Madam Chair, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s supplementary estimates (A) include only a re‑profiled amount of $24.5M for interim lodging services.
Madam Chair, I want to assure you that Canada will continue to do its part in leading way in world refugee resettlement. We've held that number one spot for the last three years. Throughout the past year, settlement providers have shown incredible resilience and ingenuity in working with my department and retooling their operations so they can continue to help those fleeing war and persecution. Indeed, as my colleague and friend Filippo Grandi often said, Canada was “a bright light in a horrible year”.
Before I conclude, I want to take a moment to emphasize the incredible role played by newcomers in helping Canada to get through the pandemic. In our health care system, over one in three doctors, pharmacists and nurses aides is an immigrant, but it's more than just that. From asylum seekers working on the front lines of long-term care homes to temporary foreign workers saving Nova Scotia's lobster season, we owe newcomers so much. We're doing more than expressing our thanks. With a variety of initiatives, which I've highlighted, we're demonstrating it.
Madam Chair, it goes without saying that the past year has been a tempest for many people. Yet with the arrival of vaccines, the storm is breaking, and there is indeed hope on the horizon. I'm proud of how well we've adapted and innovated over the past year, and I look forward to doing more on immigration, as it will play a vital role in Canada's economic recovery and long-term prosperity.
I look forward to taking your questions and continuing to work with all members of this committee, indeed all parliamentarians, as we achieve that vision.
Thank you, Madam Chair.