Citizenship and Immigration Committee on April 12th, 2016

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

What about the youth in the age range of 14 to 18?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

It's also 8%.

That's just a coincidence, I guess. The younger group, 14 to 18, is 8%. The older group, 55 to 64 is also 8%.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Do we have any figures in terms of how many additional people will be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship by reducing by one year the time a permanent resident must be physically present before qualifying for citizenship?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Certainly more would be eligible. I don't have a number. We could try to get back to you on that. We don't have a precise number, but obviously if you reduce the number of years you have to be in the country before you can apply, then there will be some people who will become eligible earlier than before. We don't know that number, but we could get back to you with it.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Mr. Tilson, you have five minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I have a couple of questions that continue on from the questions that Ms. Rempel asked of the minister, but these questions I would like to direct to Ms. Tapley or one of the other members of the department. The first one is this. Has the department done an economic analysis of the impact on the labour market of the narrowing of the age range required for language proficiency?

[Catrina Tapley]

Mr. Chair, to continue on with the previous questions, a full economic analysis of changes on language is not something the department has undertaken, but we have looked at other issues around language.

One of the things that we look at, of course, is where our comparator countries are on requirements for the citizenship test that they provide. If we look to the United States, applicants 18 and older must provide a language proficiency test or take a language proficiency test, which determines the applicant's ability to read, write, speak, and understand English; however, they're exempt from that if they're over the age of 50 and have spent 20 years in the U.S. or over the age of 55 and have spent 15 years in the U.S. In Australia, the age range is 18 to 59.

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

Mr. Chairman, I guess the answer is no. It gives me some concern, because really, this is all about making sure that these new people will have jobs. If they don't fit into the labour market, there is a problem.

For my second question, Ms. Tapley, what is the general participation rate of the permanent residents in the labour force?

[Catrina Tapley]

I'm doing this off the top of my head, Mr. Chair, but I think the general participation rate of permanent residents in the labour force is close to 80%, somewhere between 75% and 80%.

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

Do you have statistics by age range, including those for teens and for those over 55? The minister gave some answer to that, but perhaps you could elaborate whether you have statistics by age range.

[Catrina Tapley]

Of the composition of permanent residents in the labour force by age range? I don't have them with me, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Would you be able to provide that to the committee?

[Catrina Tapley]

I'd be happy to provide that to the committee, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

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

Mr. Minister, do you not agree that the language proficiency requirements for minors would also be of benefit to teenagers in their education? In other words, if they're going to go to school, they have to be able to understand what's going on in school, either in French or in English.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I think my concerns about 16-year-olds are limited. I'm sure that a 16-year-old new Canadian will have ample opportunity to learn English or French, and will do so. We have seen this throughout our country for many years, if not forever.

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

How are you going to do that?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I think it's in the economic interest of the person to do that. I think they learn it in school. I think they learn it through their friends. There's myriad reasons why the average 16-year-old will find it advantageous to learn English or French.

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

What I'm interested in, Minister, is the age being increased from 14 to 16, and young children come to this country and they can't speak English, yet they're going to be going to school. You're raising it to 16, so I'm interested in what programs you will have for those under 16 to learn English or French.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

You have 20 seconds.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I'll use my 20 seconds just to correct the number: it's 18, not 16.

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

I apologize, it is 18. That's even a better example . Maybe you could—

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I'm out of time.

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

Mr. Minister, shame on you.

Thank you.