to comment on that at all, if those meetings did in fact take place, and if you are concerned about the ability for your unit to process applications looking at the context of a potential surge in migrants.

[Olivier Jacques]

Personally, I'm not aware that these meetings took place. I think it would be a question for my colleagues in headquarters at this point. I do recognize that the potential surge of Mexicans in the U.S. or Mexicans in Mexico coming to Canada with the visa lifts on December 1 is a risk indeed. But at this point the assessment of the government has been that the benefit related to a visa lift outweighs any identified risks that we have with these migrants.

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

How was that determination reached?

[Olivier Jacques]

A full determination was done, with the co-operation of the Mexican government, in the past few months, until the announcement was made in June by the Prime Minister, that the visa would be lifted on December 1.

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

Which security factors were examined in making that determination?

[Olivier Jacques]

Canada uses various criteria to assist the readiness of a country for a visa exemption. In the case of Mexico, a review was performed, looking at various criteria, and it was decided at the end that because of our unique relationship with Mexico, because Mexico is part of NAFTA, because we live in the same kind of neighbourhood in North America, that Mexico should benefit from a visa lift.

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

You mentioned various criteria. Could you specify those criteria that were looked at, and if there were any criteria that would be included in a standard visa review that were not included in this review, given the relationship that you just mentioned?

[Olivier Jacques]

Among the various criteria that Canada normally looks at when we do a visa review—and it is applicable for Mexico, it is applicable for other countries—is the approval rate for a temporary visiting visa. We also look at the number of refugee claims made by citizens of such a country in the past few years. We look at the number of inadmissibilities, so how many people were found inadmissible to Canada coming from this country. We look at the integrity of the travel documents, among other criteria.

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

Were there any red flags or issues that were raised that were just put aside in the rush to lift the visa requirement on December 1?

[Olivier Jacques]

I'm afraid I cannot comment on the advice that was given to the government, but certainly a number of risks have been identified, which is the case every time we conduct a visa review. The department is able [Technical difficulty—Editor] risks.

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

Just to clarify what you just said, there were in fact risks that were flagged for the government, but you can't comment on them here.

[Olivier Jacques]

When Canada does a visa review, we balance risk, basically.