Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 27th, 2026

[Alina Murad]

I think adopting a program that would allow organizations to better coordinate among ourselves as well as having funding for organizations that serve asylum seekers would definitely address this.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Michelle Rempel]

Thank you.

I was looking at the clock, colleagues, and I talked to the clerk. We have time for turns of five and five minutes to finish this round off.

I will turn the floor to Mr. Menegakis, and then Ms. Sodhi is on deck.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here with us today.

I have some questions for you, Ms. Kobussen, if I may.

Has the government ever reached out to your organization to discuss immigration concerns and how that would impact the businesses and your membership?

[Karen Kobussen]

No, they have not.

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

They have not.

Would you say that the rapid unplanned increase in asylum claimants and all immigrants has put a strain on local business and services that your association members simply weren't prepared for?

[Karen Kobussen]

I would say that immigration has definitely put a strain on many of the local services and on the local infrastructure that we need to support them. Most significantly, I think it would be housing.

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

It's housing. We heard that from a Saskatoon city councillor who testified in the first segment of today's meeting.

He also indicated that there's some strain in having to increase taxes in order to deal with some of the immigration issues that the municipality has had to deal with. What are you hearing from your members regarding escalating taxes at all levels of government?

[Karen Kobussen]

Well, taxes are never a good thing.

It's interesting. We had some conversation earlier, and we heard earlier that provinces, municipalities and the federal government need to work together, but there's only one taxpayer. Regardless of where the money comes from, it's coming out of our business owners' pockets and our residents' pockets. We need to be mindful of that.

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

Well, as a business person, I'd say that immigration is an economic driver.

I'm sure you would agree with that, but right now there are federal backlogs. It really feels like IRCC's capacity—Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada—in dealing with these open door policies that the Liberal government had has taken priority over economic immigration. They're focusing on dealing with backlogs instead of focusing on economic immigration, which I would imagine would be supplying a resource that is very valuable to your membership.

Could you comment on that?

[Karen Kobussen]

Yes. Thank you.

Again, in Saskatchewan, with the Saskatchewan immigrant nominee program, SINP, we saw great success in managed, efficient and effective immigration levels. We were bringing in entrepreneurs, and that was a complement to the federal system at the time. I want to say that it was probably around 2012 to 2018, somewhere in there.

When the federal limits increased, Saskatchewan wasn't quite prepared for it. Essentially what happened, though, was that the federal limits increased, but they put a cap on that program, so what we saw was that immigrants were coming in, but not in a managed and orderly way. I think that the longer we have backlogs and the longer we have bottlenecks in the system, the more we're going to see challenges in our community and see those pressures on the required services from immigrants who aren't processed thoroughly.

Yes, I think the federal government has created, exacerbated and increased our problems in Saskatoon specifically.

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

Would you say that public confidence in Canada's immigration system among your members—and, I guess, the broader community in the city of Saskatoon—has eroded because of how the government has handled asylum claims and the immigration system in a bigger way?

[Karen Kobussen]

Well, again, in our community and among the members I represent, there is a good portion of immigrant business owners and immigrant businesses in Saskatoon West. I think they're probably grateful for where they have landed, but I know that there are people who are waiting and who maybe aren't so fortunate and don't have answers yet.

We rely on a healthy, fulsome and robust immigration system, but certainty is what is needed for these people, so that they can be assured of who they're going to sponsor to come over or who they're going to hire. I'm not necessarily talking about just the immigrant business owners. I'm also talking about the service organizations that bring workers over—not temporary workers, but permanent—which requires labour market opinions and labour market programs. I think that certainty and efficiency equal effectiveness, and then we have a smart program, but that's not happening right now.

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

Thank you very much.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Michelle Rempel]

Thank you.

To bring it home, we have Ms. Sodhi for five minutes.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you again, Madam Chair, and a warm welcome to all of our witnesses.

Ms. Murad, welcome back to committee. I know you were here with us earlier on, in February, as well.

The last time you appeared at this committee, you discussed the acceptance rate of refugees in Canada, and the low fraud rate in the system. Can you further expand on why Canada's programs specifically may have a higher approval rate than other countries, given program context and geography, and how organizations such as The Refugee Centre work with claimants to integrate successfully into their new communities?

[Alina Murad]

Thank you very much for that question.

The integration process is key here. The services that we provide are wraparound, as I mentioned. It's very important to have a holistic approach in order to set refugee claimants up for success in their integration process.

As for the high approval rate, I of course don't have knowledge of the back-end system or what goes on behind closed doors. However, I do think that the standard of our refugee claimants or immigrants is very high in general, as compared to other countries, for example.

The individuals who are seeking to come to Canada are aware of the calibre the government is after, and it really is a matter of ensuring that we can harness that potential and use it to the benefit of Canadian society. This would require some collaboration between all levels of government, as well as with community organizations, because, as I mentioned, the settlement services and the wraparound support are key for success at all levels.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you for your answer.

Can you also provide this committee with any examples of success stories that you have seen at The Refugee Centre in terms of vulnerable individuals seeking refuge in Canada being able to settle, integrate and contribute to our communities when supported by organizations such as yours?

[Alina Murad]

Absolutely. Thank you very much for that question.

With our pilot program of relocation, which I'll bring up here because we are talking about redistribution, we have a few success stories. I can share two with you.

We had an individual who originally arrived in Vancouver. He had to go through a credential recognition process as a teacher. We were able to resettle him in an indigenous reserve in Quebec, and now he teaches English to children on that reserve. I think that's a really important story to highlight here, because it shows collaboration between indigenous communities and newcomers, which is definitely something that should be focused on.

We've also had a number of individuals who have laid down their roots here in Montreal, who have been able to find affordable housing for themselves and to secure work for themselves as well. These individuals don't just take a job and call it a day. They actually do give back to their society and their community as well. We see a lot of the individuals we have helped serve coming back to our centre, volunteering and paying it forward.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Last but not least—we have about a minute and a half left—I just want to give you some time to give the committee any recommendations you might have in terms of how the federal government can support the successful integration of refugees through efficient processing methods. I know you mentioned a trilateral collaboration between the provinces, the federal government and the municipalities. If you would like to elaborate on that, the floor is yours.

[Alina Murad]

Thank you very much.

This program I'm suggesting for the federal government would be collaborative in nature, as was mentioned, not only with municipal governments and community organizations but with labour recruitment agencies as well.

What I'm imagining here is a program similar to the EMPP, with a back end that allows refugee claimants to fill out a profile, so to speak. This would allow them to include their education and work experience, their skills and training, the location of their family in Canada if they have one, as well as their province of preference, with justification.

On the other side, it would allow the same thing from employers who have open work opportunities, a willingness to provide training if necessary, a willingness to provide housing opportunities if necessary and a willingness to provide or assist with transportation options. Here, we would have an agent who can compare these different profiles and matches and provide a ranked system in which the claimant can select what is best for them and relocate, and here it's really important—

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Michelle Rempel]

Thank you. That is time. I would like to thank all of the witnesses for their time, for their testimony and for answering questions. Thanks to colleagues as well.

Our next meeting is on Monday, June 1, and the notice of that meeting has been published. Is it the will of the committee to adjourn the meeting for the day?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Michelle Rempel]

The meeting is adjourned.