Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 10th, 2021

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

Of course, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Good evening, Minister.

Welcome to the committee.

The francophone community is well established across the country and deserves the same dedication and 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 and tell us about the impact of the changes made to immigration categories to achieve the objectives set by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC?

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

Thank you for the question.

Our government is a champion of official languages in Canada, and it knows that immigration is essential to the vitality of our minority francophone communities. That is why it announced a measure whereby additional points were given to francophone and bilingual candidates under the express entry program.

We will continue to find new ways to attract francophones, including through the implementation of a francophone integration pathway and initiatives such as the welcoming francophone communities initiative. Our government will always be a major defender of our francophone communities across Canada.

In addition, in 2020, the admissions of French-speaking immigrants accounted for 3.61% of all immigrant admissions outside Quebec. This is good progress in terms of that important priority.

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

Thank you very much, Minister.

Last Monday, we were happy to hear that the backlog in the processing of applications under Quebec's regular skilled worker program was completely eliminated. That is welcome news, as we know it is important to ensure a constant labour supply in all the provinces, especially in the current context of the pandemic.

Can you update us on what is planned for Quebec's regular skilled worker program?

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

I must first say that we have a good spirit of cooperation in immigration between our government and that of Quebec. I know that Quebec is looking to fill a significant labour gap.

On December 4, 2020, cases related to applications received under the qualified worker category were all open. All the applications received since January have been entered into the system. An acknowledgement of receipt has been sent to nearly 16,000 applicants in the skilled worker category. Since November 2020, amended acknowledgements of receipt have been sent daily for all the applications received up until January 2021.

We will continue to cooperate with the Government of Quebec. This is good not only for the economy, but for everyone.

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

Thank you.

Minister, the pandemic has created many challenges throughout the immigration system—most notably, the abrupt end to many people's work and livelihoods to protect public health. COVID-19 has made it possible for conditions not conducive to labour and workforce mobility...and in many ways, it has fractured the ability for labour shortages to be addressed quickly. Can you please explain to our committee what measures your department took to alleviate these issues?

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

First, I want to thank my colleague again for her question and for her advocacy on behalf of her community. I know that, like me, she shares the concerns of assisting Canadians. Our government's record with regard to providing emergency relief to workers, to businesses, is done in tandem with the support that my department has provided to those temporary workers who are also critical to ensuring that our economy keeps going. I think about the workers who are there to ply their trades on our farms, in meat-processing plants, in the building and trades sector, and right across our economy. We need to be firing on all cylinders in order to accelerate our economic recovery.

That's why we've introduced additional work permit flexibility—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

You have 30 seconds left.

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

—to extend it for those who had to stay beyond their original stay. That's why we provided greater work permit flexibility for those with LMIAs moving from one job to the other. That is why we will continue to provide this kind of innovation and support for temporary workers, who, again, are critical to keeping our economy going.

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

Minister, thank you very much for coming to testify before the committee and answering our questions despite all the technical difficulties.

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

It was my pleasure, Ms. Dhillon.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We will now to go Madam Normandin.

You have six minutes. You can please proceed.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, thank you for joining us again. We will spend a lot of time with you this week.

My first question is about people who are waiting for a decision on their permanent residence and who have submitted an application in Quebec under the economic immigration class.

According to the government's open data, the application threshold has not been reached in Quebec. Close to 12,000 applications have been processed, out of the total 26,000 applications. Many people are saying that their application for permanent residence is pending owing to very long processing times for work permits. Many have lost their job and have been unable to find another one. Others want to change their work environment, but they cannot do so.

Has the department considered the possibility of prioritizing the processing of permanent residence files of individuals who were already in Canada when the COVID-19 pandemic began?

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

Thank you for the question, Ms. Normandin.

As you know, I share your concern. Programs must be created to support all workers who want to come to Canada and contribute to our economy and to our social fabric, not only in Quebec, but across Canada.

That is why our government has invested a great deal in our department to increase resources and enhance program flexibility. The objective is to prioritize the processing of the files of workers we need. We are trying to find ways to address the labour shortage and to sustain our economy.

It is true that, in this complex situation caused by the global pandemic, we have to seize the opportunity to tap into the talent and experience of temporary workers already in the country. We can explore possibilities of facilitating their access to permanent residence.

We are doing this work with the Government of Quebec. As I said, this is good not only for Quebec, but also for Canada.

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

Thank you, Minister.

My next question is about the long processing times for work permits owing to the health crisis. According to the immigration lawyers I talked to this morning, the wait time is seven months for certain work permit categories. The newspapers have also talked about cases of refugees in the same situation. We know there are employment opportunities in health care, but people cannot get hired without a work permit. They must bring themselves to apply for social assistance.

We have noted growing pressure on the processing of work permits in the context of the health crisis.

Would it have been a good idea to take into account proposals like the one from the Bloc Québécois to implement work permits by sector?

