Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Dec. 7th, 2020

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Thank you so much.

Mr. de Chastelain, this question is for you. You mentioned 170,000 international students working for our economy in 2018. What can be done to ensure their pathway to immigration in coming years? What are the suggestions you have, and anybody can take it? I would like especially to start with Bryn and Saint Mary's University.

We need these people who speak the language and understand the system. They're educated, they're young and they're hungry to get in. What can we do from this angle, as federal MPs, to make sure they're successful in their pathway to immigration in the coming years?

[Bryn de Chastelain]

I'm happy to jump in on that. I think, when we speak specifically to employment for international students, there have been a number of concerns relating to the number of hours that international students are able to work under their study visas or study permits, which limits their ability to develop connections with employers and really develop important networks that will allow them to start careers. That was implemented by the government earlier in April and May in terms of some of the initial pandemic funding and programs and—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, but the time is up.

We will now have to move on to our next member, Mr. Dhaliwal.

You have four minutes for your round of questioning. You can proceed, please, Mr. Dhaliwal.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank all of the presenters. In particular, I would like to thank Mr. Mahmood for bringing up the minority issues around the globe, and I'm sure you know the Manmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation from your own town. We have many Sikhs and Hindus too...from Afghanistan. Thank you for that.

Madam Chair, I'm going to carry on with the questioning. My good friend Bob Saroya on the other side was talking about students. International students contribute greatly to Canada, and as a result, make excellent candidates to transition from student to permanent resident to citizenship. Approximately 11,000 students became permanent residents last year.

What more can be done with regard to finding pathways to PR, and from PR to citizenship for these international students?

Anyone can start.

[Bryn de Chastelain]

I'm happy to jump in and wrap up my comments on allowing students to make stronger connections with employers during their time at post-secondary institutions. I think that we're seeing more and more students beginning to understand the value of utilizing connections in order to be able to find jobs and to build careers. I think that international students are currently at a disadvantage to our domestic students in being able to access all components of post-secondary institutions at this time.

Increasing the opportunities for international students to engage in co-op or work-integrated learning programs is going to be critical, as will be expanding things like the Canada summer jobs program to include international students. That will, I think, go a long way toward international students' being able to see their lives and careers taking place in Canada.

[Jennifer Watts]

I'd also like to add that one of the things the settlement sector has been very clear about is the fact that we're not funded by the IRCC unless you already have PR status. So, for us, if we were able to work with international students and refugee claimants and migrant workers, that would open up a huge opportunity for them to access the considerable services, expertise and staff that we have to support them. That is something that we've been asking IRCC and the government to look at and open up that eligibility so that we're able to work with people with temporary resident or work permits.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

The students could only work 20 hours, and we made it an unlimited time for them, to help them. Did those unlimited hours help students? Is there anything else besides this that we can do? You mentioned summer jobs.

[Bryn de Chastelain]

Yes, I think the unlimited hours have been extremely helpful. This is obviously a very challenging time for young people to find employment, but the opportunity for international students to be able to pursue jobs and career options that they otherwise weren't able to has been extremely helpful. I think continuing to expand those opportunities to allow international students to develop connections through summer job programs and additional funding will be extremely important moving forward.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

We have also credited them with 50% of the time they spend overseas doing their online studies, for a total credit of up to one year. Do you also see that as helping the whole system, or are there pros and cons to that?

[Bryn de Chastelain]

I think it's definitely been well received. It's alleviated some of the immediate concerns that we've been hearing about from international students—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Sorry for interrupting, but the time is up. Thank you.

We will now move on to Madame Normandin.

Madame Normandin, you will have two minutes for your round of questioning. Please proceed.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you.

I'll continue with my questions for Mr. de Chastelain.

I want to know whether students or even potential employers have spoken to you about issues related to internships. The process is long, and it involves a great deal of paperwork. Sometimes, it's necessary to obtain a closed work permit and to conduct a labour market impact assessment. This makes you a little less competitive for long-term internships, for example.

