Debates of Sept. 15th, 2025

(Return tabled)

Question No.160—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

With regard to job and skills training programs funded through Employment and Social Development Canada: (a) how does the government assess the effectiveness of these programs; (b) for each program funded, what is the completion rate for participants of the program; (c) what proportion of participants, in each program, are (i) Indigenous, (ii) living with a disability, (iii) experiencing long-term unemployment, (iv) recent immigrants to Canada, (v) formerly incarcerated; (d) what are the completion rates of each program, broken down by the groups in (c)(i) to (c)(v); (e) what percentage of participants who have completed such a program are able to find jobs which use the skills they have learned, broken down by each program; and (f) for each group in (c)(i) to (c)(v), what percentage of participants who have completed a program are able to find jobs which use the skills that they have learned, broken down by each program?

(Return tabled)

Question No.162—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

With regard to information accessed and used by the government for decisions about immigration and credential recognition, and using the most up to date figures available: (a) how long does it take for each licensing body in Canada to provide an answer to an internationally trained professional on whether or not their credentials will be recognized in Canada; (b) for each licensing body, do they offer competency-based testing, multiple choice testing, or another form of testing; (c) for each response in (b), what is the cost of testing, and how much of that cost is borne by the individual seeking to be licensed; (d) what percentage of new immigrants who earned credentials overseas are able to use those credentials in Canada; and (e) what percentage of Canadians born in Canada who earned credentials overseas are able to use those credentials in Canada?

(Return tabled)

Question No.164—

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

With regard to the Canada Border Services Agency, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and the COVID-19 pandemic: (a) how many migrant workers entered Canada between (i) April 1, 2020, and October 31, 2020, (ii) April 1, 2021, and October 31, 2021, (iii) April 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022, broken down by province; (b) what are the details of the quarantine period, including (i) how many migrant workers were quarantined, by province, (ii) when they were quarantined, by month and year, (iii) the length of the quarantine period, (iv) who paid for their quarantine accommodations, (v) the overall cost to the government; (c) how many migrant workers received their COVID-19 vaccine in Canada, upon their arrival in Canada between (i) April 1, 2020, and October 31, 2020, (ii) April 1, 2021, and October 31, 2021, (iii) April 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022, broken down by province; (d) in cases where the migrant worker was already COVID-19 vaccinated in his or her country of origin, did Canadian immigration authorities document the date of vaccination and the vaccine brand for migrant workers, and what is the data; (e) in cases where the migrant worker received an unapproved COVID-19 vaccine brand prior to entry, would they require receipt of a Canadian approved brand upon entry; (f) following COVID-19 immunization, how many migrant workers (i) sought medical attention, (ii) were determined too ill to work, (iii) were hospitalized, (iv) died while in Canada; (g) for each case in (f)(i) to (f)(iv), how many occurrences were there between (i) April 1, 2020, and October 31, 2020, (ii) April 1, 2021, and October 31, 2021, (iii) April 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022, broken down by province; (h) in cases where a migrant worker died following immunization, what were the causes of death; (i) with regard to persons in (h), were any autopsies performed on any deceased migrant workers; (j) if the answer to (i) is affirmative, how many autopsies were performed and what were the findings; (k) how many deceased bodies or their cremated remains were sent back to their country of origin between (i) April 1, 2020, and October 31, 2020, (ii) April 1, 2021, and October 31, 2021, (iii) April 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022; and (l) in cases where a migrant worker had an adverse event following their COVID-19 vaccination in Canada, would they qualify for Canada's Vaccine Injury Support Program?

(Return tabled)

Question No.165—

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

With regard to special ballots issued for the 43rd, 44th and 45th general elections, nationally and broken down by riding for each election: (a) how many mobile voting requests were made for home visits pursuant to section 243.1 of the Elections Act, broken down by (i) total number of home visits at residential addresses, further broken down by type of home (house, assisted-living facility, etc.), if known, (ii) total number of home visits at hospitals or healthcare facilities; and (b) in numbers, what were the methods by which mobile voting requests were made under section 243.1, broken down by method (phone, mail, email, online, in-person delivery, etc.)?

