Madam Speaker, recent investigations of the Pretoria office determined that visa applications are not and cannot be filtered by race. Its diverse selection team has, in fact, been approving nearly nine in 10 temporary resident applications filed by South African nationals since 2018, with the exception of the pandemic years of 2020-21. Approval rates are now higher across all temporary resident lines of business compared to 2019.
However, IRCC is constantly working to eliminate systemic discrimination and racism and promote equity in our staffing and procedures worldwide. It is doing this through independent research, training, a newly created equity secretariat and other measures. This work remains ongoing. We will continue to address systemic racism within our institutions and ensure transparency in our progress.