Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2025

[Michael Ma, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Following up on that, I understand some of these applicants have purchased homes under the non-resident tax scheme, and they were promised a refund when they got their PR status. Can you speak to that, please?

[Aileen Calverley]

This is a very devastating situation, because before February 2024, the application timeline was only six months, and back in 2022 it was two months. That's why they purchased homes and they paid extra taxes of over $200,000 and up to half a million dollars. Some of them have already lost this money. A lot more people will lose this kind of money next year if the PR applications continue to be delayed.

I feel so sorry for these families, because they actually need this money for resettlement or so they can reinvest in businesses in Canada. Now all this money is going into taxes, and there are no rebates.

[Michael Ma, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

I have a very quick question.

I was shocked to hear in early October that processing times have now changed, as I think you mentioned, under the Liberal government. Can you walk us through the substantial changes in your organization in terms of the processing times you're seeing?

[Aileen Calverley]

This is huge. We received 500 emails in our system from people asking for help because they cannot wait for 10 years. They need help. Also, especially if their work permits are about to expire, they're very frightened. We have received quite a lot of rejection cases, and we hope we can pass on the rejection cases so that their MPs can help them, because they need their status to continue to work.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Ms. Calverley.

That's five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Ma.

Next, we have Mr. Peter Fragiskatos.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

I'm going to start with Mr. Martel, and then I'm going to go to Mr. Bellissimo.

Mr. Martel, you talked about a change in population recently and about Canada's population going down substantially. You also spoke with Ms. Rempel Garner earlier about the decline in the temporary, non-permanent resident population. Could you speak to those points again and offer more details?

[Laurent Martel]

Yes, for sure.

Population growth in Canada hit a record high in 2023 and 2024. Only a few times in our history has it been this high. The main reason for this growth is not a natural population increase, meaning the difference between births and deaths; it's international immigration.

Over the last three quarters, so since October of last year, the number of non-permanent residents in Canada has declined considerably. IRCC also revised its targets for permanent immigration downwards, which led to a decline in population growth.

According to our most recent data, from the second quarter of 2025, quarterly growth was 0.1%. On an annual basis, that translates to a growth rate of less than 0.5%. This shows how much population growth has declined in Canada over the last few months.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Can you speak about the non-permanent resident decline? I think you're talking about an overall decline.

[Laurent Martel]

Our population estimates for the last three quarters show that the decrease in the number of non-permanent residents is closely linked to study permit holders, work permit holders, and those who have both a study permit and a work permit. Those are really the main reasons for the current decline in non-permanent residents in Canada.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

I suppose you would say, then, that the policy measures introduced to get to that result are having their effect. Is that correct?

[Laurent Martel]

I can't comment on the government's policies. What I can say is that Statistics Canada has noted a decline in net migration associated with non-permanent residents over the last three quarters. According to the data we measure, it would appear that the targets in last year's immigration plan are being met.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Bellissimo, thank you very much for appearing at committee today. You put a number of things on the table.

I want to ask you about the digital turn that we're seeing. Many democracies are taking that up in a variety of ways. I'm trying to understand how the digital transformation—the revolution, in fact—that we're seeing can make government services more efficient.

Do you have thoughts or recommendations for this committee specifically on that? How could that help, for example, in more efficient processing time at IRCC?

[Mario Bellissimo]

I think we can look at the European Union's AI act. Italy also just passed a comprehensive package.

My belief is that with legislative guardrails as to explainability, notice when it's used and plain language, the opportunities are immense for the wonderful leveraging of technology. Much of what we're talking about today can be heavily alleviated with proper tracking when the technology allows that.

However, if we do it without those guardrails, you now have things like algorithmic impact assessments and privacy impact assessments, which are wonderful, but we need to get it to a mass universal level where all people can understand how it is benefiting, as opposed to creating a narrative that it is to be feared, when it's really the opposite if it's deployed ethically and innovatively.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Sir, I have only 30 seconds. I wish I had about three hours to talk to you about this. We'll have to follow up, but you would say, then, that Europe is ahead on this and we can look to their models there.

You mentioned artificial intelligence and what you seem to believe is an appropriate balance between AI and ensuring that privacy is maintained and things are done efficiently and effectively—ultimately in a way that's congruent with democratic principles.

[Mario Bellissimo]

Yes. I think we have some good things in Canada, like some of the soft law and directives, but I think we need to codify those so they have teeth.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dzerowicz]

Thank you, Mr. Bellissimo and Mr. Fragiskatos.

Mr. Brunelle‑Duceppe, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Martel, can you tell us why the data regarding non-permanent residents weren't published on your website between 2018 and 2023?

[Laurent Martel]

No, I couldn't tell you.

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

Would your colleague be able to tell us?

[Laurent Martel]

Are you talking about the numbers for 2018 to 2023?

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

I am talking about the numbers for non-permanent residents that were not published, and then, all of a sudden, they were.

Statistics Canada is a neutral organization. Did IRCC ask you not to publish those numbers on your website?

[Laurent Martel]

Absolutely not.

I know at some point changes were being made to IRCC's processing system, but I don't recall such an omission between 2018 and 2023.

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

I'm telling you. From 2018 to 2023, the data regarding non-permanent residents weren't published on your website.

[Laurent Martel]

I think I understand what you're talking about. There is a distinction to be made between the number of non-permanent residents and the flow of non-permanent residents. There might've been some periods of time when the numbers of non-permanent residents weren't available. Regarding the flow, meaning changes from one period to the next, the data have always been available.

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

I understand that. What I am referring to are the numbers published in 2023 that weren't published between 2018 and 2023.