Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't have that information to hand. I would have to check if that's something that we track, because it would be outside of the norm. I will take that back, and if there are statistics available, I will endeavour to obtain them and provide them to the committee at the earliest opportunity.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madam Chair, it hasn't been requested; however, there is already some legal authority in the legislation. I can tell you from years of experience in the citizenship program that those circumstances where somebody may be looking to complete their citizenship process from abroad tend to be exceptional.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madam Chair, it's not planned to have a pilot project, as far as I'm aware at this point in time. We do have implementation planning to do to support this proposal in the months ahead. Typically, when we develop implementation plans for any regulatory or legislative proposal, there's a lot of effort that goes into it on a lot of fronts to ensure that it can be implemented smoothly.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We don't have the software or the system solution in place as of yet, but the member is correct that an important part of our process is verifying the identity of the applicant at different stages, as required in the process. Those verifications that need to be done will be completed as part of those plans to support the implementation of an initiative like this one, as we would with any initiative that we could be working on to implement in this area, including the current bill under study.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madam Chair, the implementation of an initiative like this one, as with any implementation plans related to a regulatory or a legislative initiative like this bill, is linked to and reliant on Government of Canada systems that we already have in place, which respect a number of safety protocols and firewalls, as required by various Government of Canada policies.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The member is correct that we currently have systems in place where, if someone, through no fault of their own, is not able to attend their ceremony, we work diligently to obtain another date that's fairly close in time for the person. It's possible that some weeks may elapse. The goal with an initiative like this one to further leverage technology is to really collapse the wait times for the applicant so that they don't have to wait so much time for that opportunity to come around again, and so that they can become a citizen sooner and attend the ceremony, if that was indeed how they opted to take their oath and complete the final requirement.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madam Chair, the proposal is at the proposal stage. It hasn't been implemented. Currently, applicants are required to attend a ceremony and take their oath at a ceremony, because that is the law. Applicants must take their oath at a ceremony in order to complete the final requirement to become Canadian citizens.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madam Chair, those kinds of considerations will have to be factored into more detailed implementation plans, which are ahead of us. It's in everyone's interest that applicants receive their citizenship in a timely way, and that this happen more quickly, which is the goal that the department is working towards.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madame Chair, thank you for the question. I am having difficulty hearing the members this evening, so I am using the earpiece. Can you hear me?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you. Could I just ask if those tabling motions during the session could also share those motions with us so that we have an opportunity to review those in real time? That will save everyone time and be greatly appreciated. In response to the member's question, what I would say is that—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I understood the question. It was just to make a general point, as motions are being tabled during the hearing. In response to the member's question about whether the department has done a study with regard to people's participation online, I'd like to take an opportunity to correct the record about what the regulatory proposal actually is.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will start. The measures with regard to the Citizenship Act are intended to address some legislative gaps. Unlike the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the immigration program, the Citizenship Act and citizenship program have very limited authorities for electronic administration and efficiencies, which are essential for us to continue to improve the modernization of the program under way and to vastly improve client service.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madam Chair, we can take a two-minute comfort break to allow the committee business to proceed, but we're here to answer your questions, so we'll be pleased to come back and continue to answer any questions the committee may have.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, the member is correct because, particularly for those impacted by section 8 who've lost their citizenship, they would no longer need to come forward for a discretionary grant, which is addressed case by case. The circumstances may be different and vary, and they would become citizens automatically by operation of law and need to apply for a proof of citizenship should they wish to have evidence of their Canadian citizenship, which is a fairly straightforward process.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for the question. That's correct. There are existing avenues. For the one we were just speaking of, the discretionary grant, the application through the minister for the discretionary grant is on the basis of hardship or unusual hardship, and certainly that would describe those who lost their citizenship automatically due to the former section 8 provisions.