Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 9th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Ms. Mahboubi. I'm sorry, but we've gone way over time. Perhaps you can continue in the next round.

That's the first round of questions completed.

We will move to the second round, which is for five minutes.

We'll start with Mr. Menegakis for five minutes, please.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all of our witnesses for appearing before us today.

My first question is for you, Dr. Mahboubi.

You wrote just a few months ago:

Canada's immigration policy has lost its way. Once a model for attracting skilled newcomers who drove growth and innovation, the system is now consumed with chasing numeric targets and competing objectives.

The result is a complex web of programs that undermine wage growth, discourage productivity investment and erode public confidence in immigration itself.

You suggested, “A course correction is urgently needed.” Can you elaborate on that a little bit for us, please?

[Parisa Mahboubi]

Yes, absolutely.

Even though I suggested today that we need to manage the number of immigrants and population growth, which is something that the government has started doing by reducing immigration numbers, which I support, how we do it is more important than just focusing on the numbers we are admitting. The quality of immigrants, and even of temporary residents and international students, we admit is critical for the future of Canada, our economy today and tomorrow, not only for the existing the population, but even for newcomers and those individuals to benefit from their immigration and to contribute to our economy.

While we need to manage the number of temporary residents and to make sure that we are able to support newcomers, at the same time, we can also benefit from those arrivals and need to make sure that we focus on selection that really matters. We need to focus on individuals who, first of all, are not going to discourage employers from making capital investments by substituting them for it, that is, to go for cheap labour and maintain low wages just because there is a labour supply to address their challenges.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

On labour, youth unemployment is at nearly all-time highs, particularly in the greater Toronto area, York Region, Richmond Hill and Aurora, which are areas that I represent here.

After graduating from university, students can't find jobs right now. What role has the temporary foreign worker program played in this, in your opinion?

[Parisa Mahboubi]

Immigrants and temporary residents with experience are facing challenges in the labour market. It often means they are not able to find jobs that match their experience and education. They are competing with new graduates for the types of jobs available to these two groups. That's one of the reasons that they contribute to higher competition for these types of jobs available for youth; immigrants also have to start from somewhere to be able to start their career and be able to contribute to the labour market.

The problem is that we are not able to integrate those immigrants with experience or higher education well into the labour market.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

You also noted in December 2025 that the government's so-called trim targets for permanent residents don't count one-time initiatives that will add tens of thousands more.

How frustrating has that lack of accountability and transparency been in the disclosure of our immigration numbers?

[Parisa Mahboubi]

This is something that affects public confidence. The government announced a specific headline. The headline numbers are different from when we look at other aspects and other parts of the immigration plan, and you see the actual numbers are higher.

The justification might be that those individuals are already in Canada, and we are basically just moving them from one category to another, such as from the temporary resident category to the permanent resident category. That is still a problem because, for many years, our immigration targets included both those already in Canada and those new arrivals, and these all matter for economic planning.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

[Inaudible—Editor] why set immigration targets that Canada can't meet. In it, you noted that the temporary resident population continued to climb, even though new targets were announced.

Is this another example of the government over-promising and under-delivering?

[Parisa Mahboubi]

Absolutely. It's mainly related to temporary immigration, because we want to reduce that. The government has started doing that by imposing different policy solutions. However, we didn't see that in the data because individuals want to stay and they use different ways to not leave the country. This is something the government didn't see coming.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Ms. Mahboubi.

Thank you, Mr. Menegakis.

Next, we have five minutes for Mr. Fragiskatos.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

Ms. Luther, I'll begin with you.

Can you tell us about the shortages or the labour challenges that exist in the economy in Atlantic Canada? I know Atlantic Canada is a big generalization and direction to point you in, but how does the immigration system help secure that challenge?

[Wendy Luther]

For many decades, our policy-makers here in Atlantic Canada were worried about having too many people and not enough jobs. Now we have flipped that on its head, and we have more jobs available than we have people to fill them.

Building on the last speaker's comments, in terms of our non-permanent residents in the last 12 months, our number from the year before flipped negative to -775 humans from the year before. We've been disproportionately affected by the impacts of the policy changes.

As we look ahead to huge economic opportunities for our city and our region, at the top of the list is defence. We have Canada's largest navy here in Halifax, and many very exciting opportunities to build our economy on the horizon.

The biggest question about whether we're going to be able to deliver on that is going to be...we have to make sure that we can demonstrate to the Government of Canada that we have the ready and trained workforce to meet those needs. It's not so much that we would have immigrants fill those defence-related positions, but there are other sectors, including building new hospitals, which we have under way, our municipal infrastructure and engineering firms. There will be a very large sucking sound to be able to accommodate the workers needed to grow our defence sector alone, let alone renewable energy, ocean technologies, life sciences and other sectors where we're becoming increasingly competitive.

