Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much. I'd like to begin by thanking all committee members for the invitation to appear here today. It is a privilege, as my colleague said, to have the opportunity to speak to you today on this important subject. As noted, I'm counsel with the Atlantic-Canadian f

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, I don't know why there would have been an increase. In my experience, the ability for clients to get direct information from IRCC, formerly CIC, has not changed dramatically in the past 10 years. I would have seen going to an MP as a last resort 10 years ago, and I would stil

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was over time. One more moment and I'll be finished. While it was technically true, I think we overstated that. I think lawyers play a critical role in the system, and that should be considered in IRCC as they do their design. Thank you.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  One of the solutions put forward to this committee by Mr. Orr from IRCC when he was here was a more client-friendly call centre approach. They would actually help the person to navigate the system, give them updates, look back at previous notes, and refer to prior questions that

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, thank you. I think it is difficult to immediately come up with policy changes that would allow faster decision-making. As you know, the call centre agents are really just, in my understanding, looking at the notes and the GCMS and providing a statement on the status. Even

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Sure. Thank you for the question. I don't necessarily think it's a question of resources. I don't have an encyclopedic understanding of IRCC's budget. In many places, it's a question of tone, responsiveness, and attitude. I guess that's one thing about that humanizing experience

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Sure. I think it's a matter of training and a matter of the instructions that are given to the front-line staff. I think they are doing their best, and I think sometimes we get absolutely fantastic service from ESDC or IRCC, but often we don't. I honestly believe it comes down to

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I have no comment on that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Can I speak to that? I don't know whether it's even in the realm of possibility for the government, but I would certainly encourage them to consider it, even if looking at specific locations. We pay a lot of money to visa application centres, a third-party operator operating ov

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think that announcement is positive. I think that shortening the guide is certainly useful, and looking at the language again is useful. For in-Canada applications, it's a processing time issue, which you would be well aware of. There's a commitment, I believe, to shorten the a

Citizenship and Immigration committee  First of all, I think you talked about humanizing the experience. Too often, although people haven't been hung up on, they come away feeling as though they have been. Maybe they asked one question, they got an unsatisfactory answer, and then there was sort of silence from the oth

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes. You asked about the role or the space for lawyers. I think that IRCC sometimes does not design things to facilitate collaboration between IRCC, the client, and the lawyer involved. For example, using the online portal for authorized representatives, I can create applicatio

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can't follow that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Sorry. Just to finish the point, they need to see lawyers as partners in effective client service. That's what I'm asking for.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much. I would like to begin by thanking the committee members for the invitation to appear today. It is a privilege to have the opportunity. This is my second time before the committee, and I'm very pleased to be here. As noted, I am counsel with the Atlantic Ca