Debates of May 28th, 2026

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2026-27

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, again, as I said, applications do not necessarily mean and do not equate to people receiving citizenship. The department is monitoring that, and we are not seeing those types of numbers.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Chair, in proposing Bill C-3, did the minister consider excluding claims through distant ancestors?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, I believe that the member was a member of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration when many people testified at that committee when the bill was going through. I believe he already had the answers at that point.

Again, we will monitor what happens in the future.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Chair, we know that new citizens can vote, obviously. Did the minister consult Elections Canada about where these new citizens through Bill C-3 will vote when they have never had a physical address in Canada?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, the bill stopped citizenship indefinitely. The right thing to do was to pass that piece of legislation. It provided clarity, structure and control to citizenship by descent.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Mr. Chair, for 10 years, IRCC has spiralled from backlog to backlog while temporary migration numbers exploded beyond Canada's capacity for housing, health care and infrastructure. Nearly two million visas and permits are now approaching expiry, exposing a system riddled with abuse by questionable colleges that turn immigration into a business model.

One of the programs that got caught up in this chaos is the start-up visa program, which has not been talked about by anyone since the new government has taken office. There are now around 43,000 innovation founders waiting in the queue, having paid substantial fees to go through incubation and business building programs, but your website now says, Minister, that there is a 10-year wait for visas to be issued. These entrepreneurs are going elsewhere, where there is no chaos and where economic certainty exists.

Is the minister okay with this?

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

I remind the member that questions are to go through the Chair.

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Chair, that is a very interesting and good question. I have been transparent and clear. In fact, I was at the Toronto Club and was asked exactly that question and questions along those lines. In fact the individuals who were there asking me were all business people and people who knew about this program. They told me there was so much fraud in that particular program and that they understood why we had to pause it.

We have been clear and transparent. We paused the program because we, or the department before I got there, could not control the applications coming in. Therefore, we needed to pause it and take a look at it to ensure we have a system that works for the top talent this country needs.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Mr. Chair, that is interesting, because my next question was going to be about the corruption in the program. The minister has just verified and validated that there has been corruption in her department in the program. It cannot handle the backlog of applications, so it shut it down because it was corrupted.

I wonder if the minister can tell me, did the department ever audit NACO when it was subcontracted to do the due diligence on designated organizations?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, through you, I would please ask that people not put words in my mouth. I said the program was paused. That was the right thing to do. There were too many applications in the system. We have heard about that for a little while. It was uncontrollable, but it was not because of the IRCC and the people working diligently in that department. It was because too many people were applying, and they could not stop the applications. The right thing was done to pause it, take a look and see what was the best thing to do.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Mr. Chair, it is not that I want to correct the minister by her trying to correct what she had already said, that the program had been rife with corruption, but the IRCC's own evaluations identified problematic applications, weak oversight and pay-to-incubate schemes involving designated organizations.

Why did your government fail to act before the backlog exploded past 43,000 applications? Why did you subcontract a designated organization approval process to NACO? Does the minister know what NACO is?

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

I would remind the member to direct his questions through the Chair.

The hon. minister.

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, again, as I have said, that program was paused. The department is actively looking at what the best way is, because part of my mission is to bring sustainability to our permanent resident numbers and our temporary resident numbers, to attract francophone immigration and to bring global talent to Canada. That is exactly the mission we are working on, and we are achieving clear results.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Mr. Chair, let us talk about results. Right now, the minister's website says the approval time for start-up visa program applications is in excess of 10 years. People can get approval in France in one to two months. In the United States, it is 15 days. In Germany, it is four to six months. In the U.K., it is two to four months. In Canada, it is 10 excruciatingly painful years.

Is the minister okay with that?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, let me tell everyone about processing and our service standards: 80% of completed applications are processed within service standards. There is high demand for the available level space that we have. We have been transparent. We have been clear with all Canadians and all members of Parliament on that. Our staff has cross-training so they can work with the demand we have.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Mr. Chair, the immigration minister stated on the record that luxury health benefits like physiotherapy, home care and counselling are “essential services” for rejected asylum claimants. How are these essential benefits if Canadian taxpayers do not receive them?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, again, I know it is an important subject. I appreciate my colleague. I know he cares; otherwise, he would not be asking me the question. I do appreciate that, but again, as I said, these are temporary, interim federal health measures for vulnerable—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Mr. Chair, does the immigration minister understand that Canadian taxpayers are not entitled to physiotherapy, home care or counselling benefits?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, the coverage is for essential services. It is aligned with similar provincial health insurance programs.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Mr. Chair, does the minister realize that once they become provincially eligible, they no longer get those services?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, these are temporary, limited measures for vulnerable people who are not yet receiving provincial coverage.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Mr. Chair, the immigration minister referred to rejected asylum claimants who were charged with assault and rape as “vulnerable people”. Why is she calling criminals vulnerable people?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, no one can commit a crime with impunity, whether they are Canadian or not. People committing crimes face consequences.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Mr. Chair, does the minister have any issue with funding luxury health benefits for criminals she calls vulnerable?