Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 31st, 2022

[Michèle Kingsley]

To be clear, Chair, is the question about the parents and grandparents sponsorship program or the super visa program?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Actually, I'm interested in both, because it's relevant. The super visa is, obviously, a surrogate for the parents and grandparents sponsorship program.

Do you have that information that you can share with the committee?

[Michèle Kingsley]

I don't have information on the number of times that these types of recourse have been pursued. I'd turn to counsel and see if counsel has that information, or my colleague in operations.

[Ben Mitchell]

I apologize, Madam Chair. I don't have that information.

[James Seyler]

Nor do I, Madam Chair. Thank you.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Fair enough. Maybe we could have that information submitted to the committee for our review.

The other piece is related to the issue around the income threshold. There's been a lot of discussion about this. In fact, I remember distinctly back in the first Parliament I was elected to, this issue coming up at the CIMM committee. There was extensive discussion with witnesses as well. Along with it, there was a series of other recommendations. To date, as far as I can tell, none of those recommendations have been acted on, including the request for the department to look into the contributions of parents and grandparents in other ways to Canada's cultural mosaic, as well as to our economy.

Why is that? Why has the government not responded and provided information with respect to those critical questions that are now before us once again?

[Michèle Kingsley]

Madam Chair, the officials have continued to look into the various recommendations that the committee has made in the past. Following those CIMM recommendations, officials consulted with the health insurance industry on the super visa requirements. Those discussions ended up having stakeholders raise concerns more around whether insurance was sufficient, given the demographics of the population and their likelihood of having variable health statuses, which, of course, would lead to more expensive insurance.

In 2020, the length of extension that one could apply for from within Canada was increased to two years, really providing for an opportunity—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Sorry, I'm going to interrupt here.

I was asking specifically about recommendations on the contributions of parents and grandparents to Canada, culturally and economically. I don't believe any data or information has been provided with respect to that. I want to ask this question with respect to parents and grandparents. It's related to that. The suggestion was that this should be dealt with through ministerial instructions as opposed to legislation. The argument is that it's easier for government to act, and it's less cumbersome. The counter piece, of course, is that, without legislation, what will compel the government to act? So far, we haven't seen action, realistically. The whole idea with the super visa, in essence, is to fill the gap—the lack of parent and grandparent sponsorship application process.

How do you answer that question? What can compel the government to act if we don't do this through legislation?

[Michèle Kingsley]

Thank you, Madam Chair, for the question.

I would say that the objectives of the bill—to achieve longer stays—are already provided by the current super visa with an initial entry of two years, but with unlimited renewals from within Canada. Keeping it in ministerial instructions is not just a question of government facility. Should further changes be wanted, it allows for a faster, more nimble response for the benefit of clients.

I would come back to the fact that the goal of the legislation to increase the stays is already met by the current super visa, which is ministerial instruction.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

If you talk to parents and grandparents, they may offer some other points of view with respect to that.

Around insurance, one issue that surfaced from previous committee review is the idea of allowing parents and grandparents to access provincial insurance.

Was that ever looked into?

[Michèle Kingsley]

Sorry, did you say “access provincial insurance”?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes, I mean access to provincial MSP. In my province, we call it “MSP premiums”—the B.C. MSP premiums.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Ms. Kwan. Your time is up. You will get an opportunity in the second round.

We will now proceed to Mr. Hallan for five minutes.

Mr. Hallan, please begin.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the previous witnesses and officials for being here today.

I want to focus on the social aspect of this bill. I want to get feedback from each of the witnesses.

Could each of you speak to.... Let's look at it through the family and social lens. We know that a lot of culture communities rely on this super visa. It is our belief that it would strengthen family ties and family structure in Canada.

I'd like each of you to comment, looking through that lens.

[Michèle Kingsley]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I agree. I think the super visa is an extremely facilitative tool that has been used quite a bit since 2011. IRCC approves some 17,000 super visas every year, which means that parents and grandparents who contribute economically, socially and culturally to our communities, country and, of course, families are able to reunite.

Again, that super visa has a validity of 10 years and the initial entry is currently set at two years. It can be renewed any number of times from within the country. It enables family reunification to continue without interruption should super visa holders continue to renew from within the country.

I'm not sure whether my colleague Mr. Seyler or counsel would like to add to that.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Would you like to respond to that?

Do you see a benefit in this? We see a really big backlog right now in the immigration system. Would this visa help to alleviate some of that stress? In your opinion, would there be fewer renewals with that kind of visa?

[Michèle Kingsley]

I'll turn to my colleague in operations in a moment.

I'm not sure if we have data on how many super visa holders are actually renewing them. Presumably, having a longer initial stay would result in fewer renewals. I think that is intuitively a conclusion that one can draw.

[James Seyler]

Indeed, would potentially reduce the number of extension applications made from within Canada with a longer stay. Those, however, are not numerous at this point. Over the course of the 10 years that the super visa has existed so far, approximately 32,000 extensions have been submitted. When you look at approximately 17,000 super visas applied for and issued each year, that's a relatively small number over the course of 10 years.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Whatever number it is, or the impact of it, would you see a net benefit in this? Would it help to alleviate some of the backlog, or the pressure on processing times, because there would be fewer renewals?

[James Seyler]

I would say yes. Any reduction in the number of applications would have a potentially positive effect on the overall volume of cases that would need to be processed.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

I want to ask your opinion on whether it's the economic side of things, or whether it's the social side of things, where you see a net benefit from this. Whether it's the family side of it, or the processing side of it, would there be a net benefit from the current bill the way it is right now?

I'd like everyone's feedback on that.

[Michèle Kingsley]

It is very difficult to quantify social and cultural benefits, but there's no question that there are economic, social, and cultural benefits to having parents and grandparents reunited with their children and grandchildren. The super visa does that currently, and it takes into account that balance of having longer reunification stays with some criteria that don't apply to a regular, shorter six-month visa.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Time is up for Mr. Hallan.

We will now proceed to Ms. Kayabaga for five minutes.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would also like to start by thanking our past witnesses and the witnesses who are here today. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

I have a question regarding the medical requirements that individuals must have. If individuals are current super visa holders and they want to extend their stay here in Canada, how does it work for their medical clearance? Do they have to have any medical exams and show proof of recent medical insurance every time they apply for an extension?

[Michèle Kingsley]

The requirement to have a medical exam only applies to the initial application. When applicants send in their first request for a super visa, that is when a medical exam is requested. If and when applicants want to renew their application, that medical exam does not need to be redone. However, they do need to continue to meet the insurance requirements.