Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 12th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

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

We will now proceed to Mr. Saroya.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to Madam Jarvis and Mr. Mills. I've been dealing with you for the last five years on and off, and you've always been gracious, and I hear the best from your side.

The student stream was filled up within 24 hours. There were 40,000 applications. Am I correct that it was done within 24 hours? That's what we call low-hanging fruit. These are the young and the educated, and they speak the languages. I think we should look more into these students.

Madam Jarvis, on another question, each application costs $1,000. A number of people who are qualified were left behind due to the language testing. The language schools are all closed and nothing is available. They couldn't apply for it because there was no language test available. They didn't apply for it because they didn't want to lose a thousand bucks.

Is there any other way? Is there any incentive for them to apply tomorrow under either of the two streams that are available? They're qualified, and it's not their fault. It's just either that the department overlooked this situation.... What is your opinion on it?

[Marian Campbell Jarvis]

With respect to the language test, we know the capacity and we know that over 100,000 tests have been booked recently. I would say that, for international students, certainly it would always be an asset to have that language result under their belt. Language test results are valid for two years and that would facilitate their application through many of the other pathways and economic streams that are available, in addition to the special TR to PR pathway.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

My next question comes from the Canadian Franchise Association. They knew you were coming and this is what they asked me to ask you.

During COVID-19, hospitality workers have been there for Canadians. People getting back from long shifts are travelling in subways or on buses; they're taking a risk to serve Canadians. Hospitality workers, just like other essential workers, are out there serving Canadians during the lockdown.

Why did the government choose not to include hospitality in the essential non-health care stream?

[Marian Campbell Jarvis]

The essential workers stream is quite open. The language level is CLB 4, which makes it fairly accessible, and there's a huge range of occupations. In addition, with the way the hours are calculated, many seasonal agricultural workers could actually be eligible. For example, if they've earned the equivalent of one year of experience over multiple seasons, they may be eligible.

It is the same for part-time workers. The requirements for this pathway are not restricted to full-time workers. It's open to seasonal and part-time workers, and the requirement is to meet that one year of experience over the last three years. The pathway is fairly open and facilitative to support the different range of economic positions.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

I'll go back to the construction workers who are in the system. I met a Portuguese lawyer who has represented a number of people. They have people who have been working under the table for 25 years—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Mr. Saroya, but your time is up.

Ms. Dhillon, you have five minutes.

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

Madam Chair, on a point of order, I have other things scheduled. Could you give me an idea how much longer this committee meeting will run?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

It runs until 6:30 p.m.

Ms. Dhillon, sorry for the interruption. Please proceed.

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

It's not a problem.

My question is for either one of our witnesses.

Can you please explain why people who intend to settle in Quebec are ineligible to apply to this program?

Have you discussed this issue with Quebec when you were setting up the program?

[Marian Campbell Jarvis]

Thank you for the question.

Quebec is, of course, aware of the program. As we know, Quebec has its own areas of jurisdiction, especially when it comes to economic programs, and that's why this special program is offered outside of Quebec.

Allow me to highlight an important criterion for the program.

People must have the intent to reside outside Quebec.

Therefore, it is clear to Quebec that the program is aimed at the other provinces.

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

Okay.

Can you please tell us if Quebec was given the opportunity to opt in?

[Marian Campbell Jarvis]

Certainly, if it was of interest to Quebec, that is something that could be explored. We work very closely with our colleagues in the Quebec ministry. We keep them apprised of our developments, and we work very closely with them on their priorities.

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

Thank you, that's perfect.

Some Quebeckers are worried that this new program will slow down processing times for applications from qualified workers in Quebec.

Will it have a negative impact on processing times?

[Marian Campbell Jarvis]

Thank you for the question.

I will turn to my colleague, Mr. Mills so that he can provide an answer.

[Daniel Mills]

We are actively processing files for qualified workers in Quebec. We handled more than 7,500 applications for the Quebec qualified workers class between January and April. I can assure you we are giving this our full attention. We will continue to process applications with the same speed.

We are currently on the way to hitting the targets that were set. We are working very hard on this. There's no need to worry, the resources won't be going anywhere.

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

Thank you, Mr. Mills.

You stated you had scanned many files.

Can you tell the members of the committee what impact this will have on file processing, especially the files of qualified workers selected by Quebec?

[Daniel Mills]

Thank you for the question.

As I stated earlier, in terms of scanning the files for qualified workers in Quebec, we have a contract with an organization that will provide the service. We sent out more than 10,000 applications to be scanned. We have received 2,700 digitized applications up until now, and we expect to receive others over the next few weeks.

That will allow us to have a decent amount of digitized files which will help us with the processing...

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Mr. Mills. The time is up for Ms. Dhillon.

We will now proceed to our third round of questioning, and we will start with Mr. Allison.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I want to go back to what Mr. Saroya was saying in terms of availability under the essential worker category, Ms. Jarvis. Did I hear you say that there was the ability for food service people?

I see a category of labourers in food and beverage processing. I'm not sure if that's the category or if there is something more specific for hospitality and restaurants in that second category of essential.

[Marian Campbell Jarvis]

The occupations set out were very carefully calibrated against labour market information. We had to find that balance between recognizing the occupations that were absolutely essential and critical over the course of the pandemic and recognizing that people who were already employed would be able to apply. At the same time, we wanted to assure Canadians who have been hard hit with unemployment rates across the country over the course of the pandemic that this wouldn't be a displacement, but, in fact, a reinforcement. That's the very careful balance that went into the thinking behind this measure.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Thank you. That's fair enough.

My original question was asked by one of my colleagues, Mr. Seeback, in terms of there not having been as much uptake, obviously, as the student program. Do you have any thoughts as to why that may be the case? I guess maybe people aren't actually in the country who have the ability; they're already applying through other programs. Is there any thought process on that? I know that the student one is a particularly large one because they don't quite have the experience they need and this works out well. I know that they're trying to look at other methods, either through management or whatever the case may be. Do you have any thoughts on maybe why there hasn't been the same kind of uptake in the first two programs?

[Marian Campbell Jarvis]

The uptake may be a more gradual trajectory as people learn about it, as they hear about it. For example, our experience in the agricultural pilot was that it took a little bit of time for some uptake there. For most of the pilots when we try something new or leading edge, it can take a bit more time. Caregivers are the exception; there's been a really strong demand right from the outset. However, with regard to the other pilots, we see a more gradual ramp-up. I think that's the same here. It's still early days, and as people have the time to hear about it and put together their applications, I think we're going to see a stronger uptake as time goes on.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Sure. That makes sense. I guess the program is open until November—I read that somewhere.

It is interesting because students are always talking to each other. There are a hundred different ways they're always trying to figure out how to get in, so it makes sense that students intuitively would always be aware of that program up front. I could see why that would have filled up fairly quickly.

I'm grateful for some of the categories. There's certainly a fairly broad range under “essential”, so I commend them for that. I just hope that as you make recommendations, should this happen in the future, we could look at maybe expanding some of the categories and looking for other ways. I always love to see when we're talking about essential workers. We've heard a lot during our study on temporary foreign workers about the issues in food processing. I see they're in there; that's a category. I really do appreciate that.

If it wasn't filled up by the other two categories, would you consider—or is that a ministerial decision—expanding the student program?

[Marian Campbell Jarvis]

Indeed, that is likely a ministerial question.