Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'll turn to my colleague, but initially I would tell you there has been a lot of effort that has gone into processing of family class and, certainly, parents and grandparents. In fact, we've managed to decrease processing times and we've reduced the inventory by 56% since Decemb

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Chair, the reason that it's not included in the supplementary estimates is because the funding for the program is already in the main estimates in the appropriations of the department so we allocate the resources accordingly. The supplementary estimates only reflect when we a

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We have been working very closely with the Department of Employment and Social Development. In fact, ESDC is currently making a lot of systems changes to have an enhanced and more improved the job bank. When our express entry system is launched on January 1, there will be a capab

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's right, although the individual, the applicant, at the time of applying for express entry will also be able to put in their profile for the job bank, so it will be a facilitated process in terms of ensuring that people don't have to come back later in terms of applying for

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Perhaps I will start, then turn to my colleagues. The amount of funding we're seeking for express entry is an amount of $6.9 million. In total, budget 2014 announced funding for my department of $29.4 million over five years. Funds are required for a number of things, primaril

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'll just jump in before turning the floor over to Mr. Manicom.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We have conducted extensive employer round tables across the country over the last year. We've met with all the major employer representative organizations. We're now in the process of further round tables. We've also engaged with our provincial and territorial counterparts in jo

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I do, Mr. Chair. Perhaps I can very quickly just focus on the supplementary estimates items if you like.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  You can cut me off if I'm too long, Mr. Chair.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I am pleased to be here to present Citizenship and Immigration Canada's (CIC) supplementary estimates (B). The most significant allocations in these supplementary estimates are for the global case management system, the immigration loans program, and for our new immigration appl

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would just add that ESDC officials have actually participated in all of our consultations with employers. It's very clear that the system is very integrated when people apply for the express entry with the enhanced job bank. ESDC is very much at all of the consultations and the

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Chair, I would like to explain. I think the minister did comment on the fact that, largely, this reflects the fact that the Department of Citizenship and Immigration became responsible for the revolving fund of Passport Canada, so the decrease in main estimates is largely a r

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Chair, there are, I think, a few areas of reductions in terms of the main estimates. I think, primarily, some of it reflects budget 2012 decisions in terms of some of the efficiency measures and modernization measures that the department has achieved because we've been able t

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Chair, the intention is to have the express entry system, a new application management system, up and running as of January 2015. Further to what the minister indicated, it will provide an opportunity for people to apply online through a very facilitated process, identifying

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The visa application centres, Mr. Chair, play a critical role. We've rolled out biometrics now. That was first deployed in May 2013 for individuals seeking temporary resident applications from 29 countries and one territory. The service has extended to over 180 points of service