Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague knows, I cannot get into the details of specific cases. I understand that he may have some issues with respect to individual cases and, certainly, as the minister offered then and I offer now, we would be prepared to look at those on a case-by-case basis.
The Government of Canada remains committed to helping reunite families affected by the earthquake in Haiti as quickly as possible.
My department, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, continues to receive hundreds of applications every month in the family class, which is one of the most generous definitions of family in the world for immigrant receiving countries. The ministry also expects to receive approximately 5,800 applications under the Quebec special measures in the coming months.
As members know, in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the ministry moved quickly to support Canadians and their close relatives, in particular, children, to reunite in Canada. Priority processing was given to spouses; partners; dependent children, including adopted children; parents and grandparents; and orphaned family members who may include brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews or grandchildren under the age of 18.
The Haiti special measures came to an end on September 1 of this year. We will continue to process family class applications received prior to September 1, 2010 under the Haiti special measures program. We are committed to making decisions on these applications within 12 weeks of the end of the month that applications are received. Family class applications received after that date will be processed as quickly as possible. The ministry will also resume processing for certain groups that were previously suspended as result of the earthquake.
This represents the fastest and largest special immigration effort of its kind following a natural disaster. We can be extremely proud of this as Canadians.
Given the lack of infrastructure, the Canadian embassy in Port-au-Prince has been limited but we continue to focus our efforts on specific groups, including family members.
As my hon. colleagues may know, there are about 100,000 Canadians of Haitian descent, including 60,000 Canadians who were born in Haiti, most of whom have extended family in Haiti. If the family class criteria were expanded to allow for sponsorship of extended relatives, the increase in applications would more than likely create processing backlogs and delay family reunification. That is why the ministry is focused on immediate family members.
I would also point out that Quebec has considerable flexibility under the Quebec accord on immigration to select immigrants who will adapt well to living in Quebec. The ministry is in fact working with Quebec to facilitate processing more Haitian cases within provincial targets. As of September 18, the ministry is also granting permission for the entry of 2,500 more Haitians on a temporary basis using either temporary resident visas, with almost 2,000 issued, or temporary resident permits, with more than 500 issued.
We believe that, given the circumstances in Haiti, the special immigration measures implemented in the immediate aftermath of this earthquake were appropriate and timely and that our processing efforts following the end of Haiti special measures will allow us to continue to process family class applications from Haitians affected by the disaster as quickly as possible.