Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 3rd, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Casasola.

Next we have five minutes for Mr. Mason.

Your five minutes start now.

[Steve Mason, Chief Executive Officer, World University Service of Canada]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I represent WUSC, a global development organization headquartered in Canada that aims to catalyze positive education and economic opportunities for young people. Since our founding over 100 years ago, we have had a consistent focus on addressing the unique education and economic needs of refugees and displaced people. In Canada, we support refugee resettlement through education and employment pathways, including through our flagship student refugee program, which is now in its 48th year.

Today I will focus on our support for labour mobility pathways for skilled refugees to relocate to Canada to strengthen our economy. These are not temporary pathways. All individuals arrive in Canada as permanent residents. I will speak to what we have learned, the opportunities we see and our recommendations for the government.

In brief, our experience has demonstrated that supporting smart, targeted labour mobility for refugee populations is a classic win-win. It enables Canada to fill critical labour gaps while providing a durable solution to refugee populations with few other options. It allows Canada to deliver on the pledges it made at the Global Refugee Forum in 2023, while also strengthening our economy. I'd like to provide two examples.

First, under the economic mobility pathways pilot, WUSC has been supporting the tourism and hospitality sector in western Canada to address critical labour shortages by connecting employers with refugee talent. Through consultations with employers, we heard a consistent message: Businesses, especially in rural and remote communities, struggle to find stable, year-round workers. Resort communities have traditionally relied on temporary labour, but employers emphasize the need for a more consistent workforce to sustain growth in the sector. There has been limited availability and interest of Canadians to fill these roles, leaving persistent gaps in a key economic sector.

Since 2020, we have matched more than 100 refugee youth from Kenya and Malawi with tourism and hospitality jobs across B.C. and Alberta. The results have been significant. Employers report retention rates of over 90% after one year, dramatically reducing recruitment and training costs while improving workforce stability and performance.

One example is Ramla, originally from Burundi. She spent years in limbo in refugee camps without access to employment. In 2023, she arrived in Canada and began working as a housekeeper in Tofino. The opportunity gave her financial stability, independence and a path forward through permanent residency. Within a short time frame, she was promoted to front desk agent. Her employer has become a champion of the EMPP, noting that it has created a wealth of benefits for the team, their leaders and the company as a whole.

The second example I'd like to provide is in Nova Scotia, where we are working with provincial regulators, employers and Dalhousie University to address the critical shortage of pharmacists in the province. We identified a group of trained Syrian pharmacists living as refugees in Jordan and supported the creation of a streamlined licensure pathway so they could work in Canada. As a result, these professionals moved from arrival to full licensure in approximately three months, as compared with the typical two- to three-year time frame.

This demonstrates a simple but powerful point that applies across sectors: It's not the lack of talent that is the problem; it's the alignment of systems of immigration, credential recognition and labour markets. When those systems work together, labour shortages can be addressed quickly and effectively. Refugee talent becomes a powerful part of Canada's economic strategy.

I have three recommendations for the government.

First, we welcome IRCC's commitment to making the economic mobility pathways pilot a permanent program, while we also acknowledge that it needs adjustment in order to function in the reliable manner that employers reasonably require. This includes a commitment to processing permanent residency applications within a six-month time frame and streamlining the application process by allocating a predetermined number of spaces under the program to trusted partners. This will ensure predictable intake and avoid system delays.

My second recommendation is that, while the EMPP is an important pathway that should be sustained, federal and provincial governments should ensure that existing immigration pathways are accessible to refugee populations. Working through such initiatives as the provincial nominee program or the francophone community immigration pilot also provides significant potential. The two conditions that are essential for these pathways to work effectively are a processing time of six months or less to build employer confidence and a flexibility on settlement fund requirements, which many refugees cannot meet.

Third, we encourage stronger coordination across federal departments, whose collaboration would accelerate this work. Global Affairs Canada, ESDC and the regional development agencies all play a role in necessary systems alignment. There is, for example, a real and pragmatic opportunity to leverage overseas training, funded by GAC, to support Canadian labour needs.

Refugee labour mobility is not a humanitarian initiative. It is a practical economic strategy driven by provincial and employer needs and the skills of talented individuals who just happen to be refugees in need of a fresh start. It is an economic cake with humanitarian icing.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

That's great. You had one second left in the five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mason.

To all witnesses, they were excellent presentations. Thank you.

We now have our first round of questions and answers, which is for six minutes each.