(Return tabled)

Question No.168—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

With regard to the Interim Federal Health Program and its expenditures: (a) what were the total annual expenditures under the program, for each fiscal year from 2016 through 2024, broken down by (i) basic health services, (ii) supplemental health services, (iii) prescription drugs, (iv) dental services; (b) how many individuals were enrolled in the program or received the program coverage, for each fiscal year from 2016 through 2024, broken down by (i) basic health services, (ii) supplemental health services, (iii) prescription drugs, (iv) dental services; (c) what was the total number of individuals covered under the program, for each fiscal year from 2016 through 2024, further broken down by (i) province or territory of residence, (ii) gender, (iii) age group (under 18, 18-64, and 65+), (iv) country of origin; (d) what were the total payments made to health care providers under the program, for each fiscal year from 2016 through 2024, broken down by (i) physicians, (ii) hospitals, (iii) pharmacies, (iv) dental providers, (v) province or territory; (e) what were the total administrative costs of the program, for each fiscal year from 2016 through 2024, broken down by (i) costs associated with claims processing, (ii) costs associated with oversight and program management, (iii) fees paid to members of the Canadian Association of Blue Cross Plans; and (f) what measures have been implemented since 2016 to ensure transparency and accountability in the allocation and expenditure of funds under the program, including any audits, reviews or evaluations conducted, and what were the findings of such audits or reviews?

(Return tabled)

Question No.169—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

With regard to the Interim Housing Assistance Program and its expenditures for each fiscal year since 2019: (a) what were the total annual expenditures under the program, broken down by (i) federal contributions, (ii) provincial or territorial contributions, (iii) municipal contributions; (b) what percentage of total expenditures under the program was allocated to (i) operating costs for interim housing facilities, (ii) payments to third-party service providers, (iii) administrative costs, including oversight and claims processing; (c) how many individuals received interim housing assistance under the program, broken down by (i) province or territory, (ii) gender, (iii) age group (under 18, 18-64, and 65+), (iv) immigration stream or program of entry; (d) what was the average duration of stay in interim housing facilities for individuals under the program, broken down by province or territory; (e) broken down by fiscal year, (i) what is the name of every facility participating in the program, (ii) who is the beneficial owner, (iii) what is the street address, city, province or territory, and postal code, (iv) what is the total capacity, (v) what is the corporate name of the entity managing or owning each location, if any; (f) how many housing units or spaces were added to the program inventory; and (g) what steps have been taken to track and report outcomes for individuals and families receiving interim housing assistance under the program, including their transition to longer-term housing solutions?

(Return tabled)

Question No.171—

[John Williamson, Conservative, Saint John—St. Croix, NB]

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's temporary public policy, first introduced in May 2020, and renewed in March 2025, which allows foreign nationals in Canada on closed work permits to change employers or occupations prior to receiving a new work permit: (a) how many foreign nationals have received temporary authorization under this public policy to change employers, or occupations, each year since its inception, broken down by (i) province or territory of employment or residence, (ii) National Occupation Classification code of the original job, (iii) National Occupation Classification code of the new job; (b) what is the average and median processing time for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to issue an interim authorization email or authorization letter or approval to applicants under this policy in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2022, (iv) 2023, (v) 2024, (vi) to date in 2025; (c) what is the average time elapsed between receiving interim authorization and the final decision on the underlying work permit application for each month since 2020; (d) how many applications under this policy have been refused or denied since 2020, and for what reasons, broken down by year and month; (e) how many foreign nationals working under this interim policy were later found to have violated the terms of their work authorization or status, and what enforcement actions, if any, were taken by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or the Canada Border Services Agency; (f) has Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or Employment and Social Development Canada conducted any economic, labour market, or program integrity analysis of the temporary public policy that allows foreign nationals on closed work permits to change employers or occupations prior to receiving a new permit, including, but not limited to, assessments of (i) its impact on job availability or displacement for Canadian citizens and permanent residents, (ii) its effect on wage levels and working conditions in affected sectors, (iii) any evidence of program misuse, fraud, or employer non-compliance, (iv) any implications for the integrity of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or International Mobility Program, and, if so, what were the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of these assessments, and will the government table the reports or summaries of findings in the House; (g) what consultations, if any, were conducted prior to the extension of the policy in March 2025, and with which stakeholder groups; (h) on what dates were consultations in (g) held, through what formats, and what feedback was provided, broken down by each group; (i) how many foreign nationals who applied under this temporary public policy subsequently submitted asylum claims in Canada, broken down by (i) those whose applications under the policy were refused, (ii) those whose applications under the policy were approved and who were later issued a new work permit, (iii) calendar year and month from 2020 to 2025 to date, (iv) country of citizenship, (v) province or territory where the asylum claim was made, (vi) the status or outcome of each claim, categorized as pending, accepted, or rejected?

