Citizenship and Immigration committee  Again, it's difficult to comment on specific cases, but charging fees for jobs is not legal in Canada. We have an inspection regime that looks at complaints. We have a tip line, and those are triaged by the various risks associated with them. I can't comment on where they might e

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can't tell you those statistics. It's not my responsibility, but we can certainly follow up and get that information to you, because I wouldn't be able to give you a clear answer on that now.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In some sectors with low-paying low-skill jobs, work permits are limited to a year. We've given some flexibility to employers in the agri-food sector, in particular, by allowing work permits to remain valid for up to two years, to support the employee transition to permanent resi

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's one of the things we are analyzing right now. I can't tell you where the analysis will lead, but work permit time limits and the 10% foreign worker threshold—20% for some employers—are concerns many employers have raised. We take all that into account.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I totally agree.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In general, if there are special case files, we know about them. We don't try to mix them up with others. Again, without knowing the nature of the issue that is at the heart, it's hard to comment exactly on what the potential solutions are. Our intention is not to hold up appli

Citizenship and Immigration committee  First of all, it's important to understand that the program is open to everyone and that there are no hiring restrictions. Restrictions are in place in regions with high unemployment rates, but the program isn't tailored to the unemployment rate in those regions. As for exemptio

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We recognize that the labour market has changed and we're analyzing what that will mean for our policies. We are taking a serious look at all of those factors, but I can't comment on that specific measure.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The notion of a NEXUS or a trusted employer model is something that we're definitely looking at. We had a consultation last summer with stakeholders on what that could look like and what the criteria, application processes, etc. would be. Those are still things that we're looking

Citizenship and Immigration committee  A lot of the discussion is around what qualifies as a trusted employer. There are different views on that. Should an employer have had an inspection first before they would be considered? How many years would that employer need to have been in the program? Those are some of the p

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It's difficult to comment on the specific situation without having more information. I'm definitely happy to look into that particular case. A three-year processing time is abnormal; it's not something that we see a lot. We know that in certain cases, when their inspection is un

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The current position is that the fee must be paid at the application stage. There are no rebates for refusals. I think there are opportunities in certain circumstances to get refunded. It's very limited, but the basic rule is that rebates are not part of the current framework.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes. As I mentioned, there is a lot of effort going into both accelerating the process with the applications that we have on file now, and also in streamlining the way we conduct them. One of the big elements is around an online system that will enable us to simplify the applicat

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to present on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. As mentioned earlier, I am the director general. With me is Katie Alexander, who is responsible for program operations at Service Canada. The objective of the program is to provide e

Citizenship and Immigration committee  One thing I didn't mention is we do have some categories that are allowed some priority 10-day processing. One is those coming under the global skills strategy, global talent. But there is priority processing for skilled trades as well, so there is a list of 20 or 30 trades—I don