Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 24th, 2022

[Caroline Xavier]

As the minister said, there is zero tolerance with regard to racism, discrimination or harassment within the department, and we are very committed to doing what is necessary to bring change within the department. With that said—

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Were their bonuses changed or reduced?

[Caroline Xavier]

I won't be able to speak to specific cases, but what I can say is that the anti-racism strategy and work we're doing is very much linked to the performance management reviews of all of our managers and executives within the department.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

You don't have to give names or anything, but was there at least one case where somebody had their bonus reduced because of exhibiting racial bias, or is that non-existent in senior management?

[Caroline Xavier]

I would not say that it's non-existent, but I cannot confirm to you that there was a specific case to that effect.

Having said that, what I can say is that we take this very seriously as part of the performance review of all of our management discussions with regard to how a person has behaved. The racism aspect of it in terms of the behaviour, or if there were issues within the organization, would be part of the assessment of the performance bonus.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Are you saying, then, that there are clauses or words that speak to the performance assessment and that you can provide that to the committee?

[Caroline Xavier]

Yes. I can tell you that all of our performance management accords clearly identify what our expectations are with regard to committing to the anti-racism strategy of our department, including taking unconscious bias training. As well, as of April 1, any manager who will have delegated authority must again take unconscious bias training to ensure that they are adhering to the behaviour and expectations we have of them.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

However, there are no impacts on pay, which is very disappointing, from what I'm hearing you say.

I want to switch over and talk about the Filipino community in my riding, which is very significant. There's a Filipino woman who had terminal breast cancer. She had a deportation order against her, and IRCC issued that order mainly because her husband had decided he was done with her and he divorced her. CBSA was carrying out an order made by IRCC that was clearly based on racism, because a white man was dumping his terminally ill wife from the Philippines.

We have human trafficking laws to protect vulnerable women like her. My question is this: What steps is the anti-racism task force taking to address issues of bias in IRCC officers when dealing with issues of human trafficking, like in this case in my riding?

[Caroline Xavier]

Again, as I mentioned before, the anti-racism strategy is being baked into every part of our organization. That includes policy development, client service delivery and the everyday management of what we're aiming to do in the department.

Training is being provided to all decision-makers, especially those who have to process some of these applications you mentioned, so it's ensuring that those decisions are addressed in a more consistent manner.

There is also the review of how decisions are taken within the organization to ensure that the consistency of the act is applied, including looking at what could be perceived as bias in the decisions. It is very much part of the training to ensure that people are making decisions based on the facts before them and not on race.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you. I would strongly encourage you to put pay into that matrix as well.

I asked an Order Paper question on the average time for temporary foreign workers to be approved. For home child care providers, the average is 684 days. That's two years. Sports referees can come in 85 days, or for government public relations it's 40 days.

What steps are being taken to eliminate the racial biases against Filipina women who are coming in as home care providers and to have the approval process sped up?

[Caroline Xavier]

Again, one thing we're working on really actively is ensuring that our decision-makers are culturally aware and culturally sensitive, and that they have the necessary training required to be able to make the right decisions. The caregiver program is one that is a priority for the department.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting. The time is up for Mr. Redekopp.

You will get an opportunity in the second round. We will now proceed to Mr. Ali.

Mr. Ali, you will have six minutes. You can please begin.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, officials, for being here.

In 2020, the approval rate for temporary resident visas for spouses and partners with a spousal sponsorship application was 46%. However, individuals residing in a visa-exempt country, who need only to apply for an electronic travel authorization, had a 90% approval rate.

Please explain to the committee this difference in approval rates.

A further question on this is, why are applicants from visa-exempt countries more successful with their applications than those from countries requiring visas?

[Caroline Xavier]

Not knowing exactly the specific cases that you're speaking of, it is true that someone who is able to apply for an electronic travel authorization from a non-visa requiring country has to complete that process and has to be truthful in their application and the process.

A person without a visa obviously has a faster way of being able to apply for a temporary visit to Canada. However, once a person—

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

I'm sorry to interrupt. I am not speaking about specific cases. It's that overall, in 2020, the application approval rate was 46%, but there was a 90% approval rate in cases in which the person needed only an electronic travel authorization. These are the stats.

[Caroline Xavier]

I'm going to pass it on to my colleague, Pemi Gill, who may have a better opportunity to share additional information that I don't have handy.

[Pemi Gill, Director General, International Network, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you for the clarification.

With regard to the ETA, the electronic travel authorization, it is a means for visa-exempt clients to confirm for entry. However, it doesn't have the same eligibility requirements as the temporary resident program.

Clients who are applying under the temporary resident program need to demonstrate the bona fides for their visit, as well as providing the other required documentation. ETA clients are exclusively required to register, such that we have information on who is entering the country.

The two are not comparable from a program design perspective.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you.

The Immigration and Refugee Act requires spouses going through a sponsorship process to prove to visa officers that their relationship is genuine. What are the factors used to assess the genuineness of the relationship for family reunification or sponsorship applications?

For my second question on the same issue, what might be expected in a western context that might not be appropriate in other contexts? Are officers trained to use culturally sensitive ways to judge the genuineness of the marriage?

[Caroline Xavier]

When assessing the relationship between spouses and common-law partners, officers must be satisfied that the relationship that exists is genuine. That's irrelevant of which country the application is being processed from.

The application kit requires that the applicants submit certain documents as proof of their relationship. That could include things such as pictures and things of that nature.

In the case of applicants in the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class, officers must also be satisfied that the applicant is living with the sponsor in Canada.

If documents submitted do not provide adequate proof of that genuine conjugal relationship within the context of a marriage or common-law relationship, or if officers doubt that the applicant is living with the sponsor, for example, an officer may again request additional information or schedule an interview to be able to confirm the genuineness of the relationship.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

When officers suspect that there are certain things, and that it is not a genuine application, are you aware that in that interview they ask certain questions related to the couple's sexual relationship?

[Caroline Xavier]

I'm going to ask Pemi to answer your question with more precision than I might.

[Pemi Gill]

For family class applications—spousal, conjugal partner and common-law relationships—the requirements under IRPA indicate assessment of a genuine relationship, and there are different qualifications for each of those three subcategories in family class.

For the most part, the assessment is done based on the evidence that is provided by clients and by the assessments done on paper. If there is insufficient information for the officer to be satisfied, then an interview may be required or additional documents requested. As part of the interview process, officers who undertake those interviews have undergone unconscious bias training. They're also seized with cultural issues and with being aware of the local context in which they are doing the interview.

For the most part, our first attempt is always to have evidence provided by the client that addresses the concerns that are being raised, and it's only in circumstances where that is insufficient that an interview is one of the options looked at for further assessment.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Do you encounter fraud in these sorts of spousal cases? Do we have any stats? What percentage do you find are—

Is my time up?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Yes.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

I'm sorry. I've just had four and a half minutes here.