Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 3rd, 2022

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'm sorry, but if I could just get the numbers, that would be great.

[Catrina Tapley]

We have worked our way through all of those emails, which means they've had a response of one kind or another. From an email perspective, that's what we've done in our department. Perhaps I'm not understanding the question well.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

The response that people get is a stock answer that basically says, “Thank you very much,” and, “We have received your email,” but where are we with the processing of the cases that come with those emails?

[Catrina Tapley]

In terms of the processing of the cases, I'm going to divide them into a couple of different groups. If I look at those who had a connection to Canada, those who served Canada in one form or another, we've processed about 14,000 applications. On top of that, we had the commitment that the minister announced last summer of around 15 spaces as either government-assisted refugees or privately sponsored refugees, and those were Afghans outside of Afghanistan. On that, we have about half of those applications in and they're in process. I can tell you the numbers of those who have arrived—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Perhaps I can get the officials to send those numbers in. It's taking a long time for us to get these numbers, and I don't have that much time. If I can get in detail for the committee the numbers for how many applications have been processed, how many of them have been completed, and how many of them are still waiting for completion, I would appreciate it.

The deputy minister mentioned that it's for those who have a connection. What about the applications for people who are not interpreters or collaborators, which is to say those who may have family members who are here in Canada and who have connections that way? If any of those are being processed at all, how many are? Thank you.

[Catrina Tapley]

We look at this in three groups. One of those three groups includes interpreters who came to Canada in 2009 and 2012 and their extended families. We have the first slightly more than 1,000 applications in for those now. Those are being processed. The second group is those who are privately sponsored or government-assisted outside of the group under SIMs. About half of those applications are in. All the spaces are allocated, but half are in.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you. If I could get those specific numbers, not “half” but exact numbers and under which category, that would be appreciated. Perhaps those could be submitted to the committee then.

I'd like to move on to the next question.

How many applications under the HCCP and HSWP that were submitted by mail in 2018 and 2019 have not been processed to date? If the officials can send that information to the committee in writing I would appreciate it.

[Catrina Tapley]

We're happy to do it. I think Mr. Mills may have an answer for you though.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Okay, could you answer very quickly?

[Daniel Mills]

I thank the honourable member for her question.

I don't have the details of each category, but I can tell you that right now there are still 250 people in the queue who applied in 2018.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Perhaps I could I get the information in writing, because that's what I need to know.

While some caregivers' applications have received their PR under the TR to PR stream, others have not received an AOR. In this instance, can the officials provide information on how many applications are processed and how many are still stuck in the system? This is the TR to PR for caregivers.

[Daniel Mills]

We'll have to provide the committee with the answer to that question later.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

All right. Perhaps we can also, then, get the detailed information under the TR to PR stream broken down by the categories of individuals—how many have been processed and how many are still waiting to be processed—for caregivers as well as other professions.

As mentioned to the minister, the lock-in date for dependent children for caregivers means that they will age out. Given that the HCCP cap has been reached already, as early as January 17, 2022, that means they will have to wait another 12 months to even make an application. In the meantime, much of their documentation—medicals, language test results, security checks, etc.—will likely expire. Will the ministry consider extending the validity dates for these documents?

[Marian Campbell Jarvis]

Thank you, Madam Chair, for the question.

May I say that I was quite intrigued by the member's earlier comments about the aging out—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting. Maybe you can come back to that in the next round. The time is up for Ms. Kwan.

We will now proceed to Mr. Hallan.

Mr. Hallan, you have five minutes.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the officials for being here.

I want to follow up on a question from my Bloc colleague in regard to the resources for the hotline being used by Afghans and Ukrainians. He noted that the number is the same. Are the resources the same for both?

[Catrina Tapley]

Let me clarify that the number may be the same, but once you call the number, you get options. One of the options is Ukraine. One of the options is Afghanistan. There are specific resources devoted to that Ukrainian hotline. There are specific resources devoted to Afghanistan.

We have also reached out to other departments to beef up our capacity to be able to make sure that we can continue to do that in a timely manner.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Thank you for that.

The minister noted that it would take 12 to 14 weeks to implement visa-free travel. That seems a bit unreasonable. Why would it take so long to do this?

[Catrina Tapley]

Imposing or lifting a visa on a country is a complicated business. It involves a number of steps. It involves a memorandum to cabinet. It involves regulatory change. It involves changes to our system. It involves changes to the systems of our partners there. Those steps take some time.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

I know someone who has called the Ukrainian hotline twice now, trying to get his parents here. The application was filed about a year ago. Both times he's called, they've said, both times, that there is no priority on his case because it's an older case. He's trying to bring his parents from Ukraine. Is there something being done to address this issue?

[Catrina Tapley]

Madam Chair, I'm really glad the honourable member has raised this, because, first, I think that's a bit of disinformation. We'll go back to the call line and we'll make sure that's corrected.

The commitment that the government made is that we are putting a priority on all our applications in the system from Ukrainian nationals. That includes those for sponsorship, exactly as he has recommended.

Thanks for bringing that to our attention. We'll make sure that's corrected.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

I appreciate that.

With regard to the new measures that were implemented today, especially the pathway to PR for Ukrainians, will people who have current applications in have to reapply?

[Catrina Tapley]

No. People who have current applications in will not have to reapply. What I think the minister made an announcement on this morning will be a special dedicated or expanded family sponsorship pathway. We're just sorting out the program details for that now.

People who have applications in under other streams should absolutely keep those applications there. They will not need to reapply. We'll continue to put an emphasis on and drag those applications to the front of the queue.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Given that we have seen what we would say is a failure in Afghanistan and that now we see the situation in Ukraine, would that visa-free travel be something that could be implemented in the future or be ready to go by the department later, just in case this happens in other countries?

[Catrina Tapley]

That is visa-free travel for which countries? Sorry, Madam Chair.