Debates of May 24th, 2018

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

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

Madam Chair, that is still 4,500 more than the Harper Conservatives had in their allocation. We are committed to ensuring we increase the levels of allocations for parent and grandparent sponsorships in 2019, increasing them further in 2020 as part of our immigration levels plan. We are doing the responsible thing, which is doubling the number, improving the system, introducing a fairer system, but also attacking the backlog that was left to us in the parent and grandparent program by the Harper Conservatives.

We understand that immigration decisions and processing have a huge impact on families and on individuals. That is why we put in resources and prioritized these cases, to ensure families can be reunited.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, budget 2018 outlines a decrease in funding to the IOM, from $2,140,000 to $1,454,000. Given the context of the global refugee and forced displacement crisis, why is now the time to reduce the budget?

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

Madam Chair, we are very proud of the investments and the financial support we provide to the International Organization for Migration, as well as the UNHCR. At a time when countries around the world are closing their doors to people, to refugees, to talent and to skills, we in Canada are taking the opposite approach and are welcoming those with skills and talents. We are also meeting our international obligations to provide safety and security for those who are seeking protection from persecution.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Madam Chair, I want to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered here today on the traditional unceded lands of the Algonquin people.

It is particularly meaningful for me to take part in today's conversation in committee of the whole as we consider the main estimates for 2018-19 of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada, given that I am the child of immigrant parents and grandparents who came to this country to escape the aftermath of a war, to escape fear, intolerance, and poverty. They wanted to come to a country that offered a place to begin a new life, a place that offered a safe place for their children and grandchildren to achieve their potential. I am one of those grandchildren.

It is important to not only talk about the actions this government has taken to streamline and improve the immigration process, but also to acknowledge the expectation from applicants and Canadians alike that we continue to improve.

The Canada we have today has been built largely by the immigrants who have come to this country to seek a better future for themselves and for their families. Together, we have created one of the best countries in the world. With our decreasing natural birth rate and our increasing retirement rate, our future economic success depends on us getting our immigration policy right moving forward.

I will be speaking for the next 10 minutes primarily on some of the improvements we have made in the system and then I will finish with a couple of questions for the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

The government understands that the way Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deals with immigration applications, and the timeliness of processing those applications, have a profound impact on the lives of individuals.

Over the past few years, the Government of Canada has made significant progress in reducing wait times and inventories across permanent resident categories, while also meeting the ever-increasing demand for visitor visas, work permits, and study permits.

As an aside, I can attest that when I first entered office over two years ago, long wait times were the absolute top complaint, particularly one that separated families for too long. It really caused great stress and great unhappiness.

Thanks to the multi-year level plans and the innovative new processes being piloted in our missions and processing centres in Canada and around the world, we expect many inventories to be eliminated by 2019, while broadly rolling out new mechanisms to process visas faster and more efficiently.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has been moving diligently toward an increasingly integrated, modernized, and centralized working environment to help speed up application processing globally. Updated technology allows the department to enhance efficiencies and take advantage of capacity anywhere in the network so applications can be processed more quickly.

Since we have started putting some of these measures into place, there has been a huge difference in just two and a half years. We virtually have no issues in my office around spousal sponsorships. Visa application issues have gone down significantly, and now our focus and our attention is on other matters.

Various factors can affect the time it takes to process applications, including the number of applications received and the complexity of the applications.

The gradual increase in immigration levels, as set out in the 2018-2020 multi-year levels plan, will provide more relief for long wait times and backlogs. I will remind everyone we have increased immigration levels in 2018 to 310,000; 320,000 in 2019; and 340,000 in 2020. This is because targeted levels increase the number of spaces in certain categories, such as spouses, partners, children, and economics. It allows IRCC to process more applications each year and admit more people.

The increased levels will also reduce wait times and backlogs, thereby addressing a key irritant to our clients, including Canadian family members and sponsors.

Increasing admissions of privately sponsored refugees and the provincial nominee program will similarly allow the government to process more applications from backlogs, which will continue to improve processing times.

The government has already taken action in many areas to reduce backlogs and improve processing times. I will give a few more details about some of the more specific action that has been taken and the results we have seen.

In terms of spousal applications, in December 2016, we announced improvements to Canada's spousal sponsorship application process to make it more efficient and easier to navigate. These changes included a new and improved spousal sponsorship application package to make the process simpler and easier for sponsors and applicants to understand and use. Our aim was to improve the spousal sponsorship process, making it faster and easier for Canadians and permanent residents to reunite with their spouses. I would also add that it was done to simplify the whole process and reduce the numbers of pages and the amount of work to make it easier to complete the application.

