Debates of May 24th, 2018

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Madam Chair, I go back to the Google search. Google is not the final authority on this. I would like to get an answer from the minister on exactly how many have been deported. Minister, how many individuals have been deported from the illegal border crossers—not ordered deported, but actually removed from the country?

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I will just remind the hon. member that questions are to be addressed to the Chair and not the minister himself.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, the government has invested $173.2 million in budget 2018 to support security operations at the border. This includes $74 million that is being invested as part of budget 2018 into the Immigration and Refugee Board for faster processing of asylum claims so that those who require protection get to stay in Canada, move on with their lives, and contribute back to Canadian society, and those who are not legitimate refugees and who do not have a legitimate claim for refugee protection are removed from Canada.

Our record on investing in border security operations is clear. The Conservatives cut border operations by $390 million.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Madam Chair, we heard from the minister that $74 million has been allocated for CBSA to deal with this situation. My question for the minister remains this: of those illegal border crossers who have arrived in this country, how many have been deported—not just ordered deported, but actually removed from this country—over the last year and a half?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, the government is committed to ensuring the integrity of the Canadian asylum system and ensuring that decisions have consequences. To that end, we are making removals of failed claimants a priority. That is why we made an investment of $173.2 million for border security operations, faster processing at the IRB, and more investments in the CBSA. It was so that removals can be done faster.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Madam Chair, again my question is this: How many deportation orders have been issued, and how individuals who had been ordered deported by those orders have actually been removed from this country if they had come to this country as an illegal border crosser?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, the hon. member should know that the CBSA is in charge of removals. About 8,000 individuals per year are deported if they are found ineligible to stay in Canada.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Madam Chair, the minister has advertised that he is expediting work permits for people who illegally enter Canada from the United States. This decision has meant that organized crime groups in countries like Nigeria are working to smuggle people into Canada. Human smuggling is not a good thing, as we all know, so why is the minister enabling people to illegally enter Canada and eroding our public safety?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, I do not know what the hon. member is referring to. Our campaign of outreach and engagement is precisely meant to discourage irregular migration, not encourage it, so what the hon. member is stating is completely inaccurate.

We have a six-point plan, which includes an aggressive outreach plan for deterring irregular migration, and we are making the necessary investments for faster processing of asylum claims.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Madam Chair, I would assert that if the current system of outreach is trying to dissuade people from coming to this country in the manner in which they are, illegally, then given its current practice, I would say it is a huge failure.

According to the transport minister, 90% of illegal border crossers would not meet the criteria to claim asylum in Canada. If that estimation is true, it means that about 90% of the 35,000 illegal border crossers so far will need to be deported at some point. Because the minister has failed to manage our borders, Canadians will have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for deportations alone. We know they cost between $1,500 to $15,000, depending on where they have to be relocated to.

Between this and the initial voting against the declaration of the Yazidi genocide, I am actually beginning to miss the incomparable John McCallum. Is the current minister comfortable with the potential of being known until the end of time as quite possibly the worst immigration minister in Canadian history?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, the hon. member is bringing passion to the issue of border security, but he knows very clearly that the Harper Conservatives cut $390 million from border security operations. They introduced a convoluted scheduling system into the IRB that resulted in thousands of people being held in limbo for years by the Immigration and Refugee Board. Their record in terms of immigration processing is horrendous. It kept families apart for years.

We are doing the right thing. We are making the necessary investments to respond to the cuts that were made under the Harper Conservatives. We are reuniting families. We are making sure that we invest in border security operations and that we can also meet our international obligations. We know something that the Conservatives do not seem to understand, which is that investment follows talent. That is why we are making the necessary investments: to ensure that the express entry system and the global skills strategy attract the best and the brightest to Canada.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Unfortunately, Madam Chair, the repeated rhetoric is that the Conservative government cut border services, but the fact is that our previous government increased the number of CBSA front-line officers by 26%. It is a good thing their number increased, because they are certainly needed now to deal with this illegal border crossing crisis. I suspect it must be very difficult to be RCMP members or CBSA agents at the moment, assigned to try to manage the illegal border crossing crisis, knowing that every day in their tour of duty they are going to be processing people who are illegally entering the country and receiving expedited work permits because our minister here has chosen to enable their entry rather than closing the loophole in the safe third country agreement. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both the RCMP and the CBSA for their service because they are doing a great job cleaning up a mess that the current government has created. Why has the minister chosen to turn the RCMP and the CBSA into a concierge service for illegal border crossers?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, the hon. member is so thankful for the CBSA that he agreed to join a party that, when it was in power, cut $390 million from that agency. This is the record of the party opposite. The members of the party opposite are trying to show once again that they care about immigration processing, but they left us with an abysmal record of backlogs and very long processing times. Live-in caregivers, for example, who provide an invaluable service to Canadian families, under the Harper Conservatives had to wait for between five and seven years to reunite with their families. We have reduced that to 12 months. We are reducing the backlog by 63% and have committed to eliminating it by the end of 2018. That is our record, and I am happy to put that record against theirs any day.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Madam Chair, I certainly would agree with the minister that the Liberals' metric of spending more money is true; they certainly are spending more money needlessly on this. However, the metric actually needs to be that of a planned, orderly, and fair immigration process. That to me is the metric by which Canadians are measuring the whole immigration system.

