Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Dec. 2nd, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Good afternoon everyone.

I call meeting number 10 of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration to order. Before we proceed, I just want to remind all of those who are attending in person to be physically distanced from others by at least two meters and to wear a mask unless you are seated and are more than two meters from anyone else. This is a hybrid meeting. Some members are appearing in person in the parliamentary precinct, and the other members are appearing remotely.

As a reminder to all members, please speak at a pace that is slow enough for the interpretation to keep up. The clerk will be tracking raised hands and keeping a speaking list for the chair. If there are any, all questions shall be decided by a recorded vote except for those decided unanimously or on division. Based on the order adopted by the House on September 23, the meeting is webcast and is available on ParlVu.

Today, I welcome the Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. Today, we have a briefing session on IRCC staffing levels based on the motion that was passed by the committee. The motion was moved by Ms. Kwan that the committee invite the minister and departmental officials for two hours to provide a briefing to committee members on the impact of the pandemic on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship's staffing levels and the ability to process all immigration and refugee streams locally and abroad.

Welcome, Minister. Thanks for appearing before the committee once again. You will have five minutes for your opening remarks, and then we will go into a round of questioning.

The minister will be staying with us for the first hour, and then the second hour will be with the departmental officials. We have with us Catrina Tapley, deputy minister; Marian Campbell Jarvis, assistant deputy minister, strategic and program policy; Daniel Mills, assistant deputy minister, operations; and Fraser Valentine, assistant deputy minister, settlement and integration.

We will start with a statement by the Honourable Marco Mendicino.

Minister, you have five minutes.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Thank you, Madame Chair.

Colleagues, I'm pleased to return to speak to you again about IRCC operations and spending and, in particular, our work to process applications and assist Canadians and those who wish to come here. Local migration has been upended by the pandemic. From widespread travel restrictions and employees working from home to constraints on our settlement partners, it has had a significant impact on my department's work.

However, we've taken quick action, providing additional resources where they're needed most, streamlining our processes, and ramping systems back up. We've come a long way since the onset of the pandemic. Progress is being made every week to the point where we have now surpassed overall pre-COVID treatment rates in some cases. As of early November, our percentage of final decisions across all categories actually exceeded a similar period in 2019.

I would like to quickly note some other important decisions we've made to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and help those who wish to come to Canada. One of the very first things we did was to implement priority processing for those who need it most, like vulnerable people, family members seeking to reunite, and those in essential services. We're making great strides in processing more applications virtually. We've implemented adaptive measures, which extend submission deadlines for those facing delays due to travel restrictions. Adding this flexibility also results in extending processing times, but this is necessary to ensure that no application is refused due to restrictions related to the pandemic.

In this most challenging time, families belong together. That's why we're redoubling our efforts to process applications so that immediate families can remain together in Canada, or be reunited as soon as possible. We've significantly increased the monthly number of spousal, partner and child applications we're processing from fewer than a thousand in May to just under 5,400 in October. This means that we expect to process nearly 50,000 by the end of the year.

We've also introduced exemptions to allow immediate family members, as well as certain extended family members, to come to Canada.

Understandably, demand is very high, but we have processed tens of thousands of applications, and I'm pleased to share that these requests are being processed in 10 to 11 days if those applications are complete, well within our processing standard of 14 days.

International students bring so much to our country. That’s why we have worked with many partners to implement a process that allows them to arrive safely and study in Canada.

With public gatherings off the table for the foreseeable future, we've taken citizenship ceremonies online, welcoming more than 42,000 new Canadians at virtual ceremonies. We also recently relaunched citizenship testing online.

Finally, I'm pleased to share that we've developed a new process to assist permanent resident applications that were approved on or before March 18, but whose confirmation of permanent residence and PR visas have expired. Officers have been reaching out directly to determine clients' eligibility and willingness to travel, and reopen files as necessary. These efforts often require more time and effort than usual, but we will soon have contacted everyone affected.

Since time is short, I won’t be able to describe in detail all the other ways we have reacted to this new reality, but I will simply say that we have adapted and created the necessary leeway to respond to the current circumstances.

Madam Chair, I am confident that the measures we are taking on immigration application processing, combined with our recently announced immigration levels plan, put us on the right track to build a stronger, more prosperous and diverse Canada for the future.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Minister.

