Citizenship and Immigration Committee on April 26th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Mr. Regan.

We will now proceed to Madam Normandin.

You will have two minutes for your round of questions. You can please proceed.

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

My question is for Ms. Lehal, but then I'll have another one for Mr. Couturier and Mr. Chambers.

Ms. Lehal, foreign workers are somewhat limited when it comes to training since they only have a work permit, not a study permit, which prevents them from upgrading their skills and gaining easier access to permanent residence.

Should we make it easier for them to access training?

[Kamaljit Lehal]

I would say they should be encouraged, especially since many of the pathways require, for example, a certain level of English, which I have concerns with because I'm not sure if those levels of English are required in any event. However, if that is going to be a criterion at some level, then why not encourage these workers to take on English courses or some other training that will increase their skill sets and benefit Canada even further?

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

Thank you very much.

Mr. Couturier, people sometimes tell us that one of their workers is exceptional and that they'd like to offer him the opportunity to work in another position. If the worker doesn't have all the qualifications, they can't train him.

Would making it easier for workers to access training be helpful for employers?

[Cyr Couturier]

I can answer that quickly.

Yes, in actual fact, CAHRC already has partnerships with certain sectors of the agricultural industry, whereby the employer can provide that training, in many different languages, to their employees, whether they're temporary foreign workers or working towards a pathway to permanency. We need to build upon that aspect and provide that—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Can you please more your microphone closer to your mouth?

[Cyr Couturier]

I'm sorry again.

Yes, we already had those sorts of tools available through CAHRC for farmers to upgrade the skills of and provide those skills to their employees, whether Canadian or not, and to help them move up. This is available in some commodities in the Canadian agriculture sector. We need to expand that program, for sure.

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

Mr. Chambers, do you have anything to add?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Ms. Normandin. Your time is up.

We will now proceed to Ms. Kwan.

Ms. Kwan, you will have two minutes for your round of questioning. Please proceed.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I only have two minutes left, so I'm going to give my time to Vilma to finish up her presentation, because I think she had other points that she didn't get a chance to make.

[Vilma Pagaduan]

I also would like to recommend that IRCC develop an online application system for the caregiver program. It will be a lot easier. They could have an AOR right away and hopefully receive an open work permit as soon as the application is open.

Caregivers outside of Canada must have an open work permit, and the processing time should be less than a year—approximately six months is my recommendation—so that they can have a life here in Canada as soon as possible.

Also, we have an issue with the mail, because so many applications are being lost. If IRCC had a global case management system whereby IRCC staff working from home had access to the database wherever they are in Canada....

Also, there are IRCC officers with inconsistent positions on applications. There are many health caregivers who have taken the exam several times and cannot apply for PR because they do not meet the English language requirement. Most IRCC officers nowadays, during the pandemic, have been refusing the applications and sending them directly to the H and C office in Vancouver.

Before the pandemic, caregivers with a language problem were applying for PR with a submission, and most officers considered the application and sent it to London. Most of our applicants were okay; they got their PR applications approved. Nowadays, however, during the pandemic, officers forward their applications to H and C.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

You have 10 seconds.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I just want to say thank you to all the presenters. I think what we need to do, from the government side, is make some substantive changes and really recognize the value of these temporary foreign workers, especially the caregivers, and give them landed status upon arrival.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan.

Thanks to all the witnesses for providing important input to the study we have undertaken. If there is anything you would like to submit in writing, if you were not able to discuss it today because of the lack of time, you can always do so. You can send your written submission to the clerk of the committee, and it will be circulated to all the members.

On behalf of all the members, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for giving us the time.

I see a hand raised by Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, before we adjourn I wonder whether you can advise committee members when we will be looking at the report for the Hong Kong study. We have done and completed that work already, so we should actually get on to writing the report. I see that it is not in the updated schedule that we just received. Before we slot too many other witnesses into the LMIA/caregiver study, could you advise when we will be studying the report and completing that time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I thank all the witnesses for appearing.

Before we adjourn, I would like to provide a clarification in respect to the question raised by Ms. Kwan.

We will be receiving the draft report on the Hong Kong measures on May 14. That is the date the analysts have given to us, when the draft report will be circulated to all the members.

Once the report is done, we will schedule a meeting to go through consideration of the draft report. I will work on that basis. It was not started because we are waiting for the draft report. Once we have it, this will definitely be put into the calendar.

With this, today's meeting comes to an end.

If it is the will of the committee, we will adjourn the meeting.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, could I ask one other thing?

One of our witnesses, Ms. Pagaduan, actually asked a number of questions. They pertained to IRCC.

Is it possible for committee members to receive those answers as we consider the work of this study?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I will ask the clerk. Is that possible?

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

If I understand correctly, Ms. Kwan, are you asking if the questions raised by Ms. Pagaduan will be responded to by IRCC, and the responses provided to the committee?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes. Could we submit those questions to IRCC, so we can get the responses to the questions she raised as we consider the study?

[The Clerk]

I would propose that once the blues for today's meetings are published, I can extract the questions raised by Ms. Pagaduan and bring them to your attention. If you're in agreement with the wording, then I would be happy to forward them to IRCC and ask if it would provide written responses to the committee.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

That would be fantastic. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Ms. Kwan, thanks for raising this question. I will get clarification on whether that is possible and whether witnesses can request that the IRCC provide some information. I will definitely look into it and provide further clarification when we meet next time.

The meeting is adjourned.