Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 7th, 2024

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Thank you, MP Kwan.

There are a couple of clarifications on that. A portion of that undertaking involved the excess number year over year that we have with respect to temporary foreign workers. That has been achieved. It's in the ballpark of 4,000 people.

We also have a number.... I would say that the envelope is now fully subscribed, and the next step in the process is to land those people. That's something we're confident will happen over the coming months.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'm sorry, but when the minister says that it is fully subscribed, I'm talking specifically about the commitment to take 15,000 people. Is that commitment to take 15,000 fully subscribed and 4,000 have arrived?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

That's correct. At least that many have.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Could the minister also provide a breakdown of the demographics of those migrants in terms of where they are from?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

From which countries...?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

To the best of my knowledge—and we can confirm with officials—they are, I would say, predominantly from Colombia. There is, after that, a second significant portion from Haiti and a less significant one from Venezuela.

Jenny, we can get you the percentages if you want.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes, maybe along with the actual numbers. That would be useful as well. Thank you for that, Minister.

Then those numbers are fully subscribed. When do you expect the arrivals of these individuals?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

It can vary, but we expect significant steady flows over the coming months.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Okay. That's about as vague as you can get.

All right. I will move on in terms of the issue around human trafficking and the concern with respect to that. From the department's information, both through IRCC and, presumably, working in collaboration with your colleagues from Public Safety, how many people from Mexico have you identified to have been victims of human trafficking?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Perhaps Mr. Anson....

[Daniel Anson, Director General, Intelligence and Investigations, Canada Border Services Agency]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The way our reporting works, we don't necessarily have, or I don't have, the statistics on the number of victims. I can tell you right now that we have, specific to human trafficking, 27 active criminal investigations. Obviously, it continues to compile over the number of years, because with the complexity of human trafficking cases, it tends to take multiple years, so we don't have easily defined statistics.

We also refer, as a matter of standard procedure, all trafficking investigations to the RCMP, with some exceptional circumstances. Specific to human smuggling we also have 171 active cases, but our systems don't necessarily identify the statistics on the number of victims. I couldn't be able to answer that today.

You have my apologies, Mr. Chair.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you for that.

It's challenging, then, if you say “active cases”, but then you can't really say how many victims are engaged in that process. I think it would be useful to know, of those cases, how many victims there are. Perhaps that's a process that could be looked into by the department, to supply that information to the committee subsequently.

With respect to migrants who are subject to exploitation, some would say that is a form of human trafficking, because they come here with a promise of employment and pay and so on, yet they don't receive that treatment. They are mistreated, and they are subject to abuse. From the immigration department's information, how many victims—of the vulnerable workers, the migrant workers—who have been found are from Mexico?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I wouldn't have the geographical breakdown of that, MP Kwan. We could probably provide it at a subsequent date.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I think it would be useful to have that. Seeing as the specific study of the motion is to talk about Mexico, I think it would be useful to have that information. We know that migrant workers, temporary foreign workers with a closed work permit, are subject to abuse, and this is an ongoing issue that I know the minister is aware of and the committee is as well.

From that perspective, there have been ongoing reports. In a recent report in Ontario, I think some 67 migrant workers were subject to abuse in that regard, but it's not the only example. There are many. I won't bother citing all of them. Many people have said over and over again that the reality is that, when people are subject to a closed work permit environment, they are actually at a severe disadvantage and are subject to exploitation.

I know that there's a system whereby the people themselves can report and go through the ministry to apply for an open work permit as vulnerable workers. Will the minister consider providing open work permits to people from the beginning—so that they're not having to face exploitation and then seek recourse—to be more proactive and pre-emptive in the face of this ongoing situation?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

Minister, we are already 15 seconds over. Can you be brief, please?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

It's something that we're definitely looking into. Obviously, we want to deal with the exploitation as it occurs, regardless of the conditions that people are in. It is clear that, when you have a closed work permit, it does make you more vulnerable. It makes you more hesitant to report abuse and take action, and it gives you less of an ability to move from one place to another.

Looking at the next policy options we have in our tool kit is something that both I and Minister Boissonnault are looking at intensely. I think it's something that we will be working to fix in the coming months.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Kwan.

We will go to the honourable member Mr. Kmiec for five minutes.

Please, go ahead.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Minister, when you assumed your role as Minister of Immigration in August 2023, were you briefed on the surging number of asylum claims being made at airports in Canada?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Yes.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

When did you receive those briefings? Was it in August?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I couldn't tell you precisely what date it was. I became minister in July. I would venture that the briefings occurred within the next week, and then we followed up with more detailed subjects.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

You've seen that there were 250 asylum claims made by Mexican nationals in 2016. The visa requirement was lifted, and the numbers I have show that, just for Mexican nationals at the air border, the number was 14,490 as of September. Why haven't you acted on that?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Again, as I was telling your colleagues, MP Kmiec, this takes both an internal process and one with the Government of Mexico, which is one of our most important trading partners. This isn't a decision that is taken lightly. The commercial flows that go between our countries are much more significant than they were in 2015. I think that's important. Tourism is a multi-billion dollar industry. There are valid public policy reasons for it, as I think you'll admit.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Minister, I understand. These are all fair points.

For 2022 and 2023, CBC calculated the numbers. There was a 46% increase in asylum claims being made at an airport, which meant someone applied for an eTA and landed here. According to the IRB, 11% followed through and were accepted, which meant that 89% of the claims made so far were rejected as false asylum claims.

I'm asking you what you have done since then. You see these numbers. You've been briefed on them. Why haven't you acted?