Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 27th, 2026

[Lisa Kaida]

Privately sponsored refugees are given permanent resident status upon arrival in Canada. They are still approved as refugees by international organizations like UNHCR or other international organizations. As well, privately sponsored refugees could be family members or relatives of refugees who are already in Canada. When they arrive in Canada, they are sponsored. They are taken care of by the sponsors, such as a group of individuals or ethnic or cultural organizations, for up to 12 months.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Has your research found that privately sponsored refugees show stronger employment, earnings outcomes and economic contributions to Canada than government-assisted refugees?

[Lisa Kaida]

Yes. That is correct.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

When you hear Liberal politicians and political advocacy groups speak broadly about “refugees succeeding”, do you think they may be conflating the two different groups and two different outcomes across these programs?

[Lisa Kaida]

I don't think so. Even though the purpose—

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

But the privately sponsored refugees do have higher short-term and long-term economic contributions, which last for well over a decade, according to your research, than the government-assisted refugee stream. Is that correct?

[Lisa Kaida]

That is correct. There is a reason for that. Government-assisted refugees are more likely to be vulnerable in terms of family structure. That has something to do with the introduction of IRPA in early 2000, when the government was emphasizing the acceptance of vulnerable refugees—

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Does it have anything at all to do with things like initial selection factors, such as language ability, education, age or labour market conditions?

[Lisa Kaida]

For the period that we studied, the refugees who arrived between 2000 and 2014, those socio-demographic and human characteristics were not taken into account. That is my understanding—unlike with economic migrants.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

In your view, are asylum seekers more like government-assisted refugees or more like privately sponsored refugees?

[Lisa Kaida]

The characteristics of asylum seekers are unknown in the sense that, unlike the economic immigrants and those in the refugee resettlement program, asylum seekers are not vetted by the government. Some asylum seekers may be very highly educated. Other asylum seekers may not be fluent in English or French at all. It is an unknown factor.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Would you agree that integration of refugees is not something that just happens automatically? It requires housing, language training, employment supports, health care, schools and transportation, all things that put pressure on local communities.

[Lisa Kaida]

The socio-economic profiles of government-assisted refugees and privately sponsored refugees are indeed weaker than those of economic refugees admitted into Canada based on their education and language skills, as well as their pre-arranged employment. Therefore, it is not surprising that refugees' economic outcomes are less favourable than economic immigrants'.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Michelle Rempel]

Thank you.

Mr. Joseph, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

To begin with, through you, I would like to congratulate my colleague Mr. Alexis Deschênes, who is passionately defending the businesses in his region that are facing a labour shortage. I am happy to help him find asylum seekers with open work permits for businesses in his region.

I have noticed recently that we are talking about immigration in a different way, but we are not talking about the benefits of immigration. We are focusing solely on the first generation. I find that a bit dangerous. I have some good news, especially for Quebec. Thanks to the work of our Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, since she took the helm of the department, there has been a 72% decrease in asylum claims in Quebec.

I'll start with you, Ms. Kaida. Earlier, a witness said that asylum seekers are not people who leave their countries because of poverty. These asylum seekers are talented, skilled individuals. Two-thirds of them are francophone. Furthermore, one-third also request to become naturalized as French speakers.

In your opinion, don't you think there will be a dispute between the provinces? Let's say Quebec says it doesn't want asylum seekers and sends them to Alberta or Ontario, but those two provinces say they don't want them either—what are we going to do, and what means will we use?

[Lisa Kaida]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

What are we going to do? There is a reason many asylum seekers try to reach Quebec, especially Montreal, as well as Toronto. There is a history of immigration in those so-called traditional destinations where there are established co-ethnic, co-national communities.

Also, there are not only institutionalized resettlement agencies but also NGOs. Some NGOs specifically cater to asylum seekers, as one of the witnesses was commenting on earlier.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Earlier today, I was sitting in a McDonald's and spoke with an athlete whose parents arrived in Canada 24 years ago as asylum seekers. A little while ago, in the House, I could see in the eyes of the members applauding the athletes that some were even on the verge of tears. All this is to say that we're going to talk about immigration differently in this committee because immigration is also an invaluable contribution to Canada and to Quebec.

Let's look at the legislative side. I understand that we can get bogged down in the legislative details and forget that what we're discussing can affect lives, because we're talking about displacement. I won't go into detail, but when we talk about displacement, sometimes it can be forced displacement.

Not long ago, in my riding, I spoke with a family of asylum seekers who have an open work permit, who are working and who own a home. These asylum seekers don't need anyone's help because they're already settled. I asked them why they chose Quebec. They told me it wasn't their fault that Quebeckers are kind, that French is spoken in Quebec, and that it's the most beautiful province in Canada. That's why they chose Quebec. I told them that was a good idea.

They told me something else about the members of Parliament, since they follow what's happening here in Ottawa. Do you think there's also a tendency to lump things together when we talk about immigration?

[Lisa Kaida]

I'm sorry. Did you say confusion about immigration...?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Michelle Rempel]

That is the time. I apologize.

We now move to Mr. Deschênes for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I have some questions for you Ms. Murad, in Montreal. I'm glad to see you again. I had the opportunity to visit your facilities.

Let's discuss the issue of funding for assistance to asylum seekers, which you briefly mentioned. I know you are fortunate to be able to rely on private donors, but other centres I have visited are funded by the government of Quebec, primarily to assist permanent residents.

So, what about asylum seekers? How are services funded for those who need them here in Quebec?

[Alina Murad]

Thank you very much for the question.

It is a very interesting question, which I think speaks to the need for the adoption of a system that would open up funding applicable to organizations that serve refugee claimants.

This is a huge funding constraint, unfortunately, and as you mentioned, there are organizations that are not able to commit manpower or hours to look for different funding alternatives. Therefore, collaboration between organizations happens. Referrals to organizations such as ours, that are able to provide services for asylum seekers, do happen. The constraint does contribute to the stress that's put onto organizations that are able to serve refugee claimants.

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

For the benefit of the committee, please tell us what services must be provided to an asylum seeker upon arrival in the country.

[Alina Murad]

Absolutely.

Here in Quebec, depending on where the asylum seeker is coming from, language supports and services are definitely necessary, as well as things like health and wellness supports, for example. Psychosocial support can be given to asylum seekers through community organizations, as can integration and employment services. These are all services that we provide at The Refugee Centre.

When it comes to our employment services, we support refugee claimant clients with preparing for interviews and assessing what their labour history has been, looking to alternative options here in Montreal.

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

Do you agree with this perception, which I have heard quite often while walking around Montreal, that we do not have the necessary funding to provide these services to all asylum seekers?