Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 23rd, 2026

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

You're asking us to validate your priority, so I want to know, Mr. Harris, as the new DM, what is your priority? You've asked us for $40 million for an asylum claimant hotel to be bought, and you're saying we don't have the bandwidth for more than 2,000 cases of fraud to be prosecuted, while you're bringing in 155,000 more people.

If I were the minister, we'd be having this conversation. It seems a little bananas to me.

[Scott Harris]

The supplementary estimates are brought forward by ministers as well. These are government priorities.

I should clarify that I'm not the new deputy minister.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Would you advise the minister today that perhaps there should be greater priority and emphasis on litigating fraud and/or that we shouldn't be bringing in more international student permits until there's a removal plan for the millions of permits that have already expired?

[Scott Harris]

I believe we need to balance our priorities off. We need to—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

What does “balance” mean?

[Scott Harris]

Well, we continue to need to bring people to Canada to grow—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

What about the kids who don't have jobs?

[Scott Harris]

We need to make that a priority as well.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Why aren't we focusing on labour mobility strategies? This is wild to me. It's wild. You know that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Ms. Rempel Garner, and thank you, Mr. Harris. That's five minutes.

Next we'll move to Mr. Zuberi for five minutes.

Your five minutes start now.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

I'll continue with you, Mr. Harris, along the same lines of questioning we were just hearing about. I know there was a lot of back-and-forth. I was trying to listen to what your answer was. I couldn't get it because of interruptions.

In terms of the hotel, the IRCC and all of that theme, do you want to add anything before I go into my other lines of questioning?

[Scott Harris]

As you know, we stood down our hotel program, the interim lodging strategy. We are continuing to work with provinces and our municipal partners to ensure they have the capacity to deal with the needs in their communities with respect to homelessness and housing. That's been the focus. The focus in 2017 was to work with jurisdictions to build their capacity to deal with any pressures they faced. That has remained the strategy.

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

Thank you. I appreciate that clarification for the record and for the benefit of all Canadians.

I want to shift gears for a moment and talk about what's also on the minds of many Canadians. We're in an unfortunate part of world history when there are so many conflicts happening. So many Canadians have loved ones in conflict zones. A number of programs speak to our humanitarian spirit as Canadians, and as we always have, we're looking out for one another and looking out for humanity. There are a few programs I want to highlight and ask you about.

First, Canadians have loved ones, direct family members, in Gaza. Our government did bring forth an important program, which is similar to other programs, about reunification for Gaza. Can you give us an update on where we are with respect to that? What is the prospectus for the future of that program?

[Scott Harris]

I'm happy to speak to that.

The program you're speaking about was the commitment to 5,000...through a temporary resident public policy that allowed for reunification. We've received applications against that program. The total number is 6,350 applications. So far we've approved 1,325 of those applications, and 970 people have arrived in Canada specifically through the program. We also continue to receive applications outside the program, so at the same time, we've approved another 610 outside the policy program, for a total of 1,390 people who have arrived in Canada to date from the conflict.

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

I've met a number of these people who are fleeing horror, essentially—the horrors of war. They've had complete devastation, with homes completely razed, family members and dear ones killed, and serious injuries, such as amputations.

With respect to those I've met, they've said they're having a challenging time getting their feet settled here in Canada. What types of services and supports are you offering those who are arriving here from that war zone?

[Scott Harris]

Obviously, it's a family reunification process. Normally, under such processes, we count on families to be a first base of support. We have provided nominal supports on arrival. They then have access to our settlement services, so they can continue to benefit from the existing network of resources.

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

In the next minute I have, I'd like to focus on the M-62 Uyghur program, which is also welcoming those who are deeply vulnerable, but not for the same reasons. I want to applaud your department for welcoming refugees who are deeply vulnerable and who have faced persecution.

What is the prospectus for this program? How are we doing so far with respect to welcoming Uyghurs who are fleeing persecution?

[Scott Harris]

I know that you know this program very well. To date, we've received 860 applications, and about 265 arrivals have occurred.

As you know, it's a very difficult population to serve, to reach and to ensure that we can provide the necessary protections to along the pathway without putting them at additional risk. We're working with our community partners to make sure we're doing this work in a very sensitive way. Progress is continuing to address that.

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

I would like to register that I would appreciate it if we could pick up the pace on this.

Thank you for what you've done.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Zuberi.

Thank you, Mr. Harris.

Mr. Deschênes, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Harris, let's continue the discussion on the investigations carried out when you receive semi‑annual reports that raise issues such as international students failing to comply with their terms.

We can see today that, of the 153,000 students likely failing to comply with their terms, only 4,000 were investigated in 2023‑24. Will this improve?

[Scott Harris]

There has already been an improvement. In 2025, we had concerns about only 35,000 cases. We're currently assessing each of these cases. Some circumstances aren't cause for concern, such as—

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

I know that. However, the investigations should be carried out. I want to know whether the rate of 2,000 investigations a year is increasing.

[Scott Harris]

That's what I was saying. We need to find ways to follow up differently in certain cases.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Are you carrying out more investigations in 2025‑26 than you did in 2023‑24?