Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 10th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Good afternoon, everyone.

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting 19 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

The Board of Internal Economy requires that the committee adhere to the health protocols. Maintain a physical distance of at least two metres from others. Wear a non-medical mask when moving in the meeting room. Preferably, wear a mask at all times, including when you are seated. Maintain proper hand hygiene by using the provided hand sanitizer at the room entrance and wash your hands well with soap regularly.

As the chair, I will be enforcing these measures for the duration of the meeting. I thank all the members in advance for their co-operation.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of January 25, 2021. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website.

The webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee. I would like to take this opportunity to remind all participants of this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.

A reminder 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 speaking list, the committee clerk and I will do the best we can to maintain a consolidated order of speaking for all members, whether they are participating virtually or in person.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), today the committee is resuming the studies of immigration and refugee measures for the people of Hong Kong and labour market impact assessment under the temporary foreign workers program. Pursuant to the second subcommittee report adopted by the committee on February 1, today's testimony will be considered under both studies.

Today, I would like to welcome the Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

Thank you, Minister, for appearing before this committee. All the members really appreciate you coming for two meetings this week. Thank you on behalf of all members of this committee.

For this panel, we are also joined by officials from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. We are joined by Marian Campbell Jarvis, assistant deputy minister, strategic and program policy; Nicole Giles, associate assistant deputy minister, operations; Pemi Gill, director general, international network; and Caroline Xavier, associate deputy minister.

The minister will be staying for the first panel. We will start with his opening remarks and then we will go into the round of questioning.

Welcome, Minister. You can please start. You will have five minutes for your opening remarks.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee.

As we begin, I'd like to acknowledge that I'm joining you from the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people.

I am pleased to first address the committee's study of labour market impact assessments as it relates to temporary foreign workers and our immigration system. After that, I'll discuss our initiatives to help more Hong Kong residents choose Canada.

As you may know, the temporary foreign worker program, or TFWP, is a demand-driven/employer-requested program that seeks to help Canadian employers access foreign workers to fill labour gaps. It features several streams, including one for the agriculture sector.

To hire through the TFWP, an employer must first apply for a labour market impact assessment, which is a key tool to protect Canadians' access to the labour market by ensuring that employers have made reasonable efforts to recruit and hire Canadian workers before trying to hire foreign nationals.

As our colleagues from Employment and Social Development Canada will explain, they manage the assessment and make decisions on LMIA applications, while IRCC issues the actual work permits. To issue the permit, we need proof of an employer's positive or neutral LMIA, which foreign nationals must submit as part of their work permit applications through the TFW program.

Canada's other work program for foreign nationals, the international mobility program, is solely the responsibility of IRCC and works differently. Its goal is to advance our nation's broad economic, cultural and social interests rather than to fill particular jobs in particular sectors. These workers are exempt from the LMIA process and include post-graduate work permit holders, youth on a working holiday and spouses of temporary residents, among others.

Madam Chair, I hope this provides some useful context on this important issue.

Now I'd like to turn to Hong Kong. In light of the recommendations made recently by the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations, the committee may have questions for me regarding the avenues for Hong Kong residents to come to Canada.

Of course, all of this takes place against the backdrop of an extremely concerning situation in Hong Kong. At this difficult moment, Canada stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Hong Kong and shares the grave concerns of the international community over China's national security legislation.

The ties that bind Canada and Hong Kong run deep, and with many young Hong Kongers casting their eyes abroad, we want them to choose Canada. That's why I was proud to announce new opportunities, last November, for youth from Hong Kong to choose Canada as a place to work, study and settle. These complement the existing pathways already available to Hong Kong residents for economic migration and family reunification, the private sponsorship of refugees program and the government-assisted refugees program as well as our world-leading asylum system.

This new program provides open work permits for up to three years to those who have completed a degree or diploma from a designated Canadian post-secondary institution in the last five years or have an equivalent credential from an overseas institution. Eligible spouses, common-law partners and dependent children may also apply for work or study permits, and applications opened just over a month ago, on February 8.

In addition, the department is creating two new pathways to permanent residence, available later this year.

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

The second will allow those who have graduated from a post-secondary institution in Canada to apply directly for permanent residence.

Before moving on, I want to be very clear about one important point. No Hong Kongers will be prevented from coming to Canada or claiming asylum because they have participated in peaceful protests. This is true whether they did so before or after the introduction of the national security law. We strongly support the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

The steps we have taken are in concert with those of our allies who share our grave concerns about the situation in Hong Kong.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

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

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

I'm happy to conclude and take questions from here.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

You'll have an opportunity to talk further when we go to the round of questioning.

Now we will start with our first round of questioning, which will be led by Mr. Hallan.

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

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Once again, thank you, Minister, for being here with us today.

A response from Public Services and Procurement Canada revealed that 86% of employees at the Beijing visa office are employees of a Chinese police-owned company.