What I have heard tonight is that the minister believes that Canadians think it is perfectly okay for him to spend hundreds of millions of their dollars to enable the security risks associated with illegal border crossers and ill-advised visa lifts. Would the minister like to apologize to them for wasting their money, or is he going to double down on his continued poor decisions?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, we are very proud of the fact that we are once again making the necessary investments in more border security operations to allow the CBSA to do the work it was hampered in doing by the Harper Conservative cuts of $390 million. We are proud to be making the necessary investment of $74 million in the Immigration and Refugee Board so that refugee claims can be processed faster and people's lives will not be left in limbo for years and years. We are proud of the fact that we have expedited work permits for asylum claimants so that they will put minimal pressure on provincial social services and can support themselves.

[Rémi Massé, Liberal, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Madam Chair, I want to start by thanking you for the opportunity to participate in this debate as we consider the votes under Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in the 2018-19 main estimates. I will be speaking for about ten minutes and then I will ask some questions.

A well-managed immigration system is vital if we are to ensure the future success of our country. I have to admit that I have a special attachment to this immigration system because my wife arrived in Canada from England 18 years ago. This relationship resulted in four young boys with blonde hair and blue eyes.

It is in this spirit that we established an unprecedented multi-year immigration levels plan last year in order to responsibly increase the number of permanent residents that Canada welcomes over a three-year period. Under this plan, Canada will welcome 310,000 permanent residents this year, 330,000 the following year, and 340,000 in 2020. These are the most ambitious immigration numbers in the recent history of Canada and they represent a major investment in the current and future prosperity of our country. In fact, according to the Conference Board of Canada, we must increase our immigration levels to 1% of the population over the next 20 years to support sound economic growth in Canada.

With this plan, immigration levels will reach 0.9% by 2020, which means that we will have almost met the Conference Board of Canada's recommendation in just three years. This increase in immigration levels will help strengthen our country and keep us globally competitive, while stimulating innovation and economic growth, and supporting the creation of diverse, inclusive communities. The increase will help us face major challenges in the coming years, such as slower growth of the labour force and a labour shortage as a result of the aging Canadian population.

I want to remind hon. members of some important figures. In 1971, there were 6.6 people of working age for every senior. In 2012, the ratio of workers to seniors dropped to 4.2 to 1, and this ratio is expected to drop to 2 to 1 by 2036, in less than 20 years. Five million Canadians will be retiring in that time, and in two decades, nearly all of Canada's annual net population growth will come from immigration, which already represents 65% of our growth. We need to address this obvious demographic challenge if we want to be able to fulfill our commitments with respect to health care, pensions, and other social services; continue to grow our economy; and continue to fill our labour needs in the coming decades.

The multi-year immigration levels plan will benefit all Canadians because immigrants contribute to our economic growth and keep Canada competitive in a global economy. Immigrants can drive innovation and help employers meet their labour force needs.

Higher immigration levels will also improve the operations of our immigration system by helping us to reduce application backlogs and improve processing times for our clients. This will help us to reunite families more quickly, allow employers to more effectively hire the talent they need, and provide more timely protection to the most vulnerable people around the world.

It is fair to say that Canada is able to leverage what some call its immigration advantage. While an increasing number of countries are closing their doors to newcomers with innovative perspectives, an entrepreneurial spirit, and unique skills, Canada is taking a different approach.

Immigration seems to be an economic differentiator for Canada in terms of both our current and long-term needs. That is why 60% of the growth in immigration levels for this year and the subsequent two years will come through our economic programs. Prominent among these, of course, is our provincial nominee program, which helps meet regional labour needs and distributes the benefits of immigration throughout Canada.

Another excellent strategy for meeting regional needs is the Atlantic immigration pilot program, through which the government works with the community as a whole and employers in particular to ensure that newcomers settle in Atlantic Canada and stay there long term. At the same time, the Government of Canada is launching new programs, trying out new ideas and introducing faster processing in order to enhance its appeal for the talent that the country needs to ensure its economic prosperity.

For example, the recent implementation of the global skills strategy helps attract top talent from around the world. The purpose of this strategy is to bring in high-skilled workers to Canada sooner by processing their work permit and visa application in just two weeks, among other innovative measures.

The start-up visa program is another example of an innovative economic immigration program that helps identify promising new businesses in partnership with business incubators, angel investor groups, and private sector venture capital funds. They commit to supporting foreign entrepreneurs who are starting up innovative businesses and the government gives those entrepreneurs permanent resident status so that they can come to Canada quickly to create more jobs and contribute to our country's economic growth.

All the programs I just listed are examples of how the government is using innovative, creative approaches to meet Canada's unique economic needs through immigration.

