Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 8th, 2021

[Catrina Tapley]

Thank you.

I am not aware of any data breach when it comes to this. I would add, Madam Chair, that we continually monitor as we do with all these application centres. Since 2018, we've had 23 site visits to these application centres in China. We regularly go through the series of requirements that are there—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

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

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Once again, Canadians can trust the IRCC for personal information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Mr. Serré, the time is up.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We will now move to Madame Normandin.

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

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll repeat what Mr. Serré said. I'd also like to thank the senior officials and officers who work for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration because it's true that it's not easy. I particularly want to thank the officials. They provide a lot of answers to our questions, and even good information when we ask for it. We really appreciate it.

My first questions will focus on permanent residency confirmations. The first may be a more technical question.

Among the government's open data is the number of files admitted. Is an application considered an admission for statistical purposes from the time confirmation of permanent residence is received, or is it from the time the file is finalized?

[Catrina Tapley]

Thank you for your question.

I'd also like to thank you for your comments.

I will confirm that, no, what we count is landing, so even though we may have completed the file or finalized the file, we don't count them until they have landed, until people are here.

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

Thank you very much. It helps to understand the statistics a little better.

As of today, do you have an exact number of people who have received a confirmation of permanent residence since March 18?

[Catrina Tapley]

I don't think I have it, Madam Chair, in front of me. Just let me double-check with my colleagues.

Mr. Mills or Ms. Campbell Jarvis, do either of you have it?

We'll have to get back to you on that.

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

Thank you.

We know that, in sponsorship cases, people who have received a confirmation of permanent residence can come to Canada, but some are subject to restrictions. So I have a sub-question, of the total number of people who have received confirmation of permanent residence since March 18, how many are currently subject to travel restrictions?

I would also like to know, in the same class, how many confirmations of permanent residence are currently expired?

[Catrina Tapley]

I'll ask Mr. Mills to answer your questions because I think he knows the answers.

[Daniel Mills]

Thank you for your question.

Currently, more than 15,000 permanent resident confirmations received before March 18 have expired. We contacted over 13,000 of those 15,000 people to find out whether they wanted to come to Canada or not. Of that number, over 4,500 people have expressed interest in coming to Canada, and over 3,300 have been admitted and are already in Canada. Some of the people who are left haven't responded. There are others that we haven't yet reached and for whom we cannot extend the confirmation of permanent residence because their passport or medical certificate has expired. So we're working with these individuals on ways to get them a new medical certificate or other documentation.

In fact, we're working very hard to sort out the situation of these people.

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

Thank you.

So this is for people who received their confirmation of permanent residence before March 18, but March 18 is very soon. By that date, the confirmation will have expired for a number of people, if it hasn't already, because the deadline is sometimes a little less than a year, if the medical certificate was sent long before.

Can you tell me what you envision for these people? Could there be a systematic extension for a certain period of time, regardless of the medical certificate or the criminal record? Have letters been sent to reassure these people, since a number of confirmations are expiring? This is why they're coming to Canada, even though they have a travel restriction.

Could you tell me where we are on this?

[Catrina Tapley]

We continue to communicate with our clients. We continue to push notifications to our clients and to make sure that people are informed.

We watch the situation carefully with respect to the border and who is allowed to come in and who is not allowed to come in.

I wonder, Mr. Mills, if there is anything you want to add to that.

[Daniel Mills]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Minister.

Actually, you probably answered the question. We are monitoring the situation closely. We communicate frequently with our clients to ensure they have received the necessary information. However, I agree with you that the situation has been going on for almost a year now. So we're monitoring the situation and looking at the various options available to us and them.

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

Thank you very much.

With respect to the sponsorship applications, my understanding from looking at the data from the open government portal is that the 49,000 files announced by the minister has probably been reached. However, this number varied between 91,000 and 92,000 in previous years.

Do we know how many sponsorship files are currently backlogged and how that number compares to other years?

[Catrina Tapley]

I can say with confidence that we processed 46,000 spouses, partners and dependent children applications in 2020. I'm happy to say that since the beginning of this year we have processed close to 10,000—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Deputy Minister. The time is up. We will have to move to Ms. Kwan now.

Ms. Kwan you have six minutes for your round of questions. Please proceed.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

The minister indicated earlier that, instead of issuing the 179(b) exemption, IRCC issued the program delivery update around dual intent. However, when asked, he was not able to provide an answer to if there was an improvement in the success rate for the dual intent applications.

Could the officials tell us if that information is being tracked since the announcement was made around dual intent?

[Catrina Tapley]

I wish I had a better answer for the honourable member on that. We announced this, as you know, in October. We're just trying to pull numbers together now on what effect we think this is having and whether or not this is facilitating better reunification.

The real answer on this one remains that we're able to process spousal applications in the timelines we have set. The work to get these back down to below 12 months is the most important thing we can do. Meanwhile, we will get back to the committee with respect to the changes we've seen and how we track.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you. I'd like to see the data on that to see if it has improved.

On the expired COPRs, do officials have the information on how many of the them have expired documents, whether they be expired medicals or other documents?

[Catrina Tapley]

We do. I don't have it in front of me.

Perhaps Mr. Mills does.

[Daniel Mills]

There are actually over 15,000 expired permanent residence confirmations, and we have contacted over 13,000—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'm sorry. I'm going to interrupt for a second. I meant expired medicals because of the expired COPRs—other documents that have expired, not expired COPRs.

Do you have that information?