Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 29th, 2022

[Christiane Fox]

There could be more. I can get you the exact number, but it's a program that—

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

So we have reached a total of 1,800 people out of 10,000.

After the Ukrainian crisis and Afghan crisis fiasco at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, people told us that 15 to 25% of the department's officers were sent to work on the Afghan crisis when it occurred.

People thought the department should have a contingency plan when international crises occur. We know they're going to be more and more frequent—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe. Your time is up.

Thank you.

We will now proceed to Ms. Kwan for six minutes.

Ms. Kwan, you can begin.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the officials.

To follow up on the question around processing delays for African applicants, as well as those from Iran, could the officials provide the median and the average processing time for TRVs and PR applications, along with study permits for applicants from Africa and Iran for the last six years? That would be minus the two years of COVID, because I understand that things were at a standstill, but it's so that we have some baseline to compare it to.

Can I also get the officials to provide to the committee the turnaround time for PR applicants waiting for instructions to create...the PR portal or to have the photo uploaded so that they can get their COPR? We're seeing unbelievable delays. People are waiting for these steps so that they can move forward with their application. They're stuck there. They can't get on the portal to upload their photos and the stuff that they're supposed to upload to move things forward. What is the hang-up there? That's really what I'm trying to get at.

Also, on the issue around the newly announced 3,000 family member spots for the group of five in the Afghan privately sponsored stream, could the officials advise if those spots are fully subscribed? If so, when did they become full? If not, at what stage are they now?

I'll pause here. If you have answers, I'll take them. If not, I'll move on with my other questions.

[Christiane Fox]

Maybe I'll start with where you ended, which is on the 3,000 spots for Afghans in the group of five. It is fully subscribed, but we're going through the subscription. There were a couple of cases of duplication, so we're going through to see whether or not we've reached that capacity, or whether, because of the few duplications, it's going to open up some spots. However, we're very close to it, if not at the 3,000.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

If you can advise the committee, I'd like to know exactly when it became fully subscribed. To my knowledge, people tried to get into that program very early on, literally within the first couple of weeks when the program was announced, and it was pretty well fully subscribed. It really goes to show you the demand and the need. I'm just trying to figure out what the lay of the land is.

With respect to that, what is the anticipated timeline for processing? Privately sponsored refugee applications right now are sitting at about three years in terms of processing, so what's the estimated timeline for these sets of applications?

[Christiane Fox]

For Afghan processing, it's always a little bit challenging to put a specific time frame on it. Depending on the location of the individual, depending on the challenges, sometimes it's not a question about the processing time frame—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Sorry, I appreciate that, but I'm running out of time.

I need just a quick answer. Do you have any projection within your department on how quickly these will be processed?

[Christiane Fox]

We can give you the processing time that it would take for the department, but there are unknown elements that we don't control.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

That's fair enough. If you give us that information, I would appreciate that.

Will any of the resources allocated from the supplementary estimates assist with the processing of these applications? If so, how much?

[Christiane Fox]

It's actually a significant portion of the funding that is going to Afghan refugees, including processing. It's $647 million—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Is that all for this stream, or is it for all of it?

[Christiane Fox]

No, it's for the entire—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

How is it broken down?

[Christiane Fox]

We can get you a breakdown of the funding.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

In the supplementary estimates, $23.9 million is allocated to address inventory backlog for PR applications. Will this be for the backlog, or is it for new applications to meet standard processing?

[Daniel Mills, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you for your question.

It's actually a mix of the two. Those funds will help us work on complex matters that have been pending for a number of years, but also continue to meet our service standards for certain categories of applications, including Express Entry applicants and family reunification. The minister has talked about this.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Is the entire amount being dedicated for the backlog and not for new applications? Just give a yes or no.

[Daniel Mills]

It's a mix of the two, but as the minister said, immigration levels—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Sorry, but I'm going to interrupt again. I apologize.

Could we get a breakdown, then, on how much is being allocated for the new applications and how much is for the backlog? What is the expected time frame for the processing of these applications? How many do you expect you would actually get through in both of those different streams? If you don't have that figure now, you can provide it to the committee later.

[Daniel Mills]

I don't have a detailed timeline for that, but as the minister said, the annual budgets are used for immigration applications. The funding requested in the supplementary estimates is primarily to reduce the backlog of files. We're basing it on the annual reference levels.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

If you can provide us with the projected numbers of how many cases you think you will get through with that amount of money, that would be appreciated, and then how many are still sitting in the backlog untouched.

With respect to IRCC-allocated funding to the IOM, does IRCC allocate funding to the IOM to provide housing for Afghan refugees in third countries? If yes, how much, and then in which country in those third countries? Also, how many units of housing are being funded? Who is responsible for the allocation? Whom can the families contact when they have been promised the housing but no provision of housing has been made available to them?

Can you provide that information to the committee?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Your time is up. Thank you, Ms. Kwan.

With that, the rounds of questioning come to an end, and we will have to vote on the supplementary estimates (B), 2022-23.

Yes, Ms. Fox.

[Christiane Fox]

Ms. Chair, I just want to confirm that with regard to the $2 million to the IOM, we will provide that detail and context to the committee.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you. We will welcome it.

We will be voting on supplementary estimates (B), 2022-23.

DEPARTMENT OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION

Vote 1b—Operating expenditures..........$560,308,238

Vote 5b—Capital expenditures..........$12,443,903

Vote 10b—Grants and contributions..........$608,843,145

(Votes 1b, 5b, and 10b agreed to on division)

IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE BOARD

Vote 1b—Program expenditures..........$1,903,141

(Vote 1b agreed to on division)

Shall I report the votes on the supplementary estimates (B), 2022-23 to the House?