All of those changes have yielded results, and over the past year, the Government of Canada has made the spousal sponsorship process faster and easier. We met the commitment to reduce the backlog of spousal sponsorship cases by 80%, and we have shortened the processing time from 26 months, which was the wait period under the former Conservative government, to now just 12 months. I think this is a great achievement.

The changes we have made to the spousal sponsorship program are helping to bring spouses and families together faster, which has made people much happier in Davenport, and I am very happy about it. This has a broader benefit for newcomers. It helps with settlement and integration. The aim of our settlement and integration program is to help newcomers integrate well into their communities and succeed. Speeding up family reunification helps them do just that, and we all benefit from it.

In terms of caregivers, good progress has also been made on reducing backlogs and improving processing times for caregivers. We recognize that the role caregivers have played is an important one in supporting our loved ones and in helping grow Canada's economy. For far too long, these people have been waiting to reunite with their own families. Caregivers have been facing wait times of up to four to five years.

Our government has committed to eliminating the live-in caregiver program backlog by the end of 2018, and we have established a 12-month processing time for new applications, which is a significant decrease from the previous wait time of five to seven years. As one can imagine, it is awful when caretakers leave their countries and go to another country to help others, and then suffer in the end because they wait so long to be reunited with their families, which causes them great stress and other negative consequences. We took action, put resources in place, and put the right people in place to eliminate this backlog, and the result is a positive one for everyone.

With respect to the parent and grandparents program, we came into government making a commitment to those looking to bring in parents and grandparents. We quickly addressed the commitment to reunite more families and doubled the maximum number of parent and grandparent sponsorship applications accepted for processing, which went from 5,000 to 10,000. We also significantly reduced the inventory of applications by over 80%, going from 168,000 applications in 2011 to approximately 29,600 in December 2017. I am so proud of the progress we have made on this, and I know that it has been very positive for those families that have been affected.

The next area I want to talk about is economic immigration. Canadian businesses have been clear that to remain competitive, we have to be nimble and quick in attracting and retaining top talent, and so we have made two key changes.

One is the express entry system, which is used to manage applications for federal high-skilled programs and a portion of provincial nominee programs. At present, we are within a six-month service standard for applications for express entry, and we have virtually eliminated inventories of applications that were received for federal high-skilled economic programs prior to the express entry launch.

I am particularly proud that we have also rolled out the global skills strategy, which launched last June. Employers can now access the skilled talent they need in two weeks or less, while those coming for very short periods no longer require a work permit.

The final area to mention is temporary immigration. Temporary resident intake has increased by almost 50% over the last five years, going from 1.9 million in 2012 to an expected 2.8 million in 2017. A lot more people want to come to Canada, so we are now exploring pilot programs that will leverage technology that can help us process faster while preserving the safety and security of Canadians.

Madam Chair, I have run out of time. I have shared with you a lot of good news about reducing our backlogs and shortening our processing times, and I know I have some questions for—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

It is time for questions and comments.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Madam Chair, I have been listening to the debate this evening, and there seems to be a lot of confusion. The immigration system and the asylum system are two different systems. They are resourced differently. They are processed differently. We have made enormous changes to the processing times and have made great gains that we are so proud of in the immigration system.

For some reason, the Conservatives are trying to pit the two different immigrant groups against each other. It is a tired, old game of division and fear. It seems that we have to repeat some of our questions to remind the opposite side of some of the answers.

Could the minister give us more details on what the government has done to reduce processing times and backlogs for the various lines of business?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague from Davenport for her speech. I know she is passionate about the issue of immigration. I also want to thank her for the good advice she has given me.

We have made significant progress in reducing wait times and inventories across permanent resident categories. We also continued to meet the ever-increasing demand for visas, work permits, and study permits. We have reduced wait times significantly for spouses, live-in caregivers, and highly skilled workers. As my colleague said, all this was made possible thanks to our multi-year immigration levels plan, as well as to the fact that our government has made immigration a priority.

All of these efforts were made possible because we implemented new procedures for processing applications as quickly as possible and new processes in foreign missions. Wait times have been reduced significantly, and we are proud of that.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Madam Chair, maybe I did not say this very well earlier, so I will clarify.

The opposition has said many times this evening that we have been hiving off a lot of our resources to process the asylum seekers we are seeing. However, all of my speech this evening has been about how we have actually invested heavily in our immigration system, and it has not suffered. Indeed, it has massively improved over the last two and half years that we have been in government. I am very proud of the changes, of the investments we have made, and of the improved system we have. Absolutely, our current immigration system is not suffering because we have additional asylum seekers crossing our border.

Can the minister tell us about any additional plans for further improving processing times and client service?

