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.