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. Could you break down those numbers for me on both the appointments and vacancies by region, as well as when the appointments were made and when they became vacant? Could I also get that, particularly in the western region, broken down by cities, if I may?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes, Mr. Chair, we can provide that information to the committee.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you. For those appointments, could you also advise which ones are part time and which ones are full time, and then which vacant ones are part time and which are full time as well?
The IRB representative is here.
Director General, Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Yes. With respect to vacancies of GIC appointees, as of December 4, 2017, there were 34 vacancies out of a total funded complement of 102.
Director General, Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
For differing amounts of time—
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Could I get a full list, so that I can actually see how long they have been vacant under which categories?
Director General, Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Yes.
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you.
Now that we have the IRB representative here, at the last appearance we had heard that there was an increase of 1,400 cases per month to the workload of the IRB. Could you give us an update on what the status is with respect to that?
Director General, Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
I'm sorry; you're looking for an update on what?
Director General, Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Is that in terms of the intake trends?
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
That's in terms of the impact of the increase in asylum seekers and the caseload that's being increased for the IRB.
Director General, Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Right.
Currently, there is a total pending inventory of 43,000 cases. That includes our legacy cases as well as our new system cases.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
Thank you very much, Mr. Kipling. You'll have to get back to the committee if you have additional information you'd like to provide. Thank you.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Chair, if I may, could I then get that information submitted to the committee in writing?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
Okay. Thank you.
You're next, Ms. Zahid.
We're back to our seven-minute rounds. We have time to get in three seven-minute rounds.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Thank you, Chair.
My first question is about the supplementary estimates. I see that they include $1 million for settlement services advertisement. It has been my experience that there's too often a disconnect between the services available to the immigrants and the immigrants who need access to those services. Could you discuss the purposes of this advertising campaign? Can you assure us that it will include advertising in the ethnic media that are most read by new Canadians?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
This funding is intended to increase the awareness of programs and services provided under the settlement services programs of the department—language skills courses, labour market access, and welcoming communities. It's intended that the media mix for this would include a strong focus on ethnic media, including online and print, in order to reach the greatest possible number of individuals who might be able to take advantage of those services.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Would this include information that will be provided to immigrants as they land in Canada? When they land at immigration, are they provided with information about the services that are available?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
There is a range of opportunities for individuals to be provided with information, including prior to landing through our pre-arrival services, as well as when they land, and then subsequently through the settlement service provider organizations, by which we reach out to new immigrants and provide them with information. The idea of this advertising is to increase their awareness so that they have a better idea of where to search out exactly what they need.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Would this include some translation into the different languages that new immigrants are coming with?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I would have to get back to you on details of the communications plan. It's under development at this point. Given that we are looking at advertising in ethnic media, I would assume we'd be advertising in the language of the media we are looking at.
Liberal
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
My next question is about the parents and grandparents category of the stream of immigration.
During our committee's study of family reunification, we heard about frustrations with the intake process and the efforts of the department to clear the application backlog. We also heard about the value of parents and grandparents in the success of the family unit, its integration into Canada, and its contribution to our economy. Before we completed our report, the IRCC announced a lottery system of intake for 2017 applications to the program.
Can you report on how the first year under this new system has gone? Has it been successful? Have there been any challenges? Do you anticipate any changes in the next year, or will you continue with the lottery system?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
This was the first year of the new process of randomized selection intake. In that process in 2017, sponsors were required to indicate their interest to sponsor by completing an interest-to-sponsor form that was made available for 30 days. At the end of this period, the department had received over 100,000 submissions. As per the ministerial instructions, after removing the duplicates, 10,000 persons were randomly selected and invited to sponsor their grandparents and parents. From that initial round of 10,000, over 6,000 applications have been received. Since the department didn't receive the full 10,000 from that first round, additional potential sponsors were invited to apply, and they will have until December 8 for IRCC to receive a complete application.
Given that this was the first year of the randomized selection intake process, we will of course be looking at this year's experience in order to help us plan for next year.