Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 20th, 2017

[Marwan Tabbara, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here in front of the committee today. I congratulate you on your new role.

I wanted to mention something from your statement. I'll read back what you said. It was to “reduce application processing times” and “improve the department's services to our clients” and make it “less complicated and more timely for all applicants” in their applications.

I would like to focus on the global skills strategy, which is a part of the department's priorities. I'm from the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo area. Many of the high-tech companies, as well as the universities, rely on attracting global talent. Just to give you a few figures about the high-tech sector—these are stats from 2015—1,845 new technology start-ups have formed, raising $650 million in investment in a region of just over 500,000.

I've sat down with a lot of officials in Communitech and around the high-tech sector. Their main issue is about getting global talent and getting these skills in our region, which is expanding rapidly. Without this talent, we won't be able to further expand and get that talent and knowledge.

Could you elaborate on how the global skills strategy will benefit Canada in terms of access to global talent and what positive outcomes you see as a result?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Thank you. It's a really important question.

As you know, Canadian workers and Canadian companies have some of the best skilled workers in the world already here. In addition to that, for their future growth, development, and innovation, sometimes they need to attract the best and the brightest in the world, in addition to hiring Canadians. Those folks, in addition to their coming here and having jobs with the Canadian companies, in turn create jobs for Canadians.

It's important in the global race for talent for Canada to be well-positioned in that race and to continue to have mechanisms in place to facilitate the attraction and retention of that talent. The global skills strategy is the exact mechanism we need to make it easier for companies that are desperate for that global talent to get that talent to Canada quickly. As part of the global skills strategy, we're setting an ambitious two-week standard for processing visas and work permits for low-risk, high-skilled talent. In addition, the department will develop a dedicated service channel to help meet the foreign talent needs of companies seeking to make a significant investment in Canada.

In addition to that, we also plan to introduce a new work permit exemption for work terms of very short duration: 30 days or less. This will help sectors such as university-based research sectors to attract people on a temporary basis, enable them to get here quickly, assist the university or the company with the work that needs to be done, and then go back to their original country.

[Marwan Tabbara, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

You've touched on my second question. When I sat down with these officials, they said that it's very complicated and not timely to process an application to get this global talent here. What they've mentioned in these round tables is that if they're trying to get a top official in the high-tech sector in Singapore or in eastern Asia, it's taking too long to process their application a lot of times, and they're being grabbed by other areas, whether that's Australia or the U.K.

Can you elaborate a bit more on the two-week standard for processing visas? How will that be achieved and how will that be a benefit?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Before I get into that, I'll talk about the overall strategy behind this initiative. It's to facilitate not just faster processing for global talent but more predictable processing, so that companies know what the application process is like and have more predictability in the process.

The two-week standard is what it is. It is a goal to have that ambitious two-week standard for processing the visas and the work permits for low-risk, high-skilled workers.

I can have Richard comment further on this.

[Richard Wex, Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thanks, Minister.

Just by way of introduction I'll say a couple of words, but I think Mr. Manicom can fill out the details.

As the minister said, the global skills strategy is aligned with the government's innovation agenda. A number of elements in the global skills strategy are intended to spur innovation, development, and employment. The exact details are being worked out right now between officials and various stakeholders in terms of which professions and under what circumstances.

The three elements with respect to the two-week standard, the dedicated service to help firms trying to scale up, and the new work permit exemption for short-term stays are the key elements of the global skills strategy. As I mentioned, further details will be crafted over the coming months with key stakeholders.

With that, Mr. Manicom, are there further details you would like to provide?

[David Manicom, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you.

I think the minister and Mr. Wex have covered most of it. We've been in very intensive consultations across the country, including in the Toronto-Waterloo corridor. I was in British Columbia last week at B.C. Tech, at the big fair there.

We are designing a package of proposals that we hope to implement in June. At that time, we do indeed intend that all high-skilled, low-risk work permits will be done within two weeks as one of the key services. The whole objective here is to make sure that when companies need to grow talent or invest in Canada, access to the skills they need is not an obstacle, and that we, therefore, can grow these sectors in Canada, attract investment, and permit the upscaling we need.

[Marwan Tabbara, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

I don't have time to get into my last question, but that's exactly what I was.... It's great to hear that, because this is something I can send back to my constituents who are looking for this global talent. To have that two-week period will be a positive thing, and it will be very well accepted.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Mr. Tilson, you have seven minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would move that the minister be required to appear in the month of May to answer questions with respect to the main estimates, for the reasons I've given, and I would ask for a recorded vote.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Mr. Tilson, we are currently studying the main estimates. We've heard an opening statement and questions. Since your motion deals with something that is currently under way, I'm ruling that it's not in order at this time.

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

I would challenge the chair.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Erica Pereira]

Shall the decision of the chair be sustained?

(Ruling of the chair sustained: yeas 5, nays 4)

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ms. Rempel will ask the questions now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

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

How many government-assisted refugees have been admitted since November 2015, and of that cohort, how many have found full-time employment?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Before I answer specifically on the numbers—

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

Actually, I only have six minutes. Are you able to provide the committee with a specific number right now?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I heard your question. If you would let me answer it, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

I will defer to Dawn Edlund to speak about the specific numbers of landed government-assisted refugees, but I will comment on the issue of jobs. From our analysis and our data—

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

I actually don't have enough time. How many refugees have been admitted since November 2015 and how many have found jobs?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

As I said, I heard your question. You don't need to repeat your question. I'm happy to answer it, if you let me.

On the issue of employment, our analysis indicates that the employment figures and the employment pace for government-assisted refugees within the Syrian refugee cohort is precisely the same as for previous waves of refugees. They tend to take a little bit longer than privately sponsored refugees, so—

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

Thank you. I asked you for specific numbers, how many—

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

If I could finish my answer, I would really appreciate that.

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

No. I would actually like an answer to my question. How many of the Syrian cohort have found a job?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I'm trying to answer your question. I would really appreciate it if you would give me the time to answer your question.