We will be increasing immigration levels in the coming years, but we will also be ensuring that our immigration system remains well managed and puts the safety of all Canadians first. That is so important it bears repeating: our system works and puts the safety of all Canadians first. Our multi-year planning approach is helping Canada come up with a better plan to handle the challenges and opportunities of higher immigration levels. Our approach is also helping provincial governments, municipalities, and newcomer settlement agencies make plans of their own.

Settlement agencies have actually been calling for a multi-year plan for years now. We also have to increase immigration levels in a way that Canadians support.

Our immigration system must remain well managed, its economic benefits must remain clear, and it must continue to put the safety of all Canadians first. Canada is unique among immigrant receiving countries because it places such tremendous importance on giving newcomers the help they need to integrate into our country.

Our settlement services, including language training, employment services, and newcomer orientation, are positive contributors to immigrants' success. Canada also sets itself apart with its emphasis on citizenship as ultimate outcome of a process that begins with immigration and integration.

In fact, most eligible immigrants, or about 85% of folks, decide to apply for Canadian citizenship. We believe that welcoming immigrants to Canada, helping them settle and integrate into our society, and eventually seeing them become Canadian citizens provides our country with great opportunities and a competitive advantage. That is why it is essential to maintain a well-run immigration system to ensure economic growth, support sustainable communities, and keep Canada globally competitive.

Madam Chair, I will now ask my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, a few questions.

We have seen an increase in the number of border crossings and irregular asylum claimants in recent months. What impact does this increase have on the multi-year immigration levels plan?

Before I let the parliamentary secretary answer, I think it is important to reiterate something that I mentioned in my speech, namely that border crossings by asylum seekers occur as part of a very well-run system. What I mean is that when asylum seekers cross the border, first, they are stopped by the RCMP. Then, they go through a whole security screening process, which includes fingerprinting and a series of biometric tests. The RCMP also runs their names through all of our databases to check if there are any special issues. This system is well run and ensures that our officials are there to keep all Canadians safe.

I will repeat my question for the parliamentary secretary: what impact does this increase have on the multi-year immigration levels plan?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague and good friend from Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia for his speech and his question.

Again, asylum seekers are not taking the place of other immigrants who come here or refugees that we have identified abroad. We have unveiled an historic multi-year immigration levels plan, which will help us achieve our immigration objectives, whether with regard to families, the economy, or refugees. Again, this has nothing to do with asylum seekers.

Every year, before November 1, the plan is changed according to our objectives and our needs. We know that newcomers are very important to the Canadian economy. We all have a role to play in helping them integrate into our country.

[Rémi Massé, Liberal, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Madam Chair, in another life, before I got into politics, I had the good fortune and honour to be the head of the CEGEP in Matane. We were especially proud because in order to develop our CEGEP, we had to attract new students from outside Quebec and Canada, and we managed to attract many from France, Mali, and Congo, among others. At a CEGEP of 700 students, we had more than 200 foreign students.

Attracting talent to Canada is important, but it is just as important to ensure that they integrate well and that they flourish in our communities.

Can the parliamentary secretary tell the House what we are doing to help immigrants succeed once they get here?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for his question.

We have a broad range of programs and we are working with more than 500 settlement service providers. I have had the opportunity to meet with many of their representatives across Canada since being appointed parliamentary secretary. I would like to thank these service providers, who are making a major contribution to the settlement of newcomers to Canada.

We have a wide range of pre-arrival services that help immigrants integrate, find jobs, and obtain the services they need, such as hospital services. We have invested more than $1.2 billion in settlement and integration services. We are proud to have all these service providers who are really helping us ensure that newcomers integrate as easily as possible. We also want to provide immigrants with the language training they need so they can use both of Canada's official languages and contribute as quickly as possible to our economy. We all have a role to play, and these service providers really help us out in that regard.

[Rémi Massé, Liberal, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Madam Chair, I come from a riding in eastern Quebec where there is a labour shortage, as is the case in many Quebec regions. It is vital that our approach attract the the most talented people to Canada.

Can our parliamentary secretary tell the House what the government is doing to ensure the competitiveness of our country in a global economy?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Madam Chair, we have several programs to welcome the most talented people to Canada so they can contribute to our society and our businesses. We make these programs accessible for newcomers and we want to identify these immigrants so they can contribute to our economy as quickly as possible.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, as we talk about the brightest and the top talents, currently Canada has hundreds of Iranian nationals stuck in permanent resident applications as a result of delays in processing.

How many Iranian nationals are currently stuck in the backlog as a result of lengthy delays at the security screening stage?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Madam Chair, our government is committed to ensuring that every application is assessed based on its merits, in a fair manner, and in accordance with Canada's laws. We acknowledge that some applicants have experienced security screening delays and are working with our partners to process applications efficiently.

We have engaged with the particular community mentioned by the member opposite that is impacted by these security screening delays and have committed to addressing their concerns.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, how many are stuck in the system right now?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, our officials as well as those from Public Safety have met the particular members of this community and we are committed to addressing their concerns.