We will now move to our round of questioning. We will start our first round of six minutes with Ms. Dancho.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Thank you, and thank you, Minister, for being here. I appreciated your remarks.

We're here today to question you on the family reunification study that the committee has been undertaking for the last number of months in response to the tremendous challenges faced by families and by others as a result of your government's immigration response to the pandemic. We heard very heartbreaking stories, and I'm sure you've heard many of those, as well.

Christmas is coming, families are getting very desperate. It's really been a brutal nine months for everyone, but I can't imagine doing it without a spouse, a sibling or someone who's very close to you.

Last week, you committed to the committee to personally review the list of 100 people who have been separated because of the border closures. On October 2, you committed on national television to process these family reunification requests due to border separations by October 28, which we know is over a month ago. Yet, here we are, and there's a list of about 100 people that we're aware of, and we suspect there are many more that we're not aware of, that were not approved.

I have a specific question. Courtney is a woman on that list I gave you. She's a mother of a newborn baby. Her fiancé is Canadian living in Calgary.

Will she be able to reunite with her Canadian fiancé for Christmas?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

First of all, this is a difficult time. I acknowledge that. We are doing everything we can to reunite families. I have been in touch with my team to be briefed on those outstanding cases. We will continue to work with you and all members to troubleshoot those cases to ensure we reunite as many families as possible.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Last week, your officials had confirmed that you personally authorized over 1,300 national interest exemptions, presumably with the stroke of a pen. We know that these exemptions your government has provided has allowed many elites, American billionaires, others, to enter the country with no questions asked, no quarantine plan.

Then we have this list. I appreciate that you are looking at it, but in normal circumstances, these folks would be able to come into Canada.

Can you confirm that those 100 people will be reunited with their families for Christmas?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Again, Ms. Dancho, as I've committed to and fulfilled, I continue to be in touch with my team and my department to ensure we are reuniting as many families as possible. Obviously, it would not be appropriate for me to speak to any particular specific case in a public forum, but you do have my ongoing commitment and the commitment of the entire government to continue to reunite families, in addition to the thousands of more families. We will do it in a way that is fair and as efficient as possible.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I appreciate your remarks about fairness, but I feel there is a communication issue from your office or your department. Many folks have reached out. They're reapplying every day, because they're not hearing anything from your government. That's contributing to the backlog and the confusion, so more communication and transparency may be key to this.

Recently, we learned there were five million people who were allowed to come into Canada without quarantining. Most of them were worked in essential services, such as hauling goods and things, but the fact remains that your government has allowed five million people into the country without quarantine plans. Yet, folks like Donna McCall, who died in a hospital bed holding her husband's hand, while in his other hand he had his children on his iPhone, who couldn't enter the country at the Canadian-American border.

Stories like that are devastating, and there have been many of them in the last nine months. Frankly, I haven't heard any public apology from your government about the shortfalls, about the families that have been ripped apart, and those who have died without getting to say goodbye. Are you considering issuing an apology to those you've let down?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Like you, my heart goes out to everybody who has lost someone during COVID. This pandemic has made it very difficult.

With regard to those who are travelling back and forth over the border, including in border towns like Windsor, where I have family, where we see the incredible service of our front-line responders, we ensure that health protocols are being followed so that the health and safety of all Canadians are protected and, more importantly, people are getting the treatment they need. There is integrity at the border by adherence to following the best public health care advice—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I appreciate that.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

—which has informed every decision we've taken at the border.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I appreciate that. It's just that there are lots of people who have been able to come in, and yet there's this 100 list and Donna McCall's children. It seems you're letting some in and not others. It has really not been going very well for many people. Much of it is because of the border closures. We recognize the importance of that, but yesterday the Prime Minister said, and I quote, regarding the Canada-U.S. border closure, “Until the virus is significantly more under control everywhere around the world, we're not going to be releasing the restrictions at the border.”

Really, we know that we could be living with COVID for many years, unfortunately. There's family breakdown. There are people dying without being able to say goodbye. There are a lot of these issues going on. The status quo hasn't been working very well for all these people falling through the cracks. I have to say that I don't feel you're communicating very well on the new application processes. Frankly, today I'm seeing a little bit of empathy from you, but this is the first time we're really seeing an acknowledgement of the suffering. I think that needs to be more acknowledged more often.

