Thank you, Mr. Redekopp and Madam Chair, and thank you, Dima.
We distilled our observations on the bill and for it not to need to replace the path for permanent residence for parents and grandparents. We basically focus on the fact that multi-generational families are a cultural aspect of many immigrant families, and there's a need to expand our definition of “family” to consider newcomer family structures. We also focus on the economic and non-economic contributions of parents and grandparents, which is consistent with research as well, basically allowing the chance for productive aging. It has been mentioned how, when parents and grandparents live with the family, they free up time and resources for the parents to go out and seek more employment and education.
We have also highlighted that many immigrants consider it their cultural duty to take care of their parents financially, even if they live in separate countries. Many immigrants are actually sending money abroad. Instead of taking trips to countries of origin or buying health insurance abroad, immigrants can spend these resources in the Canadian economy if their parents live with them.