Evidence of meeting #4 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 applications.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Yes. That's one meeting. We will schedule one hour for the minister's appearance, followed by one hour for the officials.
Liberal
Marc Serré Liberal Nickel Belt, ON
Are you aware of any other ministers coming three times to a committee in the last three months? That's really good.
Liberal
Liberal
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Madam Chair, maybe Dean could beg a cookie or two for him. That's always appreciated.
Conservative
Dean Allison Conservative Niagara West, ON
It'll be a burger. It'll be a burger, Geoff.
Madam Chair, I just want to go back to Madame Martinez Ferrada's point. It's a terrible time slot, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., given the fact that a lot of votes have been happening at 3 o'clock. I would just say that we may need to adjust our schedules accordingly and plan to go to 6:30 p.m. It may end up being 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
I realize that the committees get in the habit of blocking times, but she has a bang-on point. We're going to have a lot of votes, and they seem to be at 3 o'clock. I say, just as a caution, for us as members to plan accordingly. Also, if you can get ahead of it, Madam Chair, to figure out that witnesses may need to be bumped, we'll have to adjust our schedules accordingly.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you, Mr. Allison. This is the agreement that I think all of the whips have arrived at, based on the availability of the rooms, keeping in mind the time differences in different provinces.
The spot that CIMM has been given is for 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. I know, based on my personal experience in five years, what can happen, especially as we are coming to where we rise for the winter break.
We will see as we go what we can do because extending the meeting depends on the availability of the rooms, and because of this pandemic, the staff need extra time to clean the rooms. They need at least one hour before there can be another meeting. We will keep that in mind, and we will go every week and go by the day.
Is there anything else that anyone wants to add?
I will sum up the discussion that we had. We don't have unanimous consent to proceed with the meeting on November 13, so we will not have that. We will schedule our meetings as of November 16. Today we will not have the first panel, but we will have the second panel. The room is available from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. We will reschedule the first panel.
The minister will be appearing before the committee for the main estimates and the supplementary estimates on November 25.
If there is no business, we will suspend and resume following the of the votes.
Liberal
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Madam Chair, before we suspend, are the link to check back into this committee and the password the same, or will we get a new link?
Liberal
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Leif-Erik Aune
The link that you have should allow you to re-access the Zoom call after you leave it—it's the same link, same password.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you, Mr. Clerk.
We will meet at 3 p.m. after the completion of the votes.
Thank you. The meeting is suspended.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I call meeting number four of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration to order.
First of all, I want to thank the witnesses who are appearing before the committee today as we do our important study on the impact of COVID-19 on the immigration system. On behalf of the committee members, I just want to apologize to our witnesses for the scheduling issues. Because of the vote, we had to reschedule from 2 o'clock to 3 o'clock, so thanks for your understanding and for being flexible.
I welcome our three witnesses who are appearing before us today.
The first witness is Mr. Raj Sharma, managing partner at Stewart Sharma Harsanyi. Our second witness, also appearing as an individual, is Lorne Waldman, a lawyer with Waldman & Associates. We also have the Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l'immigration, represented by Mr. Cliche-Rivard, president, and Stéphanie Valois, administrator.
I welcome all the witnesses, who will each be given five minutes for their opening remarks, and then we will move to our round of questions.
With that, I would request that our first witness, Mr. Sharma, please start.
Mr. Sharma, the floor is yours.
Raj Sharma Managing Partner, Stewart Sharma Harsanyi, As an Individual
Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members. It's my pleasure to appear before this committee again and to speak to you regarding the impact of COVID-19 on our immigration system.
COVID-19 has caused an unprecedented disruption to our immigration system. It is something completely new and completely unexpected, and it has impacted almost every line of business at IRCC.
IRCC was caught flat-footed, as were we all. Hundreds if not thousands of immigration and visa officers had to stop working or start working remotely. Visitor visa applications, biometrics, and medical examinations were all essentially eliminated for weeks and months. Visa application centres were shut down. Families have been separated, whether by borders or travel logistics or other conditions in other countries. Citizenship ceremonies and landings for permanent residents were put off. Language schools and other designated learning institutions are on tenterhooks. Thousands of international students are still trying to navigate this new landscape. There are significant delays in processing submitted applications including those submitted electronically for individuals within Canada. They are in limbo. One example of an impact is how this is affecting these individuals' eligibility for health coverage, even though they have what's called “implied status” in Canada. There was and continues to be massive uncertainty as immigration policy is being made almost daily via websites.
