Thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks very much for the invitation to be here with you today.
As you say, my name is Fraser Valentine. I'm the director general of strategic policy and planning at Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada. I am joined by my colleague Ümit Kiziltan, who is the director general of research and evaluation in the department.
I understand that your study will examine several very specific areas of violence, including cyberviolence, street harassment, and hyper-sexualization.
While the programs and services offered by my department do not directly touch on these areas, with our federal partners, as well as with provinces and territories and community organizations, we do work to combat and prevent violence in the lives of women and young girls.
To begin, let me just say that IRCC is committed to gender-based analysis or, as it's commonly referred to, GBA. As required by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, IRCC is in fact the only federal department with the legislative requirement to conduct GBA and to report to Parliament on an annual basis.
I understand that officials from IRCC have been invited to return to this committee at a later date to talk in more detail with you about that, and we look forward to that. I suspect it will be me.
Within the department, we have both a focal point for gender-based analysis, ensuring adherence to the policy and providing guidance, as well as a champion to promote gender-based analysis.
In addition, the department collects and generates sex-disaggregated data and disseminates research to support policy and program development.
As you are probably aware, for the past 10 years Canada has welcomed approximately 255,000 new permanent residents each year. Over one-half of all immigrants who arrived in Canada in 2014 as permanent residents were female, of which around 20% were under the age of 15. The majority of all women, approximately 60%, were admitted through our economic category, and more than half of those women were principal applicants. The remaining immigrant women arrived through the family class, at around 30%, and as refugees, at just under 10%. Of note, about half of all refugees who arrived in 2014 were women.
As you know, research tells us that immigrant women face a range of challenges in integrating into society after they arrive in Canada, such as difficulty adjusting to changing family roles and relationships after migration, including gendered roles and intergenerational tensions.
They also face economic, employment, and educational challenges after migration, and generally we're finding that they report poorer economic outcomes than immigrant men. IRCC does have programming and funding in place to help close some of these gaps.
Through the settlement program, the Government of Canada, through my department, provides significant funding to over 400 service provider organizations across the country to deliver both pre-arrival and post-arrival settlement services to newcomers, of which more than half are women.
Services and resources to immigrant women, youth, and their families include such things as pre-arrival orientation sessions on issues related to equality, family dynamics, and abuse; women-only programming on employment; activities aimed at fostering social connections within communities; skills development; and financial literacy.
In addition, there are a range of women-only language classes offered, with themes that include topics such as spousal abuse, women's rights, legal rights and responsibilities, and health care.
In recognition that newcomer youth face distinct settlement and integration challenges in comparison with other newcomers, the department also funds targeted programs aimed at empowering and engaging young girls and youth. Activities in this range include mentorships, in-school support, social and cultural activities, leadership development, and employment and skills support.
As I have noted, we know that immigrant women face particular challenges for social integration compared with Canadian-born women and immigrant men. This is one reason the department has taken several measures to help reduce the vulnerability of women and to address violence against women and family violence. Measures in place since 2010 have included combatting human trafficking, protecting foreign workers, stopping those with a history of family violence from sponsoring family members, and protecting vulnerable refugees.
While the overall incidence is low, as Minister McCallum has said, marriage fraud remains a concern. Visa officers are trained to detect and deal with suspected cases of marriage fraud while processing applications both abroad and in Canada.
In order to contribute to the federal anti-trafficking efforts, which affect women in a majority of cases, IRCC introduced guidelines in 2006 for immigration officers to help identify potential victims of human trafficking and to provide them with protection by issuing a temporary residence permit to give them temporary resident status in Canada.
IRCC's involvement usually begins when a person self-identifies or is referred by a non-governmental organization or a law enforcement agency. The department is working actively with stakeholders to raise awareness on this issue and to ensure good communication with partners and proper assistance to potential victims. For instance, information sessions are provided by the department to the RCMP, to the Canada Border Services Agency, and to immigration officers, who are those meeting with potential victims.
IRCC also plays a key role in identifying marriages of convenience or, as they're commonly referred to, forced marriages. As you know, Minister McCallum has been asked by the Prime Minister in his mandate letter to bring forward a proposal regarding permanent residency for new spouses in Canada, including exploring an approach to end the current two-year waiting period to obtain permanent resident status.
Furthermore, in 2015 the department implemented changes to raise the minimum age of eligibility from 16 to 18 to immigrate to Canada as an accompanying spouse or partner or to be sponsored as a spouse or partner of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. This amendment has decreased the number of potentially vulnerable young spouses immigrating to Canada who have not yet reached full maturity or who do not yet possess the ability to act in their own self-interest, and it could potentially prevent a forced marriage from occurring. In addition, the department has developed operational guidelines for our visa officers to better respond to and track forced marriage cases.
Finally, the department has resources to help newcomers and citizenship applicants through the citizenship study guide Discover Canada and the Welcome to Canada orientation guide.
These publications include information on gender equality, family violence, and Canadian laws and reinforce the fact that gender-based violence is not tolerated in Canada, as was recommended in a report published by this committee in the previous Parliament. These publications are provided directly to newcomers and citizenship applicants and are published in both official languages, as well as made available in a number of online formats. They are also used by schools, libraries, and settlement organizations to educate Canadians and newcomers about Canadian values.
Overseas, newcomers can access programs that help them understand their rights and responsibilities in Canada and provide detailed labour market information so that they can make informed decisions upon their arrival to support their economic integration. Once in Canada, women also have access to a range of employment-related supports that help them build their skills to enter the workforce and/or to advance their careers.
In conclusion, Madam Chair, IRCC plays an important role with respect to addressing women and protecting them against violence. Of course, as I said at the beginning, we work closely with our partners in the federal government and with provinces and territories and community organizations, including the family violence initiative, as my colleagues have also noted.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you, and we look forward to the findings of your study.