We begin with Mr. Genuis.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

It's a pleasure to be visiting the immigration committee. I serve as our Conservative shadow minister for employment.

My questions are primarily for Mr. Miranda.

We have been pursuing for a long time this issue of the metastasizing youth unemployment crisis in this country. As you mentioned, 14.3% is the current youth unemployment figure. In many ways, that unemployment figure understates the nature of the crisis, because we also have declining labour force participation among young people. We're seeing many instances of young people struggling to find employment in their field. It sounds like this is part of your story as well. They study and develop expertise in a particular field and eventually find a job, but it's outside of the field they trained for.

It's so important that you're here and it's so important that we hear directly from young people who are affected by this crisis. The nature of how certain groups are represented by coordinated organizations has led to a dynamic in which we in Parliament in particular haven't heard enough from young graduates who are grappling with this issue in real time. To you and to others who are listening, I'll say that we as parliamentarians need to hear more from that perspective.

Often, the discussion here shifts to how we attract talent. Many young people I talk to are asking a different question: How do we get investments and opportunities to align with the talent we already have here and the talent that is looking for opportunities so we can put that talent to work and give them a chance?

I wonder if you have reflections on the state of discourse around this issue and on how we need to hear more about having opportunities available for existing talent rather than just focusing on attracting more talent that may compete with existing talent.

[Ethan Miranda]

That's the primary reason I'm here. All too often in Canada, the conversation is about how to attract high-skilled immigrants. I think that's an important conversation, but an equally important conversation is how we can help young Canadians who are highly skilled and have degrees in things like engineering, but who are struggling to find a job in this job market, especially in entry-level positions. That's an important conversation that needs to be had way more. That's the reason I'm here.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

On the issue of training versus positions that are available, do you find, for yourself and other young people you talk to, that there are unmet expectations? You're encouraged to pursue study in a particular field with expectations that there is work available, and then it's very difficult to find a position in that particular high-skilled field. You have acquired skills that aren't as labour-market relevant as you were initially led to believe.

[Ethan Miranda]

Yes, that's absolutely the case, especially with software engineering. I was told when I started that I would have a job instantly. Even now, when I talk to people who aren't software engineers, especially older people, and I tell them I'm a software engineer, the first thing they say is, “You're going to get a job right away; you're going to have no problem.” That's not the case anymore. We definitely need to have a conversation about that.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business recently put out a really interesting report called “Work in Progress: Bridging the Gap Between Small Businesses and Canada's Youth”. They surveyed young people. They also talked to businesses. It's a really good report for identifying some of the gaps where there are clearly frustrations on the part of small business owners who are struggling to meet their needs. There's also a lot of frustration on the part of young people.

One of the things they identify is, “Existing government supports for small businesses to hire youth are often overly complex and administratively burdensome”. Meanwhile, they've called for action that would reduce the costs of hiring, for instance by proposing things like training supports and EI premium relief.

I wonder if you have an impression about what policy interventions are needed to help close the gap between businesses and young people and to make it easier for businesses to give opportunities to young people.

[Ethan Miranda]

I'm not sure I can speak to particular policies. I'm not a policy expert. I definitely think that incentivizing businesses to hire and train young people is important, because they don't seem willing to do that anymore.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Yes, there's a training cost associated with hiring new workers, but there are other ways we can provide relief to businesses. Basically, we need this to happen between businesses and young people in the workplace.

It comes back to our view that we need to encourage a more competitive economy, because businesses are more likely to hire young people if they're optimistic about the future and if they're growing. If we have a competitive economy, it creates an opportunity for existing talent. The biggest gaps we're seeing right now aren't because of talent recruitment from abroad. They're about being able to deploy the existing talent we have in this country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Genuis and Mr. Miranda. That was six minutes.

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

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. I see that time is really limited.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being with us.

Mr. Casasola, Canada is often cited as a model for refugee resettlement, particularly for its ability to reconcile humanitarianism with successful integration.

In your experience, what components of the Canadian model remain international best practices today?

[Michael Casasola]

Canada's integration experience is desired by many other countries. One thing I've always argued that Canada does well is that, while it can be very difficult to start off, the situation gets better and better year over year. Our background is around refugees. I can't speak to the experience of all immigrants, but I'm sure a similar case could be made there. Part of this relates to key elements. It's not just about the programs and supports provided, or the strength of character of these individuals. It's also about the opportunity for things like permanent residency and citizenship.

