Evidence of meeting #37 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was u15.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Members speaking

Before the committee

Graham  Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
McQueen  Director General, Settlement and Integration Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Tarr  Business Manager and Financial Secretary, HVACR Workers of Ontario, UA Local 787
Rekik  General Director, L'Hirondelle, Welcoming and Integration Services for Immigrants
Hammond  Director, Public Affairs, U15 Canada

June 8th, 2026 / 11:15 a.m.

Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Alexis Graham

The international talent strategy is really a set of actions that is designed to facilitate and retain highly skilled immigrants as a complement to the domestic workforce. In this case, the overarching objective is to really increase that share of highly skilled or top talent within that reduced overall immigration envelope to support areas like STEM, AI infrastructure and major projects—all the things I outlined in my opening remarks.

In terms of what we've done so far in terms of enhancing that, we have tried to ensure that all of those international talent strategy occupations are included in express entry categories. That means that the way we do the selection prioritizes those key occupations. We've also introduced 14-day processing for Ph.D. students and their families and facilitated, on an expedited basis, the first wave of research chairs, post-docs and Ph.D. students participating in Global Impact+, which is the research initiative being currently led by ISED.

We're also preparing to launch a targeted advertising campaign internationally so that people are aware of what's available in Canada and so there can be those closer links to the great life and opportunities here, and links to employers as well. We are seeing pretty good results so far, although, of course, there's always a lot more that we're going to be monitoring to see if the strategy is working. Right now, about 27.8% of the federal skilled permanent resident arrivals have these intended occupations that fall under that category. The target is 30%, so we're meeting that.

In terms of international students' arrivals in public-designated learning institutions at the master's level or above, we have 13.4%, and the target is 13%. We are seeing a promising trajectory in the work we're doing in this space. Of course, this does complement our existing pathways. There's the global skills strategy already in place. There is express entry. I mentioned category-based selection tools and things like that.

I hope that gives a bit of an overview.

Amandeep Sodhi Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

That was a great answer. Thank you for that.

I wonder if you're able to update the committee on IRCC's efforts to attract H-1B visa holders from the United States, for people who may be looking at Canada as an attractive option at the moment.

11:15 a.m.

Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Alexis Graham

This is an interesting cohort, and there's a lot of reporting in the news around the increased fees and what that could mean. We are working very closely with colleagues abroad, in the United States and our network, to conduct targeted outreach, engagement and promotional activities within the U.S. to ensure that those with talent are aware of these opportunities. We work closely with Global Affairs on that. We have migration outreach officers as well.

The most common holders of H-1B visas already work in occupations that can fairly easily access expedited work permits through the global skill strategy and the global talent stream that is run by ESDC. The pathways are in place. That doesn't necessarily mean that we're not analyzing options. In fact, we are, but no decisions on further actions have been made to date. It is definitely an area of interest, and we do see Americans and H-1B visa holders who are already able to come to Canada.

Amandeep Sodhi Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

As we know, AI is growing fast. The CBC recently reported that the global talent stream could be useful in furthering Canada's economic and industry development in the field of AI.

Are you able to speak further to this? We have 40 seconds.

11:20 a.m.

Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Alexis Graham

I would say that many of these occupations already fall, again, within these global skills strategy pathways that we have, like software developers, data scientists and computer engineers. These are all occupations that have access to those expedited pathways.

To give you some stats, since we're running short on time, in 2025, we admitted over 9,700 permanent residents intending to work in occupations associated with AI, and an additional 5,000 work permits were issued for those occupations.

Amandeep Sodhi Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

Thank you so much.

The Chair Liberal Julie Dzerowicz

Thank you, Ms. Sodhi.

Thank you, Ms. Graham.

Mr. Deschênes, you have six minutes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Hello everyone. It's a pleasure to be here with you.

I thank the witnesses for joining us.

Mr. Graham, I want to begin by asking a few questions about the economic mobility pathways pilot, or EMPP.

Can you tell us a little bit about how that worked?

11:20 a.m.

Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Alexis Graham

I'm sorry. What pilot project are you asking about?

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

I'm talking about the economic mobility pathways pilot project.

11:20 a.m.

Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Alexis Graham

Okay. You're talking about the EMPP.

Carol McQueen Director General, Settlement and Integration Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Thank you very much for the question.

That project has been very successful to date. Since 2019, we have attracted approximately 1,300 people, including principal applicants and their families. As you know, we worked very closely with non-governmental organizations to facilitate job matching as part of this pilot project. So far, there has been a very high placement rate in several key sectors, including the health care sector, so the pilot project worked very well.

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

What do you mean by a “high placement rate”?

11:20 a.m.

Director General, Settlement and Integration Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Carol McQueen

There was an almost 100% placement rate since NGOS found jobs for the people who came to Canada as part of this pilot project before they arrived.

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

In what regions of Canada was the pilot project offered?

11:20 a.m.

Director General, Settlement and Integration Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Carol McQueen

It was available all across Canada, so the provinces could choose candidates from among the refugees who were part of the pilot project. However, there was also a federal pathway that was open across the country.

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

So it was available across the country.

Were the provinces the ones recruiting people through this program or was it employers?

11:20 a.m.

Director General, Settlement and Integration Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Carol McQueen

As for how the pilot project worked, technically, the people who were arriving had to have a job offer and NGOs helped them to secure such an offer. The NGOs served as intermediaries between the employer and the people abroad.

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

Was the pilot project aimed at people abroad or asylum seekers?

11:20 a.m.

Director General, Settlement and Integration Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Carol McQueen

It was not aimed at asylum seekers. It was aimed at refugees abroad.

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

Are we talking about refugees in other countries who did not go through the process here?

11:20 a.m.

Director General, Settlement and Integration Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Carol McQueen

The economic mobility pathways pilot was aimed at refugees abroad.

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

Did the work the NGOs were doing in the other countries involve making a list of the refugees' skills and experience?

11:25 a.m.

Director General, Settlement and Integration Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Carol McQueen

Yes, they also helped to connect those refugees with Canadian employers.

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

Is there a similar program for asylum seekers and refugees who are here in Canada?