Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 4th, 2026

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

It's not for asylum claimants.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Well, who is it for?

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

It's for the population.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

What population?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

I think, Mr. Gallivan, you want to come in.

[Ted Gallivan]

Madam Chair, I have asked the team at IRCC to tell me what instrument needs to be modified to address this question. I would like to know how we write into the terms and conditions a prohibition, so I've asked for that information. I believe conversations were had about not doing it, and now I've asked for the hard rule that would prohibit it.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

When the minister says “the population”, I'm not sure what's meant by that, but let's move beyond that.

You've allowed taxpayers' dollars to be transferred to municipalities under a contribution agreement to buy hotels to house asylum claimants. That is what I've been led to believe.

When you sell the building, who gets the proceeds, the taxes? Do you get the money back after the municipalities sell the hotels? Is there interest payable on the assets that municipalities are purchasing? I want to know. Do they get the money for free after the program is done?

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

So, again, there was housing—

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

No, I'm talking about the purchase of the real estate. If the municipality decides to sell the real estate, who gets the proceeds?

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

Again, money was transferred to the municipality for housing costs.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

When the real estate is no longer useful under that program and is sold, who gets the money?

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

We'll take a look at the agreement, as the deputy said.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Can I have a copy of the contribution agreement?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Davies.

Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Gallivan.

We now have five minutes for Ms. Sodhi.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister and Deputy Minister, there have been some mentions about “light touch”, and I'd like to give both of you, or one of you, the opportunity to clarify anything you might like to say about this system.

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

Again, that is not a term that I personally use, but a term that was used in the Auditor General's report in relation to the student direct stream. This was eliminated a while ago, prior to my coming in. The entire student direct stream was eliminated as part of strengthening our...before the audit was even completed.

Deputy, would you mind speaking about the second one that people might be referring to as such?

[Ted Gallivan]

Sure. The question revolves around people who came in under the student direct stream, which was identified to more quickly provide positive decisions to students from certain countries. I would note that Iran wasn't a country participating in the stream, and so I think that would reduce the circle of risk around that.

On the student direct stream, having wound down the program to stop any future instances, the question is what we are doing about the people who came in while the program did exist. The OAG focused on the particular question of a student who was then extending. If we didn't do a rigorous check of their financials to make sure that they weren't studying merely for the purposes of working, we really did need to do a more thorough review on the renewal of student visas for anybody who originally came in on this. They would have a higher risk profile, and we need to do extra due diligence, particularly around the financial bona fides of those students.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

That's perfect.

I just want to talk a little bit about the provincial allocation model. The Auditor General's report acknowledges that the department recognized that smaller provinces were being disproportionately affected by the international student reform. The government took corrective action by providing allocation top-ups to certain provinces in April 2024, and also by updating the model for 2025 to use province-specific historical approval rates, rather than a single national estimate.

Can you walk us through how the department updated the allocation model for 2025, how it was influenced by the outcomes of 2024, and how it better accounts for the unique circumstances of smaller provinces and their needs?

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

The department works in close collaboration with the provinces and territories when it does the allocation of the number of students. Federally, there is one global number for all of Canada, and then that's divided among the provinces and territories. Again, there's quite a bit of collaboration. The provinces and territories then make the decisions around how to allocate, to whom, and how many to allocate to each of their designated learning institutions—universities, colleges and other post-secondary educational institutions.

I've met a lot with colleges, universities and other institutions, both with their national bodies and, for a number of them, on the provincial side as well. There's been a lot of volatility in the system since 2024. A lot of change has happened. A lot of it has affected the number of people they can recruit, obviously, with their financial situation—

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

You have one minute.

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

Again, that's provincial and territorial jurisdiction, when we talk about that. We are there as a federal government and a department to assist them in international recruitment missions, helping them on the francophone side with Destination Canada, going over and ensuring that Canada has the reputation it deserves and has in the world, in order to bring top talent here.

We've also processed Ph.D. students in a 14-day time frame, which is great because we're looking for global talent to come here. That is part of the initiative we have taken in the last number of months. It is the same with researchers who are coming to our institutions so that we can grow our country's economy.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Sodhi.

That concludes the first hour of our meeting today.

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

I have a point of clarification.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

We have a point of order.

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

Could you reiterate the undertakings the department agreed to today?