We have been looking at census data and trying to understand the integration experience of refugees. What we're finding is that refugees are more likely to work in areas Canada needs, such as health care, manufacturing and the trades. Refugees, on average, tend to be younger than the overall population, and they're ready to work.

I said that those first 10 years are difficult, but the point is that they never plateau. It gets better and better. Within those first 10 years, while their incomes can be quite low, they increase by 31% and such.

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

Thank you, Mr. Casasola.

Mr. Mason, I'd like to hear your comments on that.

[Steve Mason]

Sure. I'm happy to.

In our experience, Canada has been a leader in complementary pathways for refugee resettlement, a model that we at WUSC have been supporting other countries around the world to emulate, specifically through education pathways and economic pathways. As Michael said, we opened up these pathways for refugees to have permanent residency in Canada and to contribute through the education system and economically.

As for our experience, we've been running the student refugee program for almost 50 years, and there are thousands of success stories of refugees who came to Canada as first-year undergraduate students and are now pillars of Canadian society and core contributors to our economy.

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

Okay.

Speaking of refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has frequently highlighted the importance of complementary pathways for refugees to access skills-based employment, education and mobility opportunities.

What measures could Canada consider to further strengthen complementary pathways while maintaining its commitment to refugee protection?

[Michael Casasola]

Do you want to take that, Sandra?

[Sandra Elgersma, Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Officer, Durable Solutions, Labour Mobility, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]

Sure.

This is a new area. Canada was a leader with the economic mobility pathways pilot. It was one of the first countries to implement a program for refugees coming in on labour pathways. We have certain principles set out.

It's important that these programs are in addition to other forms of protection, like resettlement and asylum. It's important that people have the opportunity to make independent decisions. There are certain protection considerations and that kind of thing, but the whole idea is to have more opportunity for refugees.

Canada has been very strong on this and made a very promising commitment at the Global Refugee Forum to turn the pilot it started into a permanent program.

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

Thank you, Ms. Elgersma.

My next question is about the Global Refugee Forum.

To your knowledge, are there any programs or models implemented in other countries that make it easier to integrate skilled refugees into the labour market and that could inspire Canadian decision-makers?

[Steve Mason]

In our experience, Canada has really been a leader, especially on the labour mobility pathways for refugees. We're actually inspiring other countries to look at what we're doing there and at how Canada is doing refugee integration.

To add to what Sandra was saying earlier, this program really does rely on standard and regular processing times for permanent residency. One of the challenges with the employment mobility pathway as structured is that the time frame for processing permanent residency started getting longer, trickling into a year and 18 months. For an employer who's making a hire, that's an unreasonable time to wait to get an employee on board. The recommendation we have is to tighten up that time frame to a six-month window.

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

I don't have much time left, but I'm going to take the opportunity to ask you one last question.

In your opinion, how can governments, educational institutions and employees work together more effectively to enable newcomers to fully leverage their skills and contribute to Canada's economic growth?

[Steve Mason]

I'm happy to take an initial stab at that.

The pilots that we currently have in place are all heading in the right direction to allow that to happen. One of our experiences, just to say this really quickly, is that of working very closely through provincial authorities and provincial regulators, because at the provincial level they have a very strong knowledge of the core labour market needs and of where we cannot find Canadian talent to meet those needs.

This increased work at the provincial level through these programs, such as the provincial nominee program, is an essential tool in the tool box.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Mason.

Thank you, Mr. Joseph.

Mr. Beaulieu, you now have the floor for six minutes.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

This committee did a study on the fair distribution of asylum seekers. There was a lot of push-back from business owners. They said that the distribution idea was not acceptable, even though there are glaring labour needs in a number of regions.

Mr. Casasola, you say it's interesting in this regard, because it highlights the importance of a multipronged approach. I think your ideas are similar to those in the European migration pact in Europe, for example. I'm also thinking of the German model, whereby the distribution formula takes into account labour-related needs and the integration capacity of the various regions within the country. That's my understanding.

Would you agree that there should be a distribution of refugees that would take into account their training and the labour needs of the various regions of Canada?

[Michael Casasola]

UNHCR was not part of the study that was recently conducted by the committee on this. I believe some of our remarks in relation to the study on Bill C-12 did refer to this.

In principle, the idea of relocation is not something we are opposed to, but again, there are all sorts of qualifiers. It would be better if one of my other colleagues—one of my legal colleagues—would provide you feedback on that. If you like, we could provide you feedback in writing.