Evidence of meeting #71 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was seekers.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
My next question is for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.
You touched on this in a previous answer. Many people think that these asylum seekers are jumping the queue. Could you answer whether they are jumping the queue by doing this, or whether in fact there are two streams of people who are seeking asylum here?
Director General, Operations Sector, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Those who cross through the regular port of entry or jump the border are not jumping a queue, because the system is designed to deal with that type of movement. There is no queue-jumping for those. That processing is not in any way connected to the overseas refugee processing system.
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
We had heard previously about the ebbs and flows in immigration. I'm assuming that there was additional money spent in previous years, such as in 2009, when you would have had to deal with additional asylum seekers, and that all of your departments are prepared from year to year for these ebbs and flows because they've been happening historically for over a decade.
Director General, Operations Sector, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
The asylum system right now is currently funded at a baseline of 22,500 claimants a year. That's what we are funded to deal with. Departments individually, under the authorities of the deputy ministers, will have their own contingency and reserve funding. Plus, we also have a pretty strong ability, certainly within IRCC, to search for and find innovative ways to do work quicker, faster, and better, therefore maximizing our output and the dollars that we spend and/or save.
It's a system that is funded, but we also have ways to help ourselves respond to any type of issue, should it arise.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Thank you. Numbers have been put forward to the committee today by the IRCC stating the total number of asylum claimants in various years. Can you provide the number of asylum claims, in those years, which were made by people at official points of entry as opposed to unofficial points of entry?
Director General, Operations Sector, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We do have those numbers, indeed. We can provide them.
Director General, Operations Sector, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
It will probably come with the package of all the other data, I suspect.
Conservative
Director General, Operations Sector, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
No, I cannot, right now.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
You can't tell us how many asylum claims were made this year at illegal points of entry versus legal points of entry.
Director General, Operations Sector, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I may actually have that.
Director General, Operations Sector, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
No, I don't.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
You don't. That's unfortunate.
Of the number of people who have made asylum claims through unofficial points of entry this year, how many have been ordered deported?
Acting Vice-President, Operations, Canada Border Services Agency
At this point, no such order has been issued, because the process has not been completed.
Are we speaking specifically about Lacolle or in general?
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
I'll repeat my question. For all people who have made asylum claims through an illegal point of entry or an unofficial point of entry, how many have been deported?
Acting Vice-President, Operations, Canada Border Services Agency
I'm aware of cases in British Columbia—
Acting Vice-President, Operations, Canada Border Services Agency
I believe there were nine, but we will provide those numbers to you.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Okay, thank you.
Can you please provide the specific number of cases of people who have made asylum claims at an unofficial point of entry in 2017 and have been connected with criminality, suspected of criminality, or have any sort of criminal flag associated with them?
Acting Vice-President, Operations, Canada Border Services Agency
We will provide that.
Conservative
