Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 21st, 2021

Evidence of meeting #37 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was communities.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Economic Imperative and Long-Term Importance for Small Rural Municipalities Outside of Major Cities to Retain New Immigrants

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Andrea Wilkey Executive Director, Community Futures Central Kootenay

Erin Rooney Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Manager, Community Futures Central Kootenay

Syed Hussan Executive Director, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Agop Evereklian Business Development and International Relations Advisor, As an Individual

Leah Nord Senior Director, Workforce Strategies and Inclusive Growth, Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Clerk of the Committee Mr. Leif-Erik Aune

Tareq Hadhad Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Peace by Chocolate Inc.

Joel Blit Professor of Economics, University of Waterloo, As an Individual

5:45 p.m.

Executive Director, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Syed Hussan

Absolutely. Let's start from the beginning.

With regard to doing an English language test, your employer won't give you time off. We are trying to prepare farm workers across the country to do these exams. We have to ship them IELTS practice books, because they don't have computers to even log in to take the English exam. They don't have computers, which means they can't download PDFs. They can't apply online. There is no ability to access apps. The employers are essentially not giving them.... These people are working 17-hour days and sometimes they're in the height of the season, so how are they going to be able to access these permanent residency programs?

As you know, the temporary foreign worker program allows employers to have workers work for three months without a single day off. That is the federal contract that Canada has agreed to. That is happening right now. People are working seven days a week, full time, and there is no infrastructure. People can't even take a bus or a cab to be able to go to classes, and there are no English-language classes running on Sunday nights for people to practise then.

The language requirement and the lack of access to technology mean that a very specific type of person is able to access these programs, and employers are making them compete with each other.

5:45 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Should the government waive all of these extra requirements then?

5:45 p.m.

Executive Director, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Syed Hussan

Absolutely.

I think we have to understand that permanent resident status is the mechanism through which people access rights. If people's access rights are being denied, we simply can't have a fair society. It's not possible to have a fair society in which 1.6 million people, one in 23 people, don't have permanent resident status. That's just a fact.

5:45 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

One issue people are concerned about is that even those who have managed to apply are worried that with the processing time, they might run out.... That is to say, they will lose their status because their employment will have ended.

What are your thoughts on that?

5:45 p.m.

Executive Director, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Syed Hussan

It's already happening to dozens of people. There are no bridging work permits. You apply for the program. You're waiting. I told the story about the worker—

5:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid

You have 10 seconds left.

5:45 p.m.

Executive Director, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Syed Hussan

—whose employer rescinded their nomination, and the worker wasn't able to maintain their status.

We're seeing this across the country already. More people are going to become undocumented, and undocumented people are being excluded from rights and protections. That is not the way to build a transformative society outside of COVID-19. It's just a remake of the old....

5:50 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Should the government—

5:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid

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

This round of questioning has come to an end.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our witnesses for being patient and understanding. I'm sorry for the delayed start. We had to interrupt the meeting because of the votes.

If there are certain things you want to bring to the committee's attention that you were not able to raise today because of the lack of time, because we didn't go into a full round of questioning, you can always send a written submission to the clerk of the committee. That information will be circulated to all members. You have that opportunity to flag something for the committee.

I see a hand raised by Ms. Kwan.

5:50 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I wonder whether Mr. Syed Hussan could provide to the committee information about the problems related to the bridging work permit and what the government should do on that. I say this to the other witnesses as well.

5:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid

I just said to all of the witnesses that if they want to provide any information on any issues they were not able to discuss today, they could send their written submissions to the clerk of the committee. Once the clerk receives those, they will be circulated to all members.

With that, I want to thank all of the witnesses for appearing before the committee and providing important information.

It was good to hear from Madame Normandin that, like me, she has a sweet tooth.

Thank you, everyone. Have a great evening. Sorry for the late start, once again.

The meeting is now adjourned.