I've watched some of the committee's previous meetings regarding these issues, and therefore I'll try not to repeat the issues and hardships as identified by some of the other witnesses.
My previous experience as a border services officer for five years and my current occupation as an RCIC for the past 10 years have provided me with some unique insights on how the application process works. I have some ideas that we can implement, or at least study, that could significantly reduce the application backlog as well as prevent a further workload from accumulating.
Before I address the areas we have identified that could be looked at, I'd like to take a minute to stress the urgency of dealing with this problem. As I don't have time to go over all the problems and negative impacts of this backlog, I would just like you to consider what I think is the most important issue facing our country today, which is the economy.
In my 15 years of working in the immigration field, I have never seen a shortage of workers of the kind we face today. It is my firm belief that if this issue is not immediately addressed, we face a real prospect of some sort of economic collapse and the nullification of any recovery efforts post COVID. From small businesses to large corporations, the desperation for workers has never been so great, and if we don't find a solution fast, we will soon be past the point of no return.
We've identified a few problems. If we can solve them quickly, we think this backlog will be reduced significantly.
Number one is that in the training of inland and overseas officers, we see a lack of knowledge of program requirements. Officers are often asking for irrelevant documents and, as I think some of the other witnesses testified earlier, there are a lot of unjustified refusals of applications. The result is that we have to sometimes put in additional applications. It's either that or go to the MP inquiries or look for judicial review.
At the ports of entry, Canada Border Services is the agency that processes many applications for people coming into the country. They have a memorandum of understanding with IRCC, and I feel that the job they're doing at this time is either not working well or that there need to be some changes made, because I think a lot of the officers are not happy with processing immigration at the border.
We can go into that a bit more, because Shervin and I have experienced it first-hand.
Here are some of the solutions we've looked at.
One is an online portal for the reconsideration of applications, but we would need to have very specific criteria on the types of files and the issues that would be reconsidered.
IRCC inland offices or ports of entry should be processing work permit extensions, study permit extensions, work permits and study permits in the way it was done prior to 2004. That's when the amalgamation took place between CBSA and CIC, and since that time, a lot of issues at the ports of entry have happened. I think that if we went back to the previous way.... I know it's asking a lot, but I think we could solve a lot of the problems.
Also, then, if we separate the backlog from the current new files and set a firm date, all applications after that date should be processed with the new technologies and systems, and then we'd have to delegate a team of experts to work on just the backlog alone.
The processing of these backlogged files and new applications should be categorized on how complicated the file is. For example, a visitor extension is something that's very easily done. You can do it at the border or you can do it online. You don't need to have it in a queue for six months. If you just sort out the high-risk files from the low-risk files, we can have those files processed very quickly and eliminate the ones that we don't need to spend a lot of time on. Then the ones that do need more work can have the highly experienced officers working on them.
Another solution we've considered is the super visa program that has been implemented for parents and grandparents. A lot of those people are working here. Why not have them introduced into the workforce properly, give them work permit and—