Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 23rd, 2026

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

—and are being removed—

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Mr. Redekopp, she's trying to answer the question.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

She's not, actually. The question was, has she talked to the public safety minister about strategies to prevent IRGC members from getting asylum in Canada? That was the question.

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

We speak in government about all kinds of issues—

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Yes, so you have talked to the public safety minister.

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

We all have, and we are all concerned about the Iranian Canadian community—

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

I have one more question related to that.

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

—and we are here to ensure that our system is kept safe.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Minister, my last question on this is, given the war in Iran, have you asked the IRB to institute more careful screening of Iranian claims?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Again, each file is scrutinized individually on its merits.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

So no. Okay. Thank you.

I'm going to pass the rest of my time to Mr. Davies.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

You have a minute and 45 seconds, Mr. Davies.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, one of the express entry objectives was to bring 5,000 doctors into Canada to help fill the gap in the health care system, but you've said that these doctors are already working in Canada on a temporary basis, helping patients and contributing to our health care system.

The Canadian Healthcare Network estimates that there are up to 13,000 internationally trained doctors who are already in Canada and stuck in a bureaucratic bottleneck, whether it's federal or provincial. Does it not make better sense to you to focus on doctors who are already here driving Ubers and taxis, and to put them to work in the health care system?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

We tackle that on all directions. What I did with the 5,000 works with every other measure being taken federally, but also provincially and with licensing bodies. There's all kinds of work going on across the country—

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

I'm sorry, Minister, but I have limited time.

If there are over 13,000 doctors sitting in Canada now looking for residencies and accreditation and looking to go through this recertification process, and you now want to bring 5,000 doctors more into Canada, does that not add to the backlog and bottleneck of actually getting doctors? I have a need for 100 doctors in Niagara right now. If I could send a message to all those people waiting, let me know who you are, because I want to deal directly with you to try to find pathways for doctors to fill spots that are available in Niagara.

How are you going to fix that problem?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

You have 15 seconds, Minister.

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I would love it if you used it. I would point you to an article that was in the paper two days after I announced it, with a Toronto doctor—who has all these patients who have been waiting—who just got pulled into express entry. These are doctors who are already in Canada who are practising and are here on temporary residence.

The measures are working, and I look forward to—

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

These aren't doctors who are working.

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

They are working.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

No, they're not.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Davies.

Thank you, Minister.

Now we have six minutes for Ms. Sodhi.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister and officials, for being here today.

Minister, in your opening remarks, you talked about how the funding in these budget supplements reinforces the government's priorities on immigration. Can you please tell the committee more about what these priorities are and what progress we have seen on them?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Certainly. Thank you for your question. I'll be a bit repetitive, so forgive me, but I feel it's important for Canadians, and members of this committee as well, to hear this.

In case people forget, Canadians gave our government a mandate to restore sustainability to immigration and to reduce pressure on housing and services. That's exactly what we are doing.

Under our plan, Canada is stabilizing the permanent resident population. We're reducing temporary residents to up to 5% of our population by the end of 2027. We're reaching the highest proportion of economic migrants in decades under our tabled plan, and we're attracting the top talent that Canada needs. Reducing international student numbers is essential to lowering the share of non-permanent residents to below 5% of Canada's population.

Five reports have just come out, with recent analysis from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, TD Bank, Rentals.ca, Statistics Canada and CMHC. All confirm that Canada is on track and that our reforms are already helping ease pressure on housing and the labour market.

In 2025, temporary resident arrivals were down by more than half. Asylum claims were down by more than a third. Our population stopped growing and dipped slightly. Since 2024, the international student population alone has fallen by a third. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the population of non-permanent residents fell by 171,296, a fifth consecutive quarter of non-permanent resident reductions, which has brought this group to 6.5% of Canada's population as of January 1, 2026. Asking rents have dropped for 17 consecutive months. Statistics Canada reports that housing inflation is the lowest it has been in nearly five years.

Last year, we met each and every one of our immigration ranges for the first time in at least a decade. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed that we are on track to fulfilling the commitments we made to Canadians.

Canadians can see that their new government does not just have targets; we are meeting targets. Unlike other parties, which, quite frankly, have a script on immigration—that's fine; that's them—we have a plan. Our plan is working. It is to ensure that we have a sustainable immigration system for the future, and it is to deliver results for Canadians.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Perfect. Thank you so much for your very detailed answer. You're right; it is important for Canadians, and especially for members of this committee, to hear what you're saying.

You mentioned a bit about the asylum system in your previous answer. I'd like to turn to some of the broader discussions we've been hearing about with Canada's asylum system.

You were right when you said that our government has been clear that the system must strike the right balance, offering protection to those who truly need it while maintaining fairness and sustainability for Canadians. Can you begin by explaining how the current system ensures that asylum protection is reserved for individuals who meet Canada's legal definition of a refugee rather than serving as an alternative pathway to immigration?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I think last time, or one of the times I was here—I've been here a couple of times—we talked a lot about Bill C-12, the strengthening Canada's immigration system and borders act. I'm happy to see that it's now passed through the Senate.

The asylum numbers have gone down by a third. We are seeing signs that they are continuously dropping from previous years, when they were high. That's a good thing. We've also strengthened our integrity system quite a bit by really focusing on dealing with claims. We've enhanced the integrity and fairness of the system.

We are addressing challenges faced by the in-Canada asylum system through the introduction of system-wide efficiencies and enhancements that improve all stages of the asylum application process, from the initial application through to decision-making and the post-decision stage. Creating the new ineligibilities for asylum claims will prevent misuse and will reduce pressures from potential surges.

Even though it has not gone into law yet—it will soon, I hope—we are already seeing positive results, because it is working. People are recognizing that if they want to immigrate to Canada and if they want to stay in Canada, they had better do it the legal way.

We want to maintain the integrity of our immigration system. The asylum system is here for specific reasons.

Thank you very much.