Minister, you said that the government vets every single person in the office, but Procurement Canada says employees working for this company are vetted by VFS. Most of the employees in the visa office, which is owned by a company with ties to the Chinese regime, are not vetted by our government.

Federal employees with access to protected A, B or C forms—something as basic as a paper application for permanent residence—would require, at minimum, a reliability status check conducted by the government, yet employees of the police-owned company handle visa information and don't go through our own checks.

If the Chinese Communist Party develops a fake identity, with the intent to infiltrate our overseas visa office via espionage, and collects visa applications with applicants' backgrounds and then runs them through the hiring process for the subcontractor, how would we even know about it?

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

I want to thank my colleague for the question. I appreciate his concerns.

We are keenly aware of the risks of operating abroad. That's why, as I said, we have a rigorous procurement process led by PSPC, which screens for corporate security and ownership. That's why everyone who is employed by our contractors and subcontractors is screened to the same reliability status that is used for in-house government employees, at our embassies, and in our consular services.

In addition, we have video surveillance in place to monitor their work. We also ensure that we have compliance and enforcement protocols that also include audits. We will continue to manage these risks going forward and take whatever measures are necessary to maintain the security and integrity of our immigration system.

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

Minister, what if a Chinese pro-democracy activist seeking to flee to Canada applies at that Beijing VAC? How can we be confident that a Chinese spy is not relaying that information to the Chinese government?

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

I will reiterate what I said to my colleague. We are acutely aware of the risks of operating in any foreign environment. That is why we have introduced rigorous protocols with regard to procurement; why we have strict protocols with regard to the screening and vetting of every employee who works not only for our contractors but also for our subcontractors; and why we work closely with the lead national security agencies prior to the installation of equipment that is designed to encrypt and protect the information of our immigration processes. As I said to my colleague, we closely monitor all of these protocols and will take whatever steps are necessary to manage those risks to protect the integrity of our immigration system.

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

It has been alleged that the Chinese ministry of state security has, in the past, used spies in cases of foreign espionage to manipulate innocent civilians to unknowingly spy on allied nations. How do we know that the VFS employees are not compromised, as even one Chinese spy could destroy the entire functioning of the office and cause a significant security threat?

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

I want to assure all members of this committee that we work very closely with all of our partners across government, including lead security agencies, to ensure that there is an implementation of security protocols, including the very careful and close scrutiny and vetting of all employees who work on behalf of the government in a contractual relationship.

But we don't stop there. We also continue to monitor the compliance of those contractual arrangements, including security protocols, by conducting periodic audits. As I pointed out in my last appearance before committee, those audits ensure that we are preserving the integrity of our immigration system.

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

Minister, since that last committee and since these reports have come out, have any steps or measures been taken? Right now, it's very concerning that since that article came out, we haven't heard about anything that's gone beyond what was done in the past.

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

As I have said on a number of occasions now, all of the work in managing the risks of operating abroad is ongoing. We undertake that work very carefully with our partners at PSPC, with lead security agencies, and indeed with partners across the government. We also ensure compliance with our primary contractor—in this case VFS—as well as with the subcontractor who operates in that foreign environment.

We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that there is adherence to those protocols.

To assure my colleague, we manage those risks every day. That work is ongoing. We will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the integrity of our immigration system.

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

Minister, we've been calling for this contract to end. A former Canadian diplomat to China and security experts have called for the same contract to be ended. Will you take the steps to end this contract?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

You have 15 seconds.

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

What I can assure my colleague is that we will continue to work across government to protect and to preserve the integrity of our immigration system.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

You have 15 seconds, Mr. Hallan.

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

I'll just make it quick.

The laws maintain that everyone responsible for state security and the national intelligence institutions can call upon organizations and citizens for necessary support.

Minister, are you not concerned that a Chinese police-owned company—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Mr. Hallan, your time is up.

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

—is acting under the influence of Chinese intelligence?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Sorry for interrupting, Mr. Hallan, but your time is up. We will come back to you.

Ms. Dhillon, you have six minutes for your round of questioning. Please go ahead.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good evening, Minister.

It is our pleasure to welcome you to our committee today.

The francophone community is well established across the country and deserves the same dedication and the same support given to all Canadians. We want small communities and francophone immigrants to be able to prosper. To that end, the government has committed to reach the target admission rate of 4.4% for francophone immigrants outside Quebec.

Can you give us an update on the progress the government has made in this important file, as well as—

[Technical difficulty—Editor]

Is everybody hearing that?

I will ask my question again.

Minister, can you give us an update on the progress the government has made in this important file and tell us about the impact of the changes made to—

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Leif-Erik Aune]

Apologies, Madam Chair, some kind of phone audio is happening in the room.

If you wish to suspend, I'll see to it now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I will suspend for two minutes to make sure this is looked into.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We will start again now with Ms. Dhillon for six minutes. Sorry for the interruption. These technical issues do come up.