Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 8th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Minister. The time is up.

We will now move on to Ms. Kwan.

Ms. Kwan, you have two and a half minutes for your questions. Please proceed.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Chinese national law requires any organization operating inside the country to co-operate with intelligence services. This applies to China's visa application centres as well.

Does the minister not think that if a pro-democracy activist, or someone who is sympathetic to the Uighurs in China, is trying to access Canada's immigration process, they would be in jeopardy if the Chinese authorities were to get wind of that fact?

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

I understand and appreciate the concerns as expressed by you, Ms. Kwan.

That is why we put in place an asylum system to accommodate those who are fleeing persecution. That is one reason that we seek logistical and administrative support abroad as we carry out our immigration processes.

In fact, we believe that by outsourcing some of this work we're enhancing the security for our clients, who can take better control over the way in which they upload their personal information to our systems.

We will continue to work very closely with our partners in government and outside of government to ensure that people who are fleeing persecution have the opportunity to seek refuge in Canada.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

It's not about refugees. It's about the visa application centre process that could be in jeopardy.

The fact is that China has made mass arrests and people's travel documents are confiscated. A pending legislation where authorities could stop people from boarding a plane or boat without reason is about to become law. Time is of the essence.

Will the minister expand immigration measures for the people of Hong Kong and put in refugee measures for them while they are abroad?

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

I appreciate the question.

The first thing I would say, as you know, is that it's part of my mandate to create an additional pathway that provides refugee opportunities for human rights defenders and journalists.

I would point out to the members of this committee that the allocated spaces for that pathway are already in our 2021 plan. We're working very hard to design a policy that will implement that pathway.

Ms. Kwan, as I have said before to you in the past, we are exploring all ideas and options, including some of the ones that you have put on the table. We will continue to uphold our asylum system to accommodate those who are fleeing persecution in that part of the world, as well as everywhere else.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes, but when will decisions be made? We're running out of time.

Just today, there are additional people who are being arrested, and once that's done they can't be—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Ms. Kwan. Your time is up.

We will now move on to Mr. Hallan.

For this round, Mr. Hallan, and Mr. Dhaliwal after him, will have four minutes each. Then we will end the first panel.

Mr. Hallan, you have four minutes for your round of questioning.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you again, Minister.

We were talking about digitization of the applications. Can we have a timeline of when this will happen?

We have known since September. There was an announcement. We haven't seen much movement, especially from what we're hearing in our offices.

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

I would say that we have seen progress in digitizing some of our most important lines of service, including, as I said, the citizenship platform, where we've gone completely digital for ceremonies. We are increasingly scaling up that work when it comes to citizenship testing.

When it comes to permanent residents, as I said, we are piloting interviews. We want to be sure that we have integrity and security in those protocols. We've been having a great many exchanges on that subject matter to ensure that there's a high degree of confidence in our immigration system. We have to test those protocols and then we will scale them up.

I'm confident that as a result of the investments we're making in both the mains and the supplementary estimates (C), some of which I've outlined in my introductory remarks, we will see that work accelerate over the coming months and years.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

When I asked a question in the last round, I didn't get a clear answer from you about how long it would take to clear up the backlogs in spousal sponsorships so that we can reunite families with each other again. You didn't answer that.

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

I appreciate that. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to come back to it.

With regard to family reunification and spousal sponsorship, I'm confident that we are going to get back to one-year wait times by this spring. In fact, the 62 new individuals who were hired in Nova Scotia will help accelerate our achievement of that goal.

That is on top of the work that we have already done in prioritizing 50,000 spousal sponsorship applications prior to the end of last year; the 55,000 COVID family travel exemptions, which we've issued to date; and—

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

I'm sorry, Minister. Respectfully, we did hear that in the last answer as well.

I wanted to move on and talk about a case that relates to a couple of questions I was asking in the last round.

Not all offices have all services being offered right now. It's causing incredible hardships on people. I'll give you an example.

There's a mother here with her really young son who's about 10 months old. The husband is in India and the application is with the NDVO. A DNA test was asked of that person. No DNA tests are being offered to be done in front of any officers in that office right now in India. It's causing incredible hardships. I deal with this person a lot. It's a heartbreaking case.

First, can we get a breakdown of what offices are offering what services, and what is not being offered at this time in our offices?

Second, when can we expect these services to be up and running, so we can reunite families and get people back into Canada to contribute economically as well?