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

Madam Chair, again, it is important to understand the distinction between these two very different systems, namely the asylum system and our regular immigration system. These two systems are totally different. The multi-year immigration levels plan will help us clear our backlogs and improve processing times for permanent residents. As I mentioned earlier, we want to reduce wait times across categories. That is what we have been doing so far, by giving priority to those categories.

Our next step will be to move towards a technological environment. We are going to use new technologies to process applications as quickly as possible.

Over the next year, we want to keep moving in that direction and reduce wait times across all categories of economic immigration.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Madam Chair, one of the key things we have put in place over the last year and a half is a new director of client services. I wonder if the minister could talk a little more about the director of client services. What is the ambition, and how are going to improve this system moving forward?

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

Madam Chair, once again, we are very proud of this new director's appointment. We want to reduce wait times and expedite the process, which can sometimes be burdensome for applicants. That will help us to greatly reduce wait times and simplify our forms. Client service is one of our priorities, and we are determined to ensure that clients receive the best and quickest service possible from the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, I wonder if the minister can provide a rationale to the House as to why Canada has decided to vote against Mr. Ken Isaacs to be the Director General of the International Organization for Migration.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Madam Chair, we work very closely with the International Organization for Migration as well as the UNHCR to assist us in overseas refugee resettlement. We are proud of the partnership we have with the IOM and UNHCR. They are invaluable partners for Canada for refugee referrals and refugee resettlement. They have played a key role in our Syrian refugee initiative as well as our Yazidi program.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Chair, maybe the minister did not understand the question.

Why has Canada decided to vote against Mr. Ken Isaacs to be the Director General of the International Organization of Migration in the upcoming election for this position in June? Why has Canada decided to vote against him? Could the minister please tell the House?

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

Mr. Chair, the member opposite has not understood that the vote has not happened yet. It is in June.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Chair, the minister has made a decision to vote against him. I would like the minister to provide the rationale to the House on why he has chosen to vote against this particular person.

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

Mr. Chair, the member opposite must have abilities that are beyond me to talk about an election that has not happened yet.

I can only speculate or talk about decisions that are made about elections that are happening now or have happened. As far as an election that will happen next month goes, I am not in a position to comment on the results of an election that has not occurred yet.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Chair, I will ask another way so that perhaps the minister can understand. I will make it a little more facile.

Will the minister be instructing Canada to vote for Mr. Ken Isaacs to be the Director General of the International Organization for Migration?

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

Mr. Chair, once again, no vote has occurred yet. The election is in June. I would encourage the hon. member to look out for the election race at that time and to stay tuned for the results in June.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Chair, could the minister tell the House if the election results are public or private? Is the ballot public or private?

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

Mr. Chair, once again, the vote is in June. As I said, we are in May 2018. If the hon. member wants to talk about the results after the election, I would encourage her to wait until June to do so.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Chair, is the ballot that is cast for the Director General of the International Organization for Migration public or private?

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

Mr. Chair, it is quite fascinating that the official opposition is using its valued time to question a minister on the intricacies of voting at the International Organization for Migration.

I am actually very much enjoying this, predicting how elections will go one month from now and how different nations, including Canada, will cast their ballot. I would encourage the hon. member to keep this line of questioning going.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Chair, I am happy that the minister has given me the segue. The reason I am spending my time on this question is that if this candidate is not selected, the Americans have threatened to pull their funding from the International Organization for Migration, which is approximately $300 million.

The minister has promised the IOM additional funding, which would also be part of this should the Americans pull this funding. This is why I am asking the minister if he is going to tell us how he is going to vote, because the ballot is happening in private and there is no additional funding in these estimates for the International Organization for Migration. All of my colleagues here have been laughing about this, but this could be a very costly decision for Canadians, as well as for the International Organization for Migration.

The minister should know how he is going to vote, given the massive implications for funding for the Canadian public. He should be able to tell the House this information and not make fun of us, as well as the government House leader, who has been giggling the entire time.

Will the minister please stand up and tell the House how he plans to vote in the election for the Director General of the International Organization for Migration in the next month?

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

Mr. Chair, as I said earlier, we value the partnership that we have with the International Organization for Migration, as well as the UNHCR. We work very closely with them on the referral of cases as well as transportation of refugees who have been selected to come and live in Canada.

As far as the upcoming election in June 2018 goes, no decision has been taken. The decision by Canada to support a particular candidate will be decided on objective criteria. That vote will happen in June 2018.

As members are very well aware, we are in May 2018. No decision has been taken with respect to Canada's decision. Any decision that will be made with respect to supporting a candidate for heading up the International Organization for Migration will be decided on objective criteria.