Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 30th, 2020

[Armelle Mara]

Thank you for that other question.

The system works for us because we're in Canada and in Quebec. We were accepted by Quebec. Is it normal that I, as a francophone, have already spent a year in Quebec to get a Quebec acceptance certificate, a CSQ, and that it takes 30 months to get permanent residence? That's a bit unfair for us, with our future plans. We're here for the long term.

All these permits constantly have to be renewed. Some people have families and children, some of whom go to school, and they can wind up overnight having to go back to their home country, after having…

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, but your time is up.

We will now move to Madam Martinez Ferrada for four minutes.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First, ladies, allow me to thank you for your testimony today. I'm sure it will be a great help in drafting the committee's report.

I'd like to go back to the modernization issue. If the COVID-19 crisis has shown us anything, it's precisely that we need to modernize the system. It's also shown us that we need to work with a digitized system. However, I believe we've put several measures in place during the COVID-19 crisis, in particular biometrics and e-permits.

Incidentally, you mentioned open work permits earlier. We've also made it possible for workers who had closed permits to apply for open permits. Those permits are processed in fewer than 10 days.

We've just made a commitment respecting the analysis of family reunification files: 6,000 files per month, 49,000 in December. However, I think we have monitor the data. Ms. Pelletier mentioned surveys earlier. As regards the number of files processed, we should just be careful not to toss out figures that we don't have, on the one hand. On the other hand, our work is ongoing.

I'd also like to revisit the matter of immigration to Quebec. As you know, Canada has a special agreement with Quebec. It's the only province with which Canada does have an agreement. We respect Quebec's jurisdictions and the immigration thresholds it has established.

I'd like to get your views on the issues respecting immigration to Quebec, on what could be done, while respecting Quebec's jurisdiction, to improve the immigration experience and increase the number of family reunifications, which our government obviously wants to do.

Are there any aspects you would like us to work on, whether it be modernization or immigration to Quebec? Both Ms. Mara and Ms. Pelletier could briefly answer that question.

[Armelle Mara]

Thank you for your question, Ms. Martinez Ferrada.

I personally think Quebec should relax the rules for the applicants it has accepted. You can't be in Quebec, file an application and wait 18 months for an acknowledgement of receipt. That's too long. The CSQ is valid for only 24 months, then it expires. Quebec should try at least to relax the conditions for us so we don't wind up in a difficult situation.

I assure you that, in everyday life, it's so degrading, from a human standpoint, to go through what we're experiencing now. Furthermore, when you're separated from your family, it's awful and heartbreaking, I assure you. Sometimes you think your case is worse, but, when you see the cases of others opposite you, they're just overwhelmed and dismayed. Solving the portal problem as well would really help relax requirements.

[Misha Pelletier]

Thanks very much for your question, Ms. Martinez Ferrada.

In fact, it would help is a great deal if we could upload our documents without having to send them by mail. Times have changed; we're living in 2020. It's definitely easier to make the process digitally accessible for people who submit their files, whether now or in the future.

As regards the 6,000 files per month, that's what we understood. However, we'd like to see some transparency on IRCC's part. How many files are really processed…

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Madam Pelletier, but your time is up.

We will now move to Madam Normandin.

You will have two minutes.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you. I have a quick question for Ms. Mara and Ms. Hatem.

You're simply requesting an acknowledgement of receipt of your permanent residence application. I understand that, on the one hand, it's stressful not knowing whether your file has been received. On the other hand, however, does that also create other problems in getting health insurance or anything else?

An acknowledgement of receipt is of course a very simple thing. I'd like you to say a little more about that.

[Roxane Hatem]

It goes without saying that it's impossible to access the site to verify the status of your application online without an acknowledgement of receipt. IRCC can't confirm whether the application is complete. Consider the example of a man who got his CSQ in July 2018 and submitted his permanent residence application in July 2019. The CSQ expired in July 2020 because it was valid for two years. If he hasn't received an acknowledgement of receipt, he doesn't know whether his file is complete. If IRCC returns his file the next day, his CSQ is no longer even valid.

We met with people from Quebec's Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration, and we told them that the CSQs should really be extended. People who wait for an acknowledgement of receipt must be assured that their CSQ will remain valid.

No one really knows what the story is with access to the Régie de l'assurance-maladie, the RAMQ, and health care. For example, some people in our group had access to the RAMQ simply via their CSQ. However, others, including me, were told we had to have a closed work visa to access the RAMQ.

It would be good if the Quebec government could announce rules respecting what we are and aren't entitled to.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

To sum up, it's really quite easy to issue an acknowledgement of receipt. However, there are consequences if you don't receive one. We aren't just talking about stress here but also about rather major consequences for you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Madam Normandin, but your time is up.

We will now move to our last round of—

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Can you just answer with a yes or no?

[Roxane Hatem]

Yes.

Thank you, Ms. Normandin.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

Now we will move to Ms. Kwan.

You have two minutes for your round of questioning.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

I'm going to ask Ms. Guthrie to finish her last thought. She was cut off in the previous question to her.

Are we having technical difficulties, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Madam Guthrie, you are on mute. Would you unmute your mike, please.

[Nicole Guthrie]

I'm sorry. I'm having technical issues that we are trying to sort out.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, I hope that my time will be restarted.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Yes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Please proceed.

[Nicole Guthrie]

I'm sorry. What was the question?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'm just trying to give you some time to finish your last thought, because you were cut off in the last question. You were talking about caregivers.

[Nicole Guthrie]

Yes. I'm sorry.

I was talking about the fact that there have been a number of caregivers impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions. A number of them are without status, whether they're waiting for their work permit under the interim program or under the home pilot program.

I do not know many caregivers who have received work permits under the home child care program. We were told back at the end of October or beginning of November that the program was closed.

It was interesting that a few days before we were told that, the minister said they had increased the number of immigrants that they were accepting, but a few days later, the caregiver program was closed to new applicants. This is an important program, not just for immigrants, but also for women who are working in Canada, who have to work full time.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

In 20 seconds, what would you recommend that the government do?

[Nicole Guthrie]

We would like the government to adopt some of the old caregiver program requirements. The language program is an issue. The work permit that is not issued.... The bridging open work permit is not a bridging open work permit when applicants have to wait a year for their work permits to be processed.

We'd like the government to put in more resources. Processing times have gone up again. Applicants have been waiting for over a year for their work permits and have not been able to work. It would be good to put more resources in and issue open work permits to long-term caregivers who have been here for years.