Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 8th, 2026

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

I know what the program is. I'm asking for your opinion on how it is that we have 44,000 people stuck in bureaucratic purgatory. These are the innovative people that you so want to come to Canada, but we can't get them out of the system.

[James Hammond]

Thank you for the question.

U15 universities have renowned programs when it comes to supporting entrepreneurs, incubator hubs.... There are a lot of opportunities there, I think, to look at how research universities can help support—to your point—a targeted program that ensures we're bringing in the best entrepreneurial talent and that they're being sponsored with the best opportunities for Canadians.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Once again, that is outside the confines of the question I asked you.

Again, I made reference earlier to the biggest problem that we have in this country: access to capital to finance innovation. Would you agree that Canada ranks probably at the lowest level in the G20 for investment in innovation in the private sector?

[James Hammond]

Thank you for the question.

Yes, historically, Canada has struggled to grow business investment in research and development. U15 universities do play an outsized role in the Canadian research ecosystem compared to other G7 countries, but also, U15 universities do a lot of research in partnership with Canadian businesses, normally around the $800-million mark. Universities are trying their best to work closely with industry to advance some of the research needs of Canadian businesses.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

You want to work with innovators to commercialize new ideas.

[James Hammond]

Absolutely.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

You want to bring people to Canada to post-secondary institutions, people who are at the Ph.D. and the master's levels, but if we can't find the capital for them, they're still going to leave for greener pastures. If Canada is ranked that much lower, is your organization actively engaged in finding ways to grow capital access through either angel funds or venture capital funds? Are you aligning these institutions with those capital access points?

[James Hammond]

Thank you for the question.

As I mentioned, a lot of our universities do have incubator programs where they work to pair up.... All of our universities have tech transfer offices, where they encourage researchers to commercialize their technology and they connect them with potential business funders, but there are, of course, a number of barriers to Canada's innovation ecosystem. One of them absolutely is capital, but talent is also really key.

Finding ways that we can grow that talent pool of really highly qualified advanced talent that's innovative and knows how to perform that research is another key step, and that is really the part that U15 universities are trying to support. That's core to our mandate, which is education.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you so much, Mr. Hammond.

Thank you, Mr. Davies.

Next, we have five minutes for Mr. Jeneroux.

[Matt Jeneroux, Liberal, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all three witnesses for being here today.

I do want to come to you, Mr. Hammond, about a couple of things. I'd love to talk to you about competitiveness, but before getting to that, I think we've seen—and correct me if I'm wrong—a significant decrease in international students in the last few years. In particular, I think the number that was quoted in the last panel was, January over January, a reduction of 37%. I think it's probably important to get some of your thoughts on record about some of the policy changes as to why that has happened.

I'll follow up with some competitiveness questions.

[James Hammond]

Thank you for the question.

Yes, you're absolutely right. There has been a significant decline in the volume of international students. There are many reasons for that: a number of the reforms that were undertaken by the government around study permits, etc.

I will add there was also damage done to Canada's international brand, the reputation that we have overseas as a destination for top talent, and that is why, I think, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, at U15 we're really keen to stress that we would support reforms that build a more managed and a more focused international recruitment strategy that is really built around attracting the best and brightest researchers and talent to Canada.

That's a really important opportunity, I think—to focus on the quality students, the quality talent that Canada will need to grow the economy, to create opportunities and to drive innovation. A system that is managed, recognizes excellence and rewards responsible institutions is a really key way that this government can move forward to rebuild that international student system in a way that focuses on the top talent Canada needs.

[Matt Jeneroux, Liberal, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

In recruiting that talent, I presume, as you've said, that it's very competitive. A number of factors, I imagine, go into that. You've mentioned delays in processing as one of them. Could you give us some other factors that would be reasons why people wouldn't choose Canada over other countries?

[James Hammond]

I will stress that the process in question is really key, especially when we're talking about advanced talent, as I mentioned. It's a highly competitive space. Researchers are looking at offers from multiple institutions, and the ability to move at speed and be competitive in that matter is really key.

Of course, another big piece remains: research funding. The funding that's available to researchers here in Canada has helped build a really deep and a really rich innovation ecosystem. Another key element, I think, is the ability to collaborate and work with world-class researchers and to work at world-class facilities. Canada has a great record through the federal granting councils and through the Canada Foundation for Innovation of building that ecosystem. That is why new initiatives from this government, like the Impact+ program and the talent attraction strategy, are so key. Yes, it's going to attract individual star researchers, but it's also going to create that ecosystem that is going to really attract Canadians and international talent to come and to advance ideas here in Canada.

We can see, in areas like artificial intelligence and quantum, what Canada can do when it builds those really rich ecosystems, and we can see the rewards it brings to all Canadians.

[Matt Jeneroux, Liberal, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

I'm curious. Have you seen a higher uptake from places like the United States in the past couple of years?

[James Hammond]

I don't have the latest data on hand, I'm afraid. Like I said, I do know that our universities have been really engaged through the Impact+ program, and there are a lot of opportunities to have conversations with U.S. researchers through that.

[Matt Jeneroux, Liberal, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

You talked about the ecosystem. What happens after a graduate comes here? An international student graduates and then, presumably, starts a business. That, then, has a ripple effect on the economy. I'm hoping you can highlight some of that work and what that looks like for the overall Canadian economy.

[James Hammond]

Absolutely.

It creates huge opportunities for all Canadians. I mentioned artificial intelligence as one example of where Canada has been able to attract world-class AI researchers. Individuals like Geoffrey Hinton at the University of Toronto and Yoshua Bengio at Université de Montréal have created these really rich ecosystems, and that absolutely leads to a lot of spinoff benefits. That could be the development of new IP, the creation of new technologies or graduate students who return to their home countries but create those lasting partnerships. That is also really key to Canada's ability to compete in new technologies: having that engagement with cutting-edge knowledge, with advancements in technologies.

During the pandemic, we saw just how key those international partnerships that medical researchers here in Canada had with their colleagues around the world were. That really helped us not only address growing the economy but also address public health challenges and public policy challenges.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Hammond.

Thank you, Mr. Jeneroux.

Mr. Deschênes, you have two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Tarr, can you tell us a little bit about your interactions, as a union, with IRCC?

[Andrew Tarr]

I've had no interactions.

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

Okay.

When it comes to the temporary foreign worker program, how do you think that we could get the unions more involved?

[Andrew Tarr]

The union should be asked if there are unemployed people in the area. I know we don't represent everybody. However, I can tell you with regard to the first work permit I got that the person had absolutely no experience. They were given a work permit. Before the meeting, I checked with our contractor group, which does interviews for first-year apprentices. It gets between 400 and 500 applications per year, and we only take 150. There are a lot of people wanting, and they all have to have non-900-series SIN card numbers, which means that they're Canadians.

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

In Quebec, when employers want to renew an employment contract or hire a temporary foreign worker, they have to submit what is known as a labour market impact assessment. They also have to post the job opening locally for a certain period of time, which has gone from four to eight weeks.

I don't know how that works in Ontario. What is the process there?

[Andrew Tarr]

Not that I know of. I've never been asked.

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

Great.

I don't have any more questions. Thank you.