CIMM – Q-126 – IRCC Response – February 8, 2023

Inquiry of Ministry

Prepare in English and French marking "original text" or "translation"

Question No. : Q-126

By: Mr. Bezan (Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman)

Date: November 30, 2021

Reply by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Print name of Signatory: Hounorable Sean Fraser

Signature, Minister or Parliamentary Secretary

Question

With regard to the Special Immigration Measures for Afghans who assisted our Canadian Armed Forces as interpreters or locally engaged staff, since July 22, 2021, to present: (a) how many of these Afghans have reached Canada; (b) how many of these Afghans have been referred by the Department of National Defence (DND) to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and received an invitation to apply; (c) how many of these Afghans have been referred by DND to IRCC, but have not received an invitation to apply; (d) of the Afghans referred by DND to IRCC who have not been invited to apply, (i) what database are their names being held in, (ii) who is responsible for making the decision to put their names into the Global Case Management System, assign them an application number, and send an invitation to apply; and (e) what criteria are being used to determine which Afghans should receive an application number and an invitation to apply and when, and are these Afghans being tiered based on the severity of their individual security circumstances?

Reply
Original text: x

Reply

 Insofar as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is concerned:

The Special Immigration Measures (SIMs) were developed and implemented in July 2021 to facilitate the immigration of two cohorts: locally engaged staff at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul and their families, and Afghan citizens with a significant and/or enduring relationship with the Government of Canada. SIMs are referred to IRCC by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) or the Department of National Defence (DND).

As of November 30, 2021:

1. All key statistics, updated regularly, may be found on IRCC’s website at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/afghanistan/key-figures.html.
2. 920 principal applicants eligible under SIMs were referred by DND to IRCC and received an invitation to apply.
3. IRCC sends invitations to apply to on a continuing basis. Therefore, the number of Afghans referred to IRCC by DND under SIMs who have not received an invitation to apply is not conclusive.
4. The referral list is maintained in the IRCC GCDocs system cleared by the Government of Canada for storing data with a Protected B security classification. The IRCC Resettlement Operations Centre (Ottawa) is responsible for maintaining the list of referred SIMs, and sending clients the invitation to apply with instructions on how to submit an application to IRCC. Once an application is received, IRCC confirms the client’s eligibility to apply by validating their names with referral partners. Once eligibility is validated, an application is created in the Global Case Management System and the client notified of their application number.
5. Referrals are prioritized by the referral source. To ensure equitable treatment, IRCC processes referrals on a ‘first in, first out’ basis. All applicants being resettled to Canada are subject to inadmissibility screening by IRCC according to the inadmissibility provisions identified in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. In conjunction with immigration security screening partners, applicants may also be subject to additional background checks.