Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Oct. 21st, 2025

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

I don't think I know that name.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

That’s fine.

Mr. Guay signed huge contracts with the federal government to lease his land to accommodate asylum seekers when Roxham Road was open and people were crossing the border irregularly. Mr. Guay is a big Liberal donor. That information is readily available because he is on the list of donors. Maybe you are hearing this from me for the first time, but Mr. Guay signed contracts with the federal government.

However, I guess you are familiar with the fact that the federal government signed contracts with individuals who were leasing land to accommodate asylum seekers when Roxham Road was open. Is that right, Mr. Deputy Minister?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

That would be something I would not be aware of, because the first contact with anyone who is crossing the border would be the CBSA and not IRCC.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

So you cannot tell me whether the federal government’s contracts with Mr. Pierre Guay have been terminated since Roxham Road was closed.

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

As I mentioned, this is not something we contracted out.

This might be for other federal government partners, who would probably be able to respond better to that.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has therefore not bothered to find out.

That is just fine, there is no problem, Mr. Deputy Minister.

How many asylum seekers have been sent to other provinces?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

We do not have accurate secondary migration numbers. However, we did a little bit of looking at the previous numbers. When we were looking at the 2024 numbers, we saw that there was around 12% to 14%—I'm going by memory. We can find out what the secondary migration is out of Quebec, if that is the question being asked.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

How long have you been in this position, Mr. Deputy Minister?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

I've been in office since January 2024.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

That is great, and it’s perfect timing because if I am not mistaken, in June 2024, the then minister Mr. Miller, accompanied by a number of provincial ministers of immigration, announced to great fanfare that he was going to form a committee to distribute asylum seekers throughout the provinces. I remember that because it was a huge press conference. We were told that a committee would be set up.

You were on the job at the time and so I guess you had some responsibility with respect to the formation of this committee. Am I mistaken?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

That is right. It was mentioned by the minister at that time that there would be an interprovincial committee of ministers that would actually be working towards looking at a relocation of asylum seekers.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

How many meetings have taken place since the committee was set up?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

The committee was set up by the minister. They had, to my knowledge, three meetings on that context.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Who attended the meetings? Are you in a position to share that with the committee?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

That meeting with the minister was actually conducted by the minister. I was a participant.

We can get you the information. We have noted the minutes of that. We can get you how many provinces.... I think most of the provinces did participate in that. Quebec was an observer in that particular....

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

My understanding then is that you will provide the minutes of all these meetings. Can you confirm that with the committee and tell us how long it will take to get access to these minutes?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

I promised to answer your question, and we will give you names of those who participated in that. I just mentioned that we have kept minutes of the meeting, which would be under minister's privilege, actually. We can give you the information of who participated and when these were conducted.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

What was the outcome of these committee meetings in relation to the distribution of asylum seekers?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

There was a mixed result from that one. A couple of provinces—two provinces, to be more precise—were interested and have actually followed through via relocating the asylum seekers who were in the hotels.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

What was the outcome? How many people have been involved in this distribution?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you. I'm sorry, but you'll have to respond to that in our next round of questioning.

I'm sorry, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

Our next round, which is our second round, begins with five-minute rotations.

We'll start with Mr. Menegakis, please.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Are you on track to reduce the government-stated target of temporary residents to 5% by the end of this calendar year?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

Yes, that is how we are planning for the next couple of years in the number of—

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

Are you on track to meet it this calendar year?

[Harpreet S. Kochhar]

The target of 5% was supposed to be met by the end of 2027. That's what we are on track for.