Evidence of meeting #90 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 chair.
A video is available from Parliament.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you.
The minister mentioned that the processing time for the new program for caregivers would be within 12 months. However, there are already caregivers who have been waiting for 16 months over and above the expected processing time. How do you square the circle?
Liberal
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
Well, I square it by saying that in every immigration stream for which we have processing times and a standard, for the most part we meet the standard, but there are always exceptions. There are people who are stuck in security clearance because it may or may not take a long time, and we still include that in our processing time, so there are always exceptions to that standard.
I can't comment on the cases you bring forward, but I can tell you—
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Maybe I can offer this, Minister, because our time is tight.
I have over 100 cases in my office with issues with both the live-in caregiver and the caregiver program. Will the minister commit, then, to having his staff—
Liberal
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
What is the breakdown? You're combining two different programs.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
I will provide a chart with all of the different issues with all the different applicants. Will the minister undertake to ensure that those cases are processed accordingly and in an expedited fashion? Right now, they're not.
Liberal
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
No, because you're talking about two different programs. For the live-in caregiver program, as I've already told you, it will take until 2018 to get rid of the inventory.
Liberal
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
It's not no. It's two different programs with two different timelines.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
In the live-in caregiver program, there are people who have been waiting close to 10 years—
Liberal
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
Sure, and that's why I made the announcement. It's to make sure we get rid of the backlog.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
—and there are people who have been waiting for seven or eight years, and they are not getting processed any faster. My question to the minister is this: will you commit to actually having your staff work through these cases to ensure they are processed in an expedited fashion?
Liberal
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
We are already doing that, Ms. Kwan. We are already doing that. We have processed 5,000 more cases under the live-in caregiver inventory than we expected this year.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you, Minister, but with all due respect, these cases tell otherwise. I will submit these cases to your office, and I hope that somebody among the officials within your department will undertake to look at these cases and help process these applications. These women have been waiting to be reunited with their families for more than 10 years.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Thank you, panel, and thank you, Minister, for coming.
Actually, I'll carry on with that really quickly. I was able to give out that information on the new live-in caregiver announcements in my riding, and I had about 30 from the outset who had come to me. I can happily inform you that there are only about eight or nine remaining out of that batch, so maybe not 80% but 75% of the backlog I had seen in my office has gone.
However, every person feels that their file is important, so they're still eagerly waiting. They're happy about going forward within 12 months.
Could you elaborate on how many from the old program might be expected to be completed by the end of this year, in the next few weeks, and how many will be completed in the next quarter, say January to March in 2018? I'm referring to the remaining, larger backlog.
Liberal
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
What we've promised, as you're aware, is that of the remaining 23,000 cases in the old live-in caregiver program, we've committed to processing 80% of those cases by the end of next year.
In terms of how many we expect to process before the end of this year, I'll let Mr. Kochhar answer that.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Just as the minister said, it will be 80% of them before December 2018 and I do want to mention that the inventory, which we are addressing very carefully, would be reduced by another 10% to 20% in the coming.... That will take us to the point where, by the end of December 2018, we will be at 80%.
We have reduced, up till now, 60% of that inventory, so as we go on, it's eroding and is coming down to that mark.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Can we expect some in the next four months or so? That's what I wanted to know. I've been specifically asked by a caregiver.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We could provide you with that information.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Okay. Thank you.
Minister, would you be able to outline for the committee a contingency plan or any other activity that the government has undertaken to curtail irregular migration at the border to protect the integrity of our asylum system?
Liberal
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
Yes, thank you. It's a very important question.
We've done a number of things. First, we have made sure that we are proactive in terms of engaging diaspora communities that have been or are about to be affected by any potential changes to the temporary protected status policies of the United States government. We've done that by engaging the Canadian embassy in Washington as well as 12 consulates in the United States. They have been very active in reaching out to those communities, engaging directly with local community media, correcting misinformation, and providing accurate information about our asylum system and our regular migration system.
In addition to that, three members of Parliament and I have been going down to the United States and engaging directly with diaspora communities and also with service providers that engage with those communities and provide those communities information. That has been well received, and the consulates and the envoys collectively have engaged over 300 stakeholders and have had over 300 meetings.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Minister, on that note, would you be able to say how many of these irregular migrants are being approved to stay in Canada, versus how many are being rejected? There is a big belief that some of them are economic refugees and not particularly—
Liberal
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
I can only comment on the number that I saw with respect to Haitian nationals who have been processed lately. The acceptance rates have been around 15% for those nationals, which means that 85% have been found, at least in that group of people, not to be in need of protection. That message has also been repeated in the United States through our outreach efforts.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Minister, could you highlight for the committee what program integrity measures will be implemented under the international mobility program and the temporary foreign worker programs to ensure that employers comply with the rules and do not abuse those programs?