There are promising signs on the horizon, however. COVID-19 has led to changes in the way we hear cases. The Immigration and Refugee Board is Canada's largest administrative tribunal and it has a tradition of innovation and evolution. At the beginning of this pandemic, eligibility determinations, refugee hearings and appeals were cancelled and delayed. This included sponsorship appeals, which added to the grief and anxiety of those affected by the pandemic.
However, hearings have resumed, with health and safety protocols, at the refugee protection division, and most appeals at the immigration appeal division will be done remotely. All divisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board will need continued support. Eliminating in-person attendance could lead to a cascade of savings and increase access to justice.
COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of front-line workers. During this pandemic we continue to exploit and put migrant agricultural workers and new immigrants in harm's way. Persons of colour and new immigrants are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 because they are also disproportionately on the front lines as health care workers and essential workers in transit and in meat and agricultural processing. These workers are not disposable. There should be greater employment mobility and a clear pathway to permanent residency for all essential and front-line workers irrespective of whether they are in so-called low-skill jobs. This change can be made easily through expanding the existing express entry system.
COVID-19 has taught us the importance of family reunification. The family class for parents and grandparents was slated to open in April and it was delayed. We were looking forward to this newest iteration of the program. It was, unfortunately, a little disappointing. It's a simple lottery draw, and one simple change could improve the program.
Last month I was on a CBC call-in show and Frasier, a big-game hunter from Lac La Biche, called in. He wasn't affected by the program, but he called in to tell us that if you're unsuccessful in requesting a big game hunting licence or a tag in a given year, you can build priority points so that when you try again, you can have a higher chance of being picked. This is someone who listened in for just five or 10 minutes, but who was able to identify a solution, the weighted draw. A weighted draw should merit serious consideration for the next iteration of the parents and grandparents family class. Further, if we do want increased numbers, then we should consider increasing the age limit of accompanying dependants, which at present is set at a hard 22.
Crises can reveal not only existing shortcomings but also opportunities to accelerate change already in progress. IRCC has made great strides with electronic applications, and these should continue. Wet signatures and paper applications should not be required in 2020 and beyond. Hopefully there will be a silver lining, in the form of further common sense and logical enhancements to immigration processing, to this pandemic, which has wreaked so much devastation around the world.
Thank you for this work. I think there is great value in continued consultations with stakeholders. We can work together to increase value, decrease cost and identify and resolve inefficiencies.
Thank you. I look forward to answering any questions the committee may have.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you, Mr. Sharma.
Now we will move to our next witness, Mr. Waldman.
Mr. Waldman, welcome. The floor is yours. You have five minutes for your opening remarks.
Mr. Waldman.
Lorne Waldman Lawyer, Waldman & Associates, As an Individual
Honourable committee members, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to appear before the committee.
The COVID pandemic has had a dramatic impact on all aspects of immigration program delivery and the clients served by the program. Foreign nationals in Canada are often facing lengthy delays and separations from their family members. Canadian citizens who are in relationships with foreign nationals find themselves separated from their partners at a time when they need their emotional support. IRCC must protect the safety of its employees and of Canadians by ensuring that the people who enter Canada do not pose a risk of bringing COVID into the country, but they must at the same time take into account the emotional needs of the Canadian citizens and foreign nationals who are in the country.
With this in mind, I have a few suggestions. First, IRCC should facilitate the reunification of partners and spouses of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are being separated as a result of COVID. The pandemic has dramatically increased the processing time for spousal sponsorships, because immigration officers overseas are either closed or working at limited capacity. I'm aware that IRCC recently sent out instructions to visa officers to take into account dual intent, that you could be applying for a visa to come and visit your spouse and at the same time be sponsored by your spouse, but this doesn't go far enough, in my view. It still leaves a lot of discretion in the hands of visa officers to refuse visas and possibilities of coming into Canada of spouses who are being separated. Visa officers should be instructed to issue visas to spouses or partners of Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are seeking to be reunited with their spouses in Canada unless there are concerns that the person applying might be inadmissible.