Our workforce continues to grow year over year, and our unemployment remains low, based on the past immigration levels we were experiencing.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

I'll be quite specific. Could you speak about the temporary foreign worker program in relation to food processing, a sector that is absolutely vital to Atlantic Canada's present and future? In a previous meeting, I talked about fish processing plants. Constantly, I hear from colleagues from Atlantic Canada, MPs there who represent ridings where those plants exist. The problem is not filling the orders. The problem is getting the workers to carry out the orders.

How important is a program like the temporary foreign worker program within that context?

[Wendy Luther]

You're exactly right. These businesses cannot operate without access to labour, and the labour that has been available over the last many years is labour that comes through temporary foreign workers.

I urge government, as it changes policy, to speak to businesses. It will be very different from region to region. Speak to municipalities and speak to provincial governments.

We have businesses here in our region that are not viable anymore if they don't have access to the workforce to which they have become accustomed. They're in rural environments. They're not taking jobs from other Canadians. There are just no people to work in those operations here, locally.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Mahboubi, let me ask you a question. I only have about a minute and a half, so we'll possibly have to follow up off-line.

I'm quite interested in the points that you've made about housing and health care, ensuring that services—not limited to those, obviously, but those would be top of mind.... How can the immigration system and current and future policy be aligned so that we have harmonization in place and so that the system is not overwhelmed? Do you have a clear recommendation on that?

You've given us some points, but what ultimately has to happen for that kind of change to be put in place and for it to be lasting and effective?

[Parisa Mahboubi]

To make sure we have a balance between the arrival of those immigrants, providing those services and making sure that the housing market can address the needs of the population and immigrants, long-term planning is really important.

If we know, for example, that the immigration rate and population growth are going to be x numbers.... Let's say they're, for example, the pre-pandemic rates, something stable and long term. Let's focus, for example, on 9% of the population. The C.D. Howe Institute immigration targets council recommended somewhere between 0.7% to 0.9% for immigration rates. However, as I mentioned, we have to consider both permanent and temporary immigration when we do this planning. When we know that the immigration rate is going to be a certain rate long term, we are able to address that.

One thing I want to highlight is that to address some of those challenges related to, for example, housing and health care, we also need immigrants—

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

I'm so sorry, Ms. Mahboubi. We are at the end of the member's time.

Mr. Brunelle‑Duceppe, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would also like to thank the witnesses from these wonderful discussion groups. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with these two panels of experts.

Mr. Janssen Dangzalan, I would like to hear your comments on the reputation of the immigration system outside Canada. Have the various decisions made, which seem to send an inconsistent message to the world about how newcomers should go about immigrating here, affected the reputation of the immigration system?

[Lou Janssen Dangzalan]

First, I would like to point out that a formal study is needed to establish the nuances of Canada's reputation abroad.

That said, potential clients, meaning people outside the country, are telling me that Canada has developed a reputation as an unpredictable country in terms of immigration. These people are turning to other options, such as Europe, Australia or New Zealand. As a result, they turn away from Canada, and Canada loses out on opportunities to absorb, so to speak, this talent into its economy. Ultimately, it's a shame.

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

What do you think is behind this impact on Canada's reputation? Is it the result of the government's sometimes inconsistent messaging over the past few years? Do you think that this is the reason?

[Lou Janssen Dangzalan]

Exactly. Canadian governments have been inconsistent in their messaging over the years. They say that Canada is open, but sometimes they suddenly close the doors. This poses a problem for attracting skilled talent, even in sectors that require workers, such as the agricultural industry. This is crucial for stability.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Brunelle‑Duceppe.

Thank you, Mr. Janssen Dangzalan.

We have two minutes left for Mr. Redekopp and two minutes left for Ms. Sodhi.

Mr. Redekopp, you have two minutes.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you.

Mr. Dangzalan, in Saskatchewan we have a very vibrant French community. There are many small communities around the province that have really strong French roots. It is also a very small community in Saskatchewan. A very small percentage of the population is francophone in Saskatchewan.

I've heard from immigration consultants that if you want to get a temporary foreign worker in Saskatchewan right now, what you do is make sure they speak French. As a result, most of the TFWs coming to Saskatchewan now speak French.

Do you think that's an effective policy?

[Lou Janssen Dangzalan]

I believe the consultants you've spoken to are referring to the francophone mobility work permit program, which was expanded to include TEERs 4 and 5 for lower-skilled workers.

It basically encompasses all levels so that if you have a certain level of French, which is five out of 10, you are exempt from the usual labour market impact assessment requirement, which is a boon for a lot of communities that are in need of bilingual workers, especially those with French as their first language, for example.

It is effective—