Perhaps studies should be carried out on the impact on the sectoral labour market and on the validity period of work permits, which could be increased. Over the long term, this would reduce the pressure on application processing. What do you think about that?

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

Ms. Normandin, I am always open to your suggestions, but I want to point out that we have already made our system more flexible to address the labour shortage and to ensure that we meet our economic priorities.

That system enables us to issue open work permits. The system also relies on labour market impact assessments, or LMIAs, to meet the needs of a specific sector of our economy. We will continue to work toward that.

As for the processing times, this year's results have been very encouraging. In January, we processed 10% more applications than in January of the previous year. In February, we sent more than 27,000 invitations to new immigrants already in Canada who had work experience in our country, including Quebec. We will continue along that path.

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

Thank you.

When it comes to agricultural workers, a number of farm owners in my area are starting to worry. They want to know what health measures will apply to them. The government's website states that, until March 14, temporary foreign workers will be exempted from the obligation to stay in a hotel. According to the website, other details will soon be available.

It is March 10 already.

Can you tell me what we can expect concerning agricultural workers?

Will changes be made to those workers' accommodations?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

You have 30 seconds.

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

That is a very important question.

We have learned many lessons from the crisis over this past year. We have been very successful in the agricultural sector because we have found ways to support that category of workers while protecting the health of all Canadians. I want to reassure all the committee members by saying that the needed workers will be there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

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

Ms. Kwan, you have six minutes for your round of questioning.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the minister.

The minister says that every single person who works for the visa application centre, as well as those who are subcontracted, is vetted by the government. We learned that subcontractors owned by the Beijing police are hired by the subcontractor, and they're not vetted by the federal government.

We now learn that 86% of the staff being hired by the subcontractor doing VAC services work for Canada are owned by the Chinese police. In what world would having 86% of the staff who are employed by an arm of the police and are receiving the kind of sensitive information that VACs handle be a good idea? And this on top of the fact that the chair of that company is the party secretary and the general manager is the deputy party secretary. The truth is the entire structure stinks. This is a huge conflict of interest for the safety of applicants.

The minister keeps saying that he's sure about the VACs' security, yet the entire structure is fundamentally flawed. Given what has been uncovered, is the minister still confident about this structure or will he do something about it? If he's going to give me the same answer that he has been giving to committee members in this meeting and the last meeting, he can say that he is comfortable with it so I can move on to my next question.

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

Ms. Kwan, I will reiterate that I understand and appreciate your concerns. I am confident in the protocols that we have put in place to manage the risks that exist in foreign environments, including in China.

I am here to explain and to shed light on how those risks are managed. The screening and the vetting, which are undertaken by our contractors, ensures that there is a standard that is applied uniformly across government to the reliability status.

As I have explained, we do not just stop there. We also ensure that in the visa application centres themselves there are rigorous security measures to closely surveil and scrutinize the work that is undertaken by our contracted employees, including the uploading of sensitive information, as part of our visa application process.

I hope that you will appreciate that we have eyes wide open on this issue. We will continue to manage these risks carefully going forward, and take whatever steps are necessary to protect the integrity of our immigration system.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

The minister said “eyes wide open”, but I am not assured at all. Given the structure of the system, it gives me grave concerns. I believe Canadians share those concerns.

In the United States, Mr. Dix advised there is no visa application centre in China. He told the committee that they would accept applications directly at diplomatic missions rather than using visa application centres so that they don't actually have to rely on a company that is hired and operated by the Chinese government.

Is the government still considering outsourcing this work?

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

Ms. Kwan, we have an arrangement that other Five Eyes allies, partners, are also engaged with. Like them, we ensure that there is a very rigorous procurement process led by PSPC, which closely examines corporate security, ownership and structure, to identify and relate to the issues that you have pointed out. It also requires that there is vetting of the individuals who work on our behalf in the contractual relationship. We continue to monitor compliance of these contractual arrangements with audits. We will continue to deploy those protocols to protect the integrity of our immigration system.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Only if it meets the satisfaction of the CCP because they approve who gets hired. That is the reality, Minister. I hope the minister realizes that.

On a different issue, the government's approach to the crisis in Hong Kong has so far been economic instead of humanitarian. In fact, Hong Kongers approved under the new work permit stream first need to get job offers before they are allowed to come to Canada, under the current restrictions. New legislation expected to pass in Hong Kong that will allow the government to deny people boarding, without providing any reason, is going to happen very quickly.

Will the minister quickly put in place a refugee stream for the people of Hong Kong who are abroad?

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

As I said last time, I'm open to continuing to work with you on how to put in place the best policies to strengthen the ties between Canada and Hong Kong.

You're quite right that when we announced the Hong Kong initiative, there was an economic focus to attract the young and talented graduates to come and help us with our economy.

I would also point out that we have in place existing family reunification pathways. We introduced two important protections to protect those exercising their right to peaceful protest.