Evidence of meeting #3 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was ircc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:50 p.m.
President, Le Québec c’est nous aussi
Mr. Redekopp, if you wish, I can give you the numbers. In 2019, for Morocco, it was 44% refusal and in 2020, it was 46% refusal. For Senegal, it was 73% refusal in 2018 and 75% refusal in 2019. I do not have the figures for 2020.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Mr. Camara, are those numbers noticeably different from countries that are not part of the student direct stream, from your knowledge and experience?
12:50 p.m.
President, Le Québec c’est nous aussi
I will let the other witnesses answer, because I am not aware of the student direct stream. I am sorry.
12:50 p.m.
Director General, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
I do not have that information either.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Okay.
We heard on Tuesday that Mr. Brown Mastropaolo from Quebec CEGEPs saw that there was unfavourable treatment being applied to candidates from some of these countries. Looking at the rejection rates, that's why I was asking the question about that.
What are some of the other reasons you think that we're experiencing these high rejection rates for some of the francophone countries in Africa?
12:50 p.m.
Director General, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
The official reasons often given are that financial capability has not been demonstrated, and the requirement to return to one's country at the end of one's studies. Even our post-secondary institutions do not really have information on the reasons for these rejections.
We propose that there be a better exchange of information between IRCC and the institutions that want to recruit students on the reasons for refusal. Institutions often support applicants, but sometimes they are informed about the refusals only when the students do not show up. Moreover, the reason for the refusal is unfortunately not shared.
However, that important information should be made public and shared with the institutions to better support the recruitment and support of students abroad.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
12:50 p.m.
President, Le Québec c’est nous aussi
According to the Quebec Immigration Lawyers Association, the reason given, albeit very unclear, was that candidates would not leave at the end of their stay. With the use of the Chinook system, it is increasingly unclear. We were also told that it could be related to the reason for the visit.
I've also seen that it's based on real estate and financial holdings, based on ...
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I'm sorry for interrupting, but your time is up.
Ms. Lalonde, you have four minutes for your round of questioning.
February 3rd, 2022 / 12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank the witnesses for joining us today.
It is a real pleasure to see you again. A happy new year to you all.
I only have four minutes. I will start with Mr. Normand.
Mr. Normand, you talked about possible solutions. Could you tell us more about them? Also, knowing that Canada is becoming more and more popular as a destination for international students, which is a good thing, I would like to hear your suggestions to improve the efficiency of the process and to decrease this refusal rate that we are discussing at length today.
12:55 p.m.
Director, Strategic Research and International Relations, Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne
First of all, I would suggest that IRCC make sure of the consistency between the messages that the promotion teams ask it to advertise overseas and the reasons given for refusing study permits.
IRCC asks us to add to our presentations overseas that it is possible to apply for permanent residency at the end of the studies, both for our labour needs and also with the goal of achieving [technical difficulties].
We make that effort, as do our institutions. However, our institutions are also recognizing that their efforts are being made in a number of countries with staggering refusal rates.
Given the scarcity of resources in institutions that are part of minority francophone communities, [technical difficulties] cease their promotion efforts in some countries, because they know that the return on investment will in no way be great enough. So it is no longer worthwhile to target certain countries if all the time we spend there—
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I'm sorry for interrupting, but there is an interpretation issue. I think your Internet connection is unstable.
Are you wearing a proper headset, Mr. Normand?
12:55 p.m.
Director, Strategic Research and International Relations, Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne
Yes.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Please continue, but speak more slowly so we can hear the interpretation clearly.
12:55 p.m.
Director, Strategic Research and International Relations, Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne
Okay.
So there is no consistency between the reasons for refusal and the messages that the promotion teams ask us to advertise overseas.
As we started to discuss a little earlier with Mr. Brunelle Duceppe, we also have to make the network of institutions better known to the federal public service, so that there are no more occasions when an application to a course of study in one of our institutions is considered not to be credible. That in itself makes it inherently less possible to recruit overseas. [Technical difficulties] to support those students in their transition to permanent residency.
A study conducted two years ago showed that 90% of foreign students in French-speaking institutions in Canada would like to stay in Canada after their studies. So this is a major pool of potential candidates for permanent residency.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
Thank you very much, Mr. Normand.
Mr. Dupuis, very quickly, what effect do the refusals have on the demographics of the francophonie outside Quebec?
12:55 p.m.
Director General, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
Currently, student visas are not included in the 4.4% target, so a study would be needed to look at the refusal rate. However, it clearly doesn't help to achieve the target.
But I would add that, last year, a new path from temporary residency to permanent residency opened up . Seven thousand francophones outside Quebec have taken advantage of that path to permanent residency. That is a significant number of people who could stay in the country and help to achieve the 4.4% target.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you.
We'll now proceed to Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.
You will have two minutes for your round of questioning.
12:55 p.m.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you. Two minutes is not a lot. So I will be quick.
In a media conference on Monday, the Minister of Immigration told us that there is nothing to fear in the matter that brings us together today. So I would like to give our three witnesses the opportunity to raise the minister's awareness in their own words.
Mr. Camara, Mr. Dupuis and Mr. Normand, go ahead, in that order.
12:55 p.m.
President, Le Québec c’est nous aussi
Thank you very much.
I will answer very quickly so that my colleagues have some time.
[Technical difficulties] trust in the Department of Immigration—
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I'm sorry for interrupting. Your voice is cutting out.
Can you speak more slowly, so we can get the interpretation?
12:55 p.m.
President, Le Québec c’est nous aussi
Okay.
I was saying that there is a lot of mistrust of IRCC in the immigrant community. It is also not only students but also skilled workers, temporary workers, universities and employers. There is a lot of mistrust. We are waiting for some reassurance from the Minister of immigration. If that could start with a bill to create the post of ombudsperson, it would be great.
1 p.m.
Director General, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
Yes, there is a problem. The refusal rates for postsecondary institutions in the Canadian francophonie are considerable.
In closing, I have two recommendations.
First, we must study the possibility of putting an end to the requirement to prove that candidates will return to their country. This is detrimental to the goal of increasing francophone immigration to Canada.
Second, we must foster collaboration and better information sharing between post-secondary institutions and Canadian visa offices. We have seen pilot projects in some of our community colleges that have confirmed that, with the support of the institution, students have the funds they need to study in Canada. There was even a program where funds were transferred from the university while a student's visa application was being confirmed. That helped to prove the financial capability of the student. In addition, the institution provided all the required information to the visa offices in Dakar and Rabat to ensure that the files contained accurate information.
1 p.m.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you, Mr. Dupuis.
Mr. Normand, do you have a quick answer?