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
We will now move to Ms. Normandin.
Ms. Normandin, you have two and a half minutes for your round of questioning.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I'd like to come back to an issue brought up at the beginning that is also part of our study, namely, international students.
I have heard the numbers. They said that 100% of rejected applications had initially been approved by the Quebec government. The federal government rejected 77% of the applications from certain countries.
Is it fair to say that the federal government is hurting Quebec's desire to have a qualified workforce that is educated here?
I'd like to hear some comments on this.
President, Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l’immigration
Thank you for the question.
They are two separate things. That's not 100% accurate.
However, we have a problem indeed if 10% of study permits granted are for Quebec, while Quebec makes up 25% of the population.
To apply federally for a study permit, you must first have a Quebec acceptance certificate, or CAQ. Therefore, you absolutely need Quebec government approval.
Because the Canadian government doesn't accept all applicants who have Quebec government approval, it means that more of them should probably be accepted.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
That brings me to my next question: what could the federal government do to support Quebec's efforts to retain these students?
Often, the federal government will not grant permits for fear that students will not return to their country once they have finished their studies. But Quebec wants them to stay.
What could the federal government do to better align itself with what Quebec wants when it comes to international students?
President, Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l’immigration
It could do the same as we do with dual intent. We need to accept that people have the dual intent to get an education and obtain permanent residency. Quebec has selection programs for its local workers and students. The Quebec experience program comes to mind. If we accept that a Quebec graduate can obtain a Quebec selection certificate, we must accept that they will inevitably become a permanent resident.
Much like we are amending subsection 179(b), we should also change our approach to our foreign students and workers so they can come out and say they want to obtain permanent residence and the Quebec selection certificate.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
I know I don't have much time left, but I'm going to ask another question anyway.
Should we make it easier for people who are here on a study permit to get a work permit, especially in the context of the pandemic, when students may not be able to study?
President, Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l’immigration
During the COVID-19 crisis, IRCC lifted the 20 hour per week cap for those who work while they are in school. That could be reviewed. Some international students need money and have to work a bit more. As long as you make your studies your main occupation, you could work more without necessarily—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Sorry for interrupting, Mr. Cliche-Rivard, but the time is up. We will have to move to our next person.
Ms. Kwan, you have two and a half minutes for your round of questioning.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to ask Mr. Waldman a question relating to the parents and grandparents sponsorship program. The government has reverted back to a lottery system after 10 months of people waiting. From that perspective, many people were impacted, and already, as it is, the processing is going to be delayed. I wonder whether or not the government should change the program entirely and simply allow people to apply for parent and grandparent sponsorship, and process them in the order in which they come in, instead of using a quota, which is the way it's being done right now.
Lawyer, Waldman & Associates, As an Individual
Well, I agree with you that the system has to be changed. I'd have to think about whether the idea you proposed would be the best solution. You have to recall that when we had that type of system years ago, the backlogs got to be so huge that people would file their sponsorship and it would take two years for them to be processed, and then another four or five years for the parents' applications to be processed overseas, so there was delay built into the system.
Let me just say that there are better ways of doing it. As Mr. Sharma suggested, there are ways of doing weighted lotteries. There are also other things that could be done. We have to be creative, because the reality is that there's more of a demand for parents and grandparents to be sponsored than there are spaces in the system. There are other options. For example, we could create special types of visas. We could create a special work permit type of visa for parents to come to Canada to take care of their grandchildren, which would allow them to get into the health care system and allow them to be here but not be permanent residents. We have to be creative in finding solutions that allow us to get our parents and grandparents into Canada but without that filling the whole immigration quotas.
I agree with you that it's a problem. I don't think what the government did was right. It was disappointing. They should have come up with some more innovative solutions. Hopefully, next year, they will.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Yes, or alternatively, they could put more resources into IRCC to process and to set standards in processing so that people don't have to wait five years or 10 years to actually get their applications processed.
I want to quickly turn to another issue, and this is with the graduate students whose work permits are about to expire now. They are—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Sorry, Ms. Kwan, your time is up. Sorry for interrupting.
We will end the second round.
Because of the time constraints, we will have Mr. Hallan and Mr. Dhaliwal for two and a half minutes each, and then we will end today's panel.
Mr. Hallan, you are next. You have two and a half minutes. The floor is yours.
Conservative
Jasraj Singh Hallan Conservative Calgary Forest Lawn, AB
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to pose an open question to each of the witnesses. As I said before, we heard from the Liberal government that 1.2 million immigrants is its quota to meet over the next three years. Given that there's a pandemic and that we see processing offices all over the world shut down and that biometrics aren't able to be done and medicals are delayed, what does each of you think about whether this quota seems realistic? Does it just seem out to lunch?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Mr. Hallan, who are you directing the question to?
Okay. It's to Mr. Cliche-Rivard.
President, Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l’immigration
I agree, and I think we have many workers here who could be regularized. I think if we expanded the pandemic program and the guardian angel program, if we could include more NOC on it, if it were not limited to the health sector and it included more people, I think we would get to our targets if we regularized more people who we already have here.
Thank you.
Conservative
Lawyer, Waldman & Associates, As an Individual
I agree with that. It seems obvious that the only way we're going to be able to meet our quota for 2021 is by looking at the resources in Canada, regardless of whether they're in status or out of status. If they're working and they're contributing, we should be encouraging them to apply and facilitating their immigration to Canada.
Managing Partner, Stewart Sharma Harsanyi, As an Individual
I would agree with Mr. Waldman and Mr. Cliche-Rivard. It's low-hanging fruit, in that they're already here. Processing in Canada is relatively unaffected, as opposed to processing in other countries. Prioritize everyone who is here first.
I don't know whether the targets can be hit or not. I'm not a policy guy, and I'm not within the department, but I think it's certainly possible. There's certainly great potential to prioritize those individuals who are already our neighbours and are already contributing toward this society.
Conservative
Jasraj Singh Hallan Conservative Calgary Forest Lawn, AB
Ms. Valois, what are your thoughts on that?
Administrator, Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l’immigration
I totally agree. For example, the pandemic worker program was not enforced. We have lots of clients who are ready to apply for permanent residency on that basis. We're still waiting for the program to start.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you, Ms. Valois.
Mr. Hallan, your time is up.
Mr. Dhaliwal, you will be the last person. The floor is yours for two and a half minutes.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Saroya said that we have top knowledge on this panel here. I won't be able to explain the mess Jason Kenney created over the years when he was the immigration minister, and is creating now as the premier of Alberta. I am getting hundreds of calls from there. However, I want to tell you what the Liberal government has done. In the parental category, the wait time was reduced from 72 months to 22 months. For the spousal cases, it went from 24 months to under 12 months. As well, 26% of the migration we got came as family class. If we look at temporary workers, 75,000 temporary workers were given a path to immigration, which comes to 22%.
Instead of answering my questions now, I would ask the panel members if they could provide us with some tangible input on how we can improve on, number one, the PGP. We talked about the weighted draw. I'm wondering what thoughts Mr. Waldman and Mr. Sharma have on that so that we can put them into the report. The second one is about a clear pathway to permanent residency, because there is also a petition going on now.
On those two issues, I would like to hear from both Mr. Sharma and Mr. Waldman on what can be done. If they can't cover it in two and a half minutes, I would like them to present it in written form.