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

Thank you for the question. I will defer to my officials to explain in greater detail exactly which offices in India are back to full capacity and which are at limited capacity.

Certainly, I am sympathetic to that particular case. I will continue to work with you and your office to see whether or not we can work through that case, but obviously I would not want to discuss the particulars or get into the specifics, out of an abundance of respect for the privacy of the individuals in question.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

We'd definitely like to have some documents showing us what's happening now within our visa offices.

With regard to the dropping of the scores for the express entry, what kinds of implications would dropping the scores have, in your opinion?

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

We have our flagship in the express entry system, which is designed to align skill set to job vacancy or pressure in our local economy. That is a system that has been heralded around the world by the OECD and others. By taking I think a more inclusive approach, we have the opportunity to facilitate the transition of workers who possess—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Minister. The time is up.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

On a point of order, Madam Chair, can we please have a document tabled to the committee on which services are being offered now in our offices across the board and which ones are not?

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

I'm certainly happy to have my officials work with you, Madam Chair, and with the clerk to provide the most up-to-date information. It is available online, but we're happy to provide that information to the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

Before we go to Mr. Dhaliwal, can I please request of everyone that you mute yourself if you are not speaking? There were some background voices coming in within the last few minutes.

Now we will go to Mr. Dhaliwal.

Mr. Dhaliwal, you will have four minutes for your round of questioning before we end the first panel.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First of all, I want to thank the minister

Minister, I want to congratulate you on the express entry draw that has occurred. There were 27,232 workers invited to apply for PR. This is the first time this has happened since Pierre Elliott Trudeau did something like this. Congratulations to you and the Prime Minister.

How do you believe that this 75-point express entry—the lowest ever—will signal the beginning of this new immigration strategy and the new era of this government?

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

Thank you very much for the question.

Again, I want to thank my colleague Mr. Dhaliwal for all his work in his community. I know that he's a tireless champion for immigration, not only in British Columbia but across the country.

With regard to that draw, what I believe it signals is that we are looking at ways to welcome workers who possess a range of skills on the continuum, when it comes to meeting the urgent needs of our economy and offering workers the opportunity to transition to permanent residency status. It is an opportunity that has been created by the pandemic. It is one that I believe will help us to address, for example, the needs in our health care system, but also in other areas. For example, in building and trades, we know that there are critical infrastructure deficits right across the country, not only in big cities but in suburban Canada and right across rural Canada.

By taking an approach to this particular draw that was more inclusive, perhaps, than some of the more recent draws, we are trying to act with great agility to address the urgent needs of our economy today. Certainly, I think, going forward, we still look forward to that moment when we can welcome newcomers from abroad, but as we navigate the pandemic, we are looking internally, that is, to the domestic temporary immigration talent pool that is already within our borders, and we see that there is a chance to offer them a pathway to stay here.

That'll be good for them in the short term, it'll be good for our economy, and it'll be good for our long-term prosperity, because as you well know, Mr. Dhaliwal, we also have long-term demographic challenges that we must address. Immigration can't solve all of them, but it can help to move the needle in the right direction.

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

Minister, you have done excellent work when it comes to spousal applications. Last year, you did 50,000, and you also have this on the urgency.... There is also another issue that I face and that many other MPs probably hear about every day. It's the parents and grandparents class.

Can you tell the committee today what you and the department are going to do when it comes to PGP this year?

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

In short, we will process 30,000 applications under the parent and grandparent program, which is a record high for any single year. It reflects yet another way in which we are demonstrating our fundamental belief in reuniting loved ones and families, despite the challenges of the pandemic. This is on top of the work we have done to reunite those who wish to visit their Canadian relatives here during the pandemic through visitor status. This is on top of the approximately 50,000 spousal sponsorship applications, which we prioritized.

I just want to pause, Mr. Dhaliwal, to say that we can't do this work without our public servants. They are the ones who are finding ways to dig deep, to innovate and to put their work to the task. Like everyone else, they've had to relocate their work. They've had to endure the same kinds of challenging circumstances as Canadians have right across the country. Notwithstanding those challenges, we are making progress when it comes to reuniting families. My gratitude goes out to my department and indeed to all public servants across the Government of Canada.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Minister. Thank you, everyone.

With this, our first panel comes to an end. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the minister for appearing before the committee today. We will be seeing you again this week on Wednesday.