Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 4th, 2026

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Over the last 18 months, there have been thousands of refugees housed in hotel rooms paid at a daily rate. I found in my investigation that many refugees who have ceased to have per diem funding for housing have moved into other hotels that have transitioned from the classification of hotel rooms to apartments. I'm trying to find out who pays for that and where the money comes from.

[Eva Gracia-Turgeon]

Okay.

There are different systems. Certain funds are private...if some organizations are able to provide that service. It's the case at The Refugee Centre, because there is no provincial or federal funding for that. We find funds elsewhere to provide for it. The transitional housing offered is always in a trajectory that allows people to go to an apartment afterwards.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Who pays for the apartment?

[Eva Gracia-Turgeon]

The claimants themselves pay.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Are they allowed to work during this period?

[Eva Gracia-Turgeon]

Yes, as—

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Are all the refugee claimants assigned a social insurance number?

[Eva Gracia-Turgeon]

Yes.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Do you know of any statistics on refugee claimants who have disappeared into the economy, who are working and not proceeding through the refugee claimant process?

[Eva Gracia-Turgeon]

Do you mean that they abandon their claim?

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Yes. Have there been many who may have abandoned their claim and are just using the social insurance number that was allocated by the federal government?

[Alina Murad]

No, that's not something we have seen on the ground at The Refugee Centre. Largely, for the rest of Canada, regarding reports that we have read and been a part of, that is not something we have seen occurring.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

You have one minute.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

You mentioned a bureaucratic backlog. In your estimation, how long is it going to take to clear that backlog?

That's a question on things that may happen again. We may see an influx of Haitian refugees. Are you anticipating a problem with that?

[Alina Murad]

The backlog problem is always going to be a problem until the backlog is dealt with.

Unfortunately, I cannot answer how long that will take. I think IRCC would be better suited to answer that question.

I would not say that the influx of Haitian migrants specifically would pose a concern to the backlog. The reality is that as long as socio-political conditions in countries of origin continue to worsen and go down the path they are going down, people will continue to seek refuge.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Davies.

Thank you, Ms. Murad.

Before we go to our first six-minute round on the Liberal side, I would like to warmly welcome the participants of the parliamentary officers' study program, who are here to observe our meeting.

Thank you, and I offer a warm welcome.

Mr. Zuberi, you have six minutes.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Thank you to all the witnesses for being here in person and by Zoom.

Professor Macklin, you were speaking to a fair degree about the safe third country agreement and what's happening in the United States right now. We've all been watching the news and seeing how people of colour, to be frank, are being rounded up and asked about what their immigration status is and whether they're citizens. We've all seen what's happened in Minneapolis with the tragedies there.

You mentioned that the dynamics have changed. I think it's obvious to any objective, fair-minded person that dynamics have changed.

Can you dive more into what has happened with respect to Canadians? Have any Canadians been impacted by what's happened in the last weeks and months in the United States?

[Audrey Macklin]

I'm not sure I can give you a detailed response, except to say that we all know that there are Canadian citizens who have been swept up in the dragnet of this U.S. campaign to deport non-citizens.

I probably know the same as you, based on what is reported in the media and in anecdotes, about Canadians taken into detention and then disappeared for periods of time. These things didn't happen in the past. This underscores that we have entered a fundamentally different phase of conduct in the United States. It is certainly racialized; there's no doubt about that. The fact that Canadians have been swept up in it, including Canadians who are racialized as white, tells us something about how expansive this campaign is.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

To your knowledge, have any American citizens been mistakenly arrested by ICE?

[Audrey Macklin]

They have been, many times.

There is, in fact, a separate detention unit in many of these detention centres, as you will have heard about, in which they detain U.S. citizens. They know they're detaining U.S. citizens, and they put them in a separate part of the facility pending their ultimate release. It's no secret that U.S. citizens have also been apprehended—kidnapped, if you will—and arbitrarily and unlawfully detained.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

I'd like to open the same questions to Ms. Murad and Ms. Gracia-Turgeon.

If you have any comments to add, you may do so.

[Alina Murad]

Ms. Macklin summarized it very well. This is definitely an issue that Canadians are impacted by, as she highlighted.

When it comes to the agreement and returning people to the U.S., a situation that we should definitely be considering is whether returning people to the U.S. under these conditions is the safest option.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Thank you.

Has what you're describing right now been a dynamic change from when the Supreme Court looked at the case in 2023?

[Audrey Macklin]

Absolutely.

I'm sorry. Did you direct that at me?

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Please feel free to elaborate further.