I want to know whether you've heard about this issue from people on the ground. If so, do you have any recommendations?

[Bryn de Chastelain]

Yes, this is a very important question, and I thank you for raising this topic. We've heard very often from international students. It's very challenging to secure internships within your field of study as a student, but we've heard from international students—good friends of mine—who have had opportunities to work at provincial legislatures but who've barely been able to receive the paperwork in time to take part in those internships. Something that the federal government can do moving forward is to ensure that international students have access to co-ops, internships and other work-integrated learning opportunities underneath their study permits to eliminate any of this additional paperwork or time required to receive an additional work permit to take part in these activities.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you.

I want to quickly discuss biometrics.

A number of countries don't have a biometric data collection centre. Should we facilitate the collection of biometric data from people when they arrive in Canada, if the collection isn't possible in their country of origin?

[Bryn de Chastelain]

In terms of biometrics, it's not a topic I'm necessarily an expert on, but what I can tell you is that it is a barrier for international students who are looking to come to Canada. I think, as a country, we should be doing everything we can to allow international students to come here to study if they're willing and able to do so.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

I saw Mr. Mahmood nodding his head. I don't know whether he has time to respond.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Sorry for interrupting, Madame Normandin, but your time is up.

We will now have our last round of questioning by Ms. Kwan, who will have two minutes. Please proceed.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Going back quickly to Mr. Mahmood, you were just finishing. How long have you been waiting for your family to reunite?

[Usman Mahmood]

It's been about a month since I've applied, but the current timeline is about six to nine months.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

This is the first time that you've tried for the lottery.

[Usman Mahmood]

No, I have not applied for a lottery. I only applied for a visitor visa.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

All right.

I'm going to move on to Ms. Watts. On the issue of racism, in my own riding, in and around Chinatown, we've had some horrible incidents where the Chinese cultural centre's window have been smashed and the centre defaced. There's been a whole variety of activities happening. One issue that people have raised is that people are often not comfortable going to the police and reporting this. In particular, suggestions were made that people could perhaps go to an NGO in the riding and perhaps in the community so that they could do the reporting that way.

I wonder what your thoughts are on this and whether or not the government should make it easier for people to report those kinds of hate crimes.

[Jennifer Watts]

Yes, absolutely. One of the programs that we did, particularly after the killing of George Floyd and the emergence of Black Lives Matter.... In Halifax, we have quite a strong and historic African Nova Scotian community that was also impacted by this. We set up opportunities for people to gather, particularly mothers and parents who were very concerned about their children. I think it's incumbent on us as settlement agencies to offer safe spaces so people can come together, and we did mobilize that. It was difficult because we were doing that virtually, but we did do it. I also think it about discussing it and engaging with your local police authority and officials on a regular basis, and understanding the reporting of racism. Sometimes what we found is that people say, “This incident happened to me” and the response was, “Did you work with a police officer?”, to which the person replied, “I did, but I don't really know what happened”—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Sorry for interrupting, Ms. Watts, but the time is up.

With this, our first panel comes to an end. On behalf of all members, I thank all of the witnesses for appearing before the committee and providing your important testimony. If there is anything further you would like to bring to the committee's notice, you can send it in writing if you didn't get an opportunity to speak about it.

Thank you once again, and with this, I will suspend the meeting for a minute to allow for a sound check for one of the panellists on the second panel.

The meeting is suspended for a minute and we will come back. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I call the meeting to order.

In this panel we will be hearing from the officials from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. I would like to welcome Marian Campbell Jarvis, assistant deputy minister, strategic and program policy; Fraser Valentine, assistant deputy minister, settlement and integration; and Mr. Daniel Mills, assistant deputy minister, operations.

Thank you to all of the officials for appearing before the committee. We have been keeping you quite busy. I think this is your third appearance in the last two weeks, so thank you for being here.

We will start with Marian Campbell Jarvis.

You have five minutes to give your opening remarks. Please start.