Second, IRCC has recognized that although Canada needs to ensure it has sufficient immigrants to foster economic growth, and has set an ambitious quota for 2021, it will be extremely difficult for Canada to admit a large number of immigrants from outside of Canada due to the difficulties associated with processing applications during COVID. Minister Mendicino is indicating that he would consider programs to facilitate immigration for people already in Canada. I urge the committee to encourage the minister to aggressively consider this option. There are many non-immigrants in Canada who have the skills to be able to contribute to the economy. Indeed, many of them are already contributing. We should welcome these people who are contributing, regardless of their immigration status. I am well aware that officials in the past have resisted any kind of program that would allow for adjustment of status of asylum seekers or people without status, but given the current situation, given the contribution that foreign nationals are making now as many front-line workers, it is in the best interest of Canada, and would be a humane response, to give a pathway to permanent residence to people already in Canada who have shown that they are able to successfully establish themselves regardless of their status.
Third, to pick up on something the previous speaker said, I urge the committee to encourage IRCC and CBSA to enter the 21st century by further digitalizing the application process. COVID has forced us all to change how we operate. Until COVID, I filed paper copies of all records in Federal Court and submitted many of my applications to IRCC by paper processing. COVID has forced us all to adapt. I now do all possible filing electronically. To its credit, IRCC has been innovative in how it has responded to COVID, but much more can be done to digitalize the immigration process. Some of the changes forced on us by COVID have been positive, but there are still too many applications that IRCC requires us to file through paper application. IRCC must be encouraged to expand digitalization to ensure that the application process can be more efficient.
I look forward to answering any further questions you might have. Thank you for your attention.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you, Mr. Waldman.
We will now go to Mr. Cliche-Rivard.
Mr. Cliche-Rivard, will you be sharing your time with Ms. Valois? Okay.
You have five minutes for your opening remarks.
Guillaume Cliche-Rivard President, Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l’immigration
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I would first like to start by thanking the committee for this invitation. We hope it will be the start of a long history of working together.
The Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l'immigration, or AQAADI, is a group of close to 400 lawyers who practise in all areas of immigration law, including refugee protection, and economic, family and humanitarian immigration.
Since 1991, so for almost 30 years, AQAADI has been taking a stand and intervening before various parliamentary commissions, but also before the Superior Court of Quebec, the federal courts and the Supreme Court of Canada. AQAADI is at the heart of all immigration discussions, and the various media constantly solicit its opinion.
As president of the association and on behalf of our vice-president of the humanitarian and refugee component, who is with me today, thank you for this opportunity to speak with you today.
First, I will talk about the problems with visas, mainly study permits, for people from French-speaking Africa.
I wish to raise before the committee the serious discrepancies in approval rates for temporary visa applications, such as study permits, work permits, or visitor visas, which affect people from French-speaking Africa, particularly those from the Maghreb.
This is what our access-to-information requests have allowed us to confirm for 2019. First of all, 77% of applications for study permits from Algeria were refused, while 93% of those submitted by citizens of France were accepted. The refusal rate was 36% for India and 15% for China. In contrast, the refusal rate was 44% for Morocco, 75% for Senegal, 86% for Chad, and so on.
As you know, many of these students are considering coming to Quebec and must first obtain a certificate of acceptance from that province. The Quebec immigration authorities, namely the Quebec department of immigration, francization and integration, have chosen to accept these future students in the province. In 100% of the cases, these students were chosen by Quebec. However, subsequently, a very large proportion of these applications for study permits are rejected by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or by embassies abroad.
In March 2020, it was reported that only 10% of those who obtain a study permit go to Quebec, even though Quebec represents about 25% of the Canadian population. We are losing out and this situation must be remedied as quickly as possible so that Quebec receives its fair share of student immigration.
I will now turn things over to Ms. Valois.