What is the plan for the next year or two years or three years that these borders are going to remain closed for all the people who normally cross the border to see family? What is the long-term plan? I don't feel it's really working very well right now.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Well, on the contrary, Ms. Dancho, the plan is working very well. Our decision at the border to put in place a set of travel restrictions that limits all but the most essential travel has contributed to our capacity to reduce the spread of the virus.

With regard to our plan in reuniting families, we have reunited thousands. We are living up to our service standard. Where those applications require additional information, we work with you and all members to try to reunite as many families as possible.

That is my commitment to you, Ms. Dancho—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I recognize that, Minister.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

—and we will continue to—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I appreciate your commitment, but I think a little bit more goodwill and trust of Canadians wanting to be reunited may do very well for these families separated by the border closure, moving forward.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think that's all my time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Yes. Thank you.

We will now move on to Madam Martinez Ferrada.

Madam Martinez Ferrada, you have six minutes for your round of questioning.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to greet my colleague Minister Mendicino and thank him for being with us tonight.

I think it is important to give you the opportunity to explain to the committee members all the efforts that have been made to try to mitigate the impact of this pandemic on the immigration system. I think it’s important that all members understand how the immigration process works and what important steps your department is taking.

Could you explain how activities in Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada centres around the world have been affected? Could you tell us how it was before the pandemic and how it is now, and what you have been able to do to help the immigration process? Then I have another question for you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Minister, you are on mute.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

I’m sorry, Madam Chair.

I would like to thank my colleague for all her work as parliamentary secretary responsible for this file.

It’s true that we have made a lot of investments. We’ve added resources, we’ve made our policies more flexible, and we continue to work with all our provincial partners to achieve the goals of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada—to create jobs, to accelerate our economy, and even to reunite families and do important work in the refugee sector. Thanks to all these investments, we have made great progress. It’s true that there was some disruption a few months ago, but this progress has yielded many concrete results.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

I’m going to give you a chance to talk more about some very difficult situations that newcomers who had obtained permanent residency have experienced. My colleague talked about this earlier. Could you elaborate on the measures you put in place to help unblock the files of some immigrants who were trying to come to this country but could not because their residency had expired?

Give us concrete examples of how you have innovated to find solutions.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Thank you again.

There are several examples of innovation. For example, regarding the process of obtaining citizenship, we have transformed the citizenship ceremony into a virtual space. We are now continuing our progress in the planning and administration of the test. This is another step in the transition to the virtual space. This will make the system more efficient.

As for permanent residency, I will continue in English.

In the space of permanent residency, we are also continuing to transition to more virtual processing, particularly toward the latter stages of landing individuals. That is one of the reasons why we were able to land as many as we did in 2020 and why I am optimistic about more work and more progress going into 2021 with our plan, which again is very focused on jobs, economic recovery and reuniting family.

Finally, Madam Chair, I would say that, in the meantime, for those immigrants who are in Canada, we have introduced flexibility around work permits and around restoring status. There are many, many examples of where we have innovated to minimize disruption and to land people as quickly as we possibly can.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Can you tell us how important it is in a few streams of immigration to modernize our system and why is it so important? What did we do during the pandemic that is actually a good example that this is what we need to do, that we need to modernize our system to make it more efficient? Maybe you can talk about that.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

One of the reasons why it's important that we've been able to innovate is to keep the economy going. I think about some prime examples like the health care sector. As I mentioned before, we have doctors, nurses and support workers who have been going 24-7 to try to provide treatment and health care to Canadians as we fight the second wave.

Immigration has been a lifeline throughout the course of the pandemic. I think of international students, where we've shown some flexibility to allow those who are working in the health care sector and studying in the health care sector to contribute and to lend their helping hands. I think, going forward, we'll also be able to take a look at some workers in that sector.

That's a very concrete example of how we have adapted to the very challenging circumstances in a way that meets the urgent needs of our economy and ensures that Canadians are getting the health care that they need throughout the second wave of the pandemic.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Quickly, maybe you have a word on the agreement we have with Quebec on immigration. How do you see that unfolding in this pandemic?