Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Jan. 27th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan.

We started the committee meeting at 5:10 and we will end the meeting at 7:10.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Okay.

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

I have a point of order, Madam Chair. There is no interpretation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Mr. Clerk, can you look into it?

[The Clerk]

Madam Chair, you can proceed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

The interpretation is back.

Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Are we going to the panel of officials for one hour and then to the rest of the witnesses for one hour, or are we just going to go to the second panel for one hour?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

My suggestion to the committee would be that we hear from the first panel and give the second panel a full hour. My suggestion is that we reduce the time for the officials. Whenever we can start, we proceed with hearing from the panel of officials and end this panel at 6:10, and then proceed to the second panel from 6:10 to 7:10. We can only have the committee meeting until 7:10. It's a full two-hour meeting.

We will now proceed. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee is meeting on a study of immigration and refugee measures for the people of Hong Kong.

Today's meeting is taking place in the hybrid virtual format, pursuant to the House order of January 25, 2021, and therefore members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application. The proceedings will be made available.

You may speak in the language of your choice. You will also notice that the “raise hand” feature is now in a more easily accessible location on the middle toolbar, should you wish to speak or alert the chair. All members participating in person can proceed as they usually would when the whole committee is meeting in person in a committee room.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are on the video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself. I remind you that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. When you are not speaking, your microphone should be on mute.

With regard to the speakers list, the committee clerk and I will do our best to maintain a consolidated order of speaking for all members, whether they are participating virtually or in person.

With that, I would like to welcome our witnesses for the first panel.

We have officials from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration appearing before us today. For the first panel, we have Natasha Kim, associate assistant deputy minister, strategic and program policy. We are also joined by Nicole Giles, associate assistant deputy minister, operations.

Welcome. Thank you for appearing before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration today. I'm sorry for the delay.

You will have five minutes for your opening remarks.

Please proceed. The floor is yours.

[Natasha Kim, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee, for asking us to join you today.

We are here today to update you on measures that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is taking to support Hong Kong residents, including youth, to come to Canada.

As you are aware, the Government of Canada has joined the international community in expressing its concerns over China's imposition of new national security legislation on Hong Kong.

On November 12, 2020, Minister Mendicino, in response to the situation, announced new immigration measures. These included measures to encourage Hong Kong youth to choose Canada as a place to study, work and settle, given the skills and education that many of them would bring to support our economy.

Let me note that Canada already has an extensive array of pathways that Hong Kong residents can use to come to Canada either temporarily or permanently, including for work, to study, for permanent immigration or for family reunification.

In addition to the existing options, the department is implementing a new initiative specific to Hong Kong youth, which will provide open work permits of up to three years, with eligibility centred on post-secondary education obtained in Canada or abroad. IRCC is working hard to ensure that this measure will be available in early 2021 to applicants from Hong Kong who are both in Canada and abroad.

In addition, the department is creating two new pathways to permanent residence, available later this year, for those who come under the first initiative or who are already in Canada and have been working or studying.

The first pathway will target former Hong Kong residents who have gained a minimum of one year of authorized work experience in Canada and who meet other criteria, such as minimum language and education levels.

The second pathway will benefit those who have graduated from a post-secondary institution in Canada. These individuals will be able to apply directly for permanent residence and will not require work experience.

In addition to these new measures, Canada is also introducing measures such as priority processing of documents for Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents in Hong Kong and allocating resources to speed up processing of applications, including family sponsorship.

We do, however, understand the impact that the current border restrictions could have on when some groups are able to travel.

For Hong Kong residents already in Canada on a temporary basis, we are waiving application processing fees for those who apply to renew their status in order to extend their stay here.

I would also like to note that Hong Kong residents who are already in Canada continue to have access to our asylum system, including to make their case to the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Given the change in circumstances in Hong Kong, we have also eliminated the 12-month PRRA bar, the pre-removal risk assessment bar, for Hong Kong nationals. Under normal circumstances, individuals who received a negative decision on their refugee claim would not be eligible to apply for a PRRA for at least 12 months.

