Evidence of meeting #71 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 students.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Not to my knowledge, but perhaps CBSA will be able to share more on that.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Okay.
The meat of this question is that students I've talked to are very interested in knowing that these bad actors will be caught and prevented from doing this in the future, because they got caught up in this unknowingly and they're worried about who's coming behind them and who's going to have the same problem.
What assurances can you give them that these bad actors will be stopped?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
What I would say to those students, and what I would say to all of you, is that we need to continuously look at our programs for a way to have anti-fraud measures built in. I think there will always be that risk, and it's about managing that risk and setting up a system that works for both Canada and the students who choose Canada.
The measures I've described.... As part of the dialogue that we've had across the country, we have had really good ideas from provinces and territories, and from designated learning institutions about what types of models would prevent this. What I would say to those students is that we're trying to build that model so that they can have confidence in coming and studying here.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
On DLIs, the minister said there were problems and that he was concerned about some of them.
Is there an investigation into fraudulent practices at DLIs?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I think what I would say is that provinces and territories, and I think some of the jurisdictions around the country, have done full-on reviews of their institutions. I think other jurisdictions are doing reviews of the connection between private and public institutions and the growth of private institutions. That's ongoing.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
You're saying that's a provincial responsibility and not—
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I'm saying it's a joint responsibility.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Okay.
Are there particular schools in Canada that you could say are suspicious and that you're investigating?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I would say we're constantly looking at risks and looking at where we are seeing fraudulent letters coming from and what data we have by institution. We definitely take a look at that very closely.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you.
We will now end this panel and today's meeting with Mr. Ali for five minutes.
Go ahead, Ms. Kwan.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Chair, before we adjourn the meeting today, I have one item I would like to raise, which is related to the press release that was issued. Before we adjourn, I would like to speak to that.
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to thank the officials for being here today.
As you know, earlier today the department issued a statement by Minister Fraser that a task force of IRCC officials has been established and tasked to “work closely with [CBSA] to identify the victims of fraud; that is, those students who came to study here in Canada and did exactly that.”
Can you expand on how this task force will conduct its work, please?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes. Thank you very much for the question.
We have designated two assistant deputy ministers. Michèle is the one from IRCC. From CBSA it will be the vice-president of the intelligence and enforcement branch. The two ADMs will work with their teams in order to prioritize the cases and go through the cases.
Michèle and I meet almost daily, so we will have a process whereby Minister Fraser and I will be kept updated on a very regular basis on the progress we're making on each case and the decisions we're coming to so that we can come to a conclusion as quickly as possible with respect to the decision-making and can inform those involved.
We have put together a bit of a process as to how it's going to unfold, and I think both organizations are very aware of the importance of doing this work as quickly as possible.
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
That's great. Thank you.
As a follow-up on this, do you have any time frame for this process to deal with this particular issue of the international students?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes. I think we are trying to do this as quickly as we possibly can. We're talking about a matter of weeks.
Obviously we're going to work very quickly once the IRB makes their determination. If it is a determination of inadmissibility, the department will issue a TRP, a temporary resident permit, right away. That's an important sequence of decisions, because it prevents the removal and, therefore, allows us time to go through the case, to look at it on an individual basis and to then make our final decision.
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
That's great. Thank you.
Today's statement went on to say that, “if the facts of an individual case are clear that an international student came to Canada with a genuine intent to study, and without knowledge of the use of fraudulent documentation,” a temporary resident permit will be issued to that individual. It continues:
This will ensure that these well-intentioned students and graduates can remain in Canada, and ensure that they are not subject to the 5-year ban from re-entering Canada that normally follows in cases of misrepresentation. While this process runs its course, preliminary Temporary Resident Permits will be issued if they are required in order to prevent an imminent deportation....
What is the department planning to do so that this situation is avoided in the future?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
This is something we need to take a look at. What circumstances made it such that some permits were approved, while others weren't and were refused on the basis of fraud? I think that looking at the decision-making process and the tools that are in place will help inform the work going forward.
Even prior to this we were aware that there are often bad actors attempting to commit fraud within the immigration system, so how we can improve, through our communications and through our processes, is something we will learn.
At the end of the review of the 300 cases, we will have to take a look at what we have heard from the exchanges with the students themselves in the process we have followed in order to better appreciate and understand it. I think the time you have taken to spend with those students and we have taken and will take is really important, because that's how we get to the source of why they made particular choices at a particular time, what type of connection they had with these bad actors and how that can help inform our future work with potential students around the world.
Liberal
Shafqat Ali Liberal Brampton Centre, ON
Thank you, again.
As a general rule, what should someone do if they suspect they have been the victim of a fraudulent consultant? Is there a way for them to report this and try to get the situation rectified?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Absolutely. Thank you for the question.
What I would say is that we always encourage people to report—to come forward and speak to IRCC or CBSA. I think the vulnerability of the circumstances in which people could find themselves, if they are victims of fraud.... The sooner they advise us, the sooner we can take action and also support, if required. I would encourage people to contact us and let us know immediately.
Liberal