(Return tabled)

Question No.172—

[Kelly DeRidder, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

With regard to the recipients of funding from the Strategic Science Fund, since 2019: (a) what are the details of each company that received funding from the fund, including, (i) the name of the recipient, (ii) the amount of funding received to date, (iii) the total amount of funding awarded, (iv) a description of the project; (b) what are the stated details in their application, including the (i) proposed objectives that were clearly linked to federal priorities and responsibilities, (ii) listed value added to existing federal government investments, (iii) reason why no alternative federal sources of funding could be accessed by the recipient, (iv) previous federal funding sources that the applicant attempted to access prior to their application, (v) listed efforts made by the applicant towards equity, diversity and inclusion, (vi) listed performance indicators suggested by the applicant to measure their impact; (c) when the department is monitoring the performance indicators of the funding recipients, (i) how does the department determine whether the recipient is meeting their listed performance indicators, (ii) what efforts have been made by the department to monitor these indicators; and (d) what intellectual property or pre-commercial science has been developed as part of the funding?

(Return tabled)

Question No.174—

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

With regard to funding applications received by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario since 2019, and broken down by year: (a) how many applications were (i) received, (ii) granted funding; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by federal riding in which the recipient organization is located; (c) what is the breakdown of (a) by federal riding in which the associated project or proposed project is located; (d) what is the breakdown by federal riding and by municipality of the amount of funding provided to projects located in the riding or municipality; (e) what is the breakdown by federal riding and by municipality of the amount of funding provided to organizations located in the riding or municipality; and (f) what is the breakdown of (a) through (e) by funding program or stream?

(Return tabled)

Question No.175—

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

With regard to the findings of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with respect to Canada's implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: (a) what is the position of the government regarding these findings; (b) is the government considering changing any previous policies or positions in response to this report; (c) is the government considering repealing or making changes, in particular to Track 2 Medical Assistance in Dying, in response to this report, and, if so, what is the government considering repealing or changing; and (d) what are the government's legal obligations in light of the findings of the committee, in light of the fact that Canada is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?

(Return tabled)

Question No.176—

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

With regard to lease agreements between the government and third parties: what are the details of all lease agreements cancelled between January 1, 2023 and June 13, 2025, including, for each, the (i) date of the original agreement, (ii) date of the cancellation, (iii) location, (iv) party whom the lease was with, (v) reason for the cancellation?

(Return tabled)

Question No.178—

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

With regard to Canada’s transfer of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter components to the United States, and the subsequent transfer of some of those components to the Israeli Air Force following their integration into the aircraft: (a) what is the current approximate value of Canadian technology integrated into each F-35; (b) what is the approximate value of Canadian technology integrated into each F-35 destined for the Israeli Air Force under production lots (i) 17, (ii) 18, (iii) 19; (c) which Canada-based manufacturers are sole-source or single-source suppliers of components to the F-35 program; (d) what mechanisms can Canadian officials utilize to ensure that Canadian components integrated into U.S.-built F-35s are not later transferred to Israel; (e) has Global Affairs Canada or the Canadian Commercial Corporation conducted any form of risk assessment, regarding the transfer of F-35 components to the United States which could later be transferred to Israel; and (f) if so, what were the findings of those assessments?

(Return tabled)