Finally, Madam Chair, I should note that individuals who flee Hong Kong and fear persecution may be referred to Canada for resettlement by the United Nations refugee agency or may be privately sponsored.

As per the 1951 refugee convention and Canadian legislation, foreign nationals need to be outside their home country to be eligible for our resettlement program. As a result, we cannot accept asylum claims at the mission in the country of alleged persecution. This is consistent with the international legal framework that takes into account state sovereignty.

However, to complement resettlement efforts, Canada—like other countries—relies on diplomatic and international aid efforts to support those in need around the globe.

Moreover, it is important to note that those facing persecution can also avail themselves of regular immigration pathways, if they are able to.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Sorry for interrupting, Madame Kim, but perhaps you could speak a bit more slowly. The interpreters are having a problem catching up.

Thank you.

[Natasha Kim]

My apologies, Madam Chair, and my apologies to the interpreters as well.

This would include those new measures that I spoke about earlier in my remarks.

Madam Chair, the measures announced by the government in November expand opportunities for those who wish to leave Hong Kong, and complement the measures announced by our allies. In doing so, they demonstrate that Canada stands with the people of Hong Kong.

We appreciate this opportunity to outline this important work.

We would now be happy to take your questions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Madame Kim.

We will now proceed to the round of questioning, based on the time. We will have one round of questioning for this panel, for five minutes each. We will start with Ms. Dancho.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Kim, for being here today.

Ms. Kim, on November 16, I believe, when we last spoke at the Canada-China committee, you said, “The permanent resident pathways are expected in 2021. We're aiming to have the open work permit temporary pathway in place by the end of the year.”

Do you have any updates as to when the permanent resident pathways will be open? Did they, in fact, open before the end of the last calendar year?

[Natasha Kim]

Thank you, Madam Chair, for the question.

Indeed, it certainly was our hope to have it open by the end of last year. Due to some technical difficulties, as well as certainly other priorities, such as COVID-19 measures, we have been quite busy over the last few months. We hope to have that in place very soon, but we were not able to open it by the end of last year as was my hope.

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

Okay, I understand.

Do you have an estimate of what “very soon“ means? Is that days, weeks or months?

[Natasha Kim]

I would certainly think weeks rather than months.

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

Okay, thank you.

Ms. Kim, you also mentioned in the Canada-China committee that there are approximately 7,000 people who hold valid study or work permits who possibly would be in Canada. Do you have any idea of how many work and study permits exist as of today?

[Natasha Kim]

Madam Chair, the information I have on that is as of November 30, 2020. As of that date, the number of valid study permit holders in Canada was 5,250. The number of work permit holders was 3,450, or 7,650 unique individuals. I should qualify that we don't know for sure that these people are actually in Canada, but they had valid work permits and held them at that time.

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

Thank you, Ms. Kim.

We haven't had any new information since November 30. That was about two months ago. Is there any way to know if there's been any uptake in those work and study permits, or would we not have that information either?

[Natasha Kim]

We do have some information comparing it to the same period last year. For example, the number of applications we received, as opposed to processed, up until November 2020 had increased quite a bit. In terms of comparing that to the same period in 2019, there was almost a doublefold increase. Work permits had increased a bit, but not to the same extent.

I think we are seeing increased interest in our study program.

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

Okay. Was that specifically for Hong Kong folks who were applying, or was that across the board?

[Natasha Kim]

That was specifically for Hong Kong.

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

Okay, thank you.

I want to ask about the grandparents and parents lottery last fall. The minister, and I believe also the officials—it might have been you or others—insinuated that the grandparents and parents lottery that was launched last fall—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Ms. Dancho. The interpreters would like you to please move your mike closer to your mouth, please.

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

I apologize if you hear me breathing as a result.

Pardon me, Ms. Kim.

Regarding the parents and grandparents lottery, it was announced last fall to have 10,000 folks from around the world come and join their families in Canada. It was sort of positioned by the minister and others as a bit of a solution to what they're facing in Hong Kong.

My understanding is that with regard to all of the 10,000 applicants who were approved, their families in Canada were notified on January 5, or around that date.

Can you tell the committee how many grandparents and parents were approved from Hong Kong?