CIMM –Committee & Appearance Overview– November 07, 2023

Committee Mandate

The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) studies matters related to immigration, citizenship and federal multiculturalism policy.

The committee has oversight of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Appearance Background

On September 26, 2023, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) adopted a motion to hear the Minister on Closed Work Permits and Temporary Foreign Workers.

The Minister will appear for the first panel, from 3:30PM to 4:30PM supported by the Deputy Minister and officials. IRCC and ESDC officials will appear during the second panel from 4:30PM to 5:30PM.

For the first hour, the Minister will deliver a five-minute opening statement, followed by rounds of questioning from committee members. During the second hour, no opening remarks will be provided by either department. The following officials will appear:

• Christiane Fox, Deputy Minister
• Michèle Kingsley, Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic, Family & Social Immigration

ESDC will join IRCC during the second panel:

• Michael MacPhee, Assistant Deputy Minister, Temporary Foreign Worker Program Branch, Service Canada

Recent Committee Business

Studies

A list of CIMM studies moved to undertake in the 44th Parliament can be found in the work section.

The committee has several ongoing studies:

• Persons with Temporary Status and Undocumented Individuals
• Closed Work Permits and Temporary Foreign Workers
• Application Backlogs and Processing Times
• Exploitation Scheme Targeting International Students

Reports

A list of reports CIMM has presented in the 44th parliament can be found in the work section.

On June 12, CIMM tabled their 17th report on Bill S-245, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians). They reported the Bill to the House with amendments.

On May 16, CIMM tabled their 16th report entitled Asylum-Seekers at Canada's Border.

Environmental Scan

This is a new study, to which the committee will devote at least three meetings.

The committee is inviting Mr. Tomoya Obokata, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, for one hour. Though Mr. Obokata has yet to finish his mandate and report, he has condemned Canada’s programs, writing that “Temporary foreign worker programmes are a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery” and he “urges authorities to do more to protect workers and offer a clear pathway to permanent residency for all migrants.” As such, the committee will likely be interested in a comprehensive overview of the various temporary migrant programs and the pathways to permanent residence, including pilot projects.

The committee may also focus on vulnerable categories of workers, including low-wage and low-skilled workers under the TFWP. They may be interested in the interactions and transitions between the different programs, as well as concrete data and trends related to migration and immigration of workers.

Recent topics of interest include:

Closed Work Permits and Temporary Foreign Workers

• Research and preliminary findings by the UN Special Rapporteur Report on modern-day slavery
• Safeguards against employer abuse and exploitation
• Open work permits for vulnerable workers
• Rights of temporary and migrant workers
• Open work permit for vulnerable workers

IRCC’s processing and inventories

• Solutions to address the immigration backlog

Committee Membership

Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey-Newton, BC)
Chair of CIMM

Brad Redekopp (Saskatoon West, SK)
Vice-Chair of CIMM; Associate Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Lac-Saint-Jean, QC)
Second Vice-Chair of CIMM; Vice-Chair of SDIR; Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Human Rights

Shafqat Ali (Brampton Centre, ON)

Salma Zahid (Scarborough Centre, ON)

Fayçal El-Khoury (Laval—Les Îles, QC)
Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees

Arielle Kayabaga (London West, ON)
Member of LANG

Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard, AB)
Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; Member of CACN

Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, BC)
Caucus Chair; Long-standing Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; Critic for Housing

Paul Chiang (Markham-Unionville, ON)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Larry Macguire (Brandon-Souris, MB)

Greg McLean (Calgary Centre, AB)

Relevant Departmental Correspondence is saved here.

Conservative Party Of Canada

Party Position

The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) outlines their commitments to a non-partisan, welcoming and well-managed immigration system in their Policy Declaration (PDF, 612 KB).

Their priorities include improving settlement support, benefiting from economic immigration through temporary and permanent residents, improving the application and processing system, improving foreign credential recognition, and providing support for refugees.

The party has been vocal on the subject of the exploited international students. The party’s position is that the students’ deportation orders should be stayed immediately.

The party members have recently emphasized the importance of in-person citizenship ceremonies.

CIMM Members

Tom Kmiec
(Calgary Shepard, AB)
Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Topics of Interest

• Fiscal matters and the economy
• Equalization
• Foreign affairs and international development
• Rare diseases

Brad Redekopp
(Saskatoon West, SK)
Vice-Chair of CIMM; Associate Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship

Larry Macguire
(Brandon-Souris, MB)

Greg McLean
(Calgary Centre, AB)

Other Active Members

Pierre-Paul-Hus
(Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles, QB)
Québec Lieutenant; Former Shadow Cabinet Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Recent Party Activity

• Sept. 27 – Debates: Inquired if farmers who hire temporary foreign workers and create housing and shelter for them, will qualify for the GST rebate on housing (Ellis).
• June 19 – CIIT: Questioned how addressing taxing and exemption filing address the housing price crisis in Canada for housing temporary foreign workers (Epp).
• May 11 – Debates: Criticized immigration backlogs, long wait times, and poor communication from IRCC. Said the Liberals have broken the immigration system (Kmiec).
• May 8 – AGRI: Inquired if there was a 24-day turnaround for emergency temporary foreign worker visas (Steinley).
• May 8 – AGRI: Criticized the backlogs in the temporary foreign workers program as a cause for the closure of Olymel farms (Gourde).

New Democratic Party

Party Position

The New Democratic Party (NDP) believes that immigrants strengthen our country and more needs to be done to ensure the immigration system is rooted in fairness, respect and dignity.

They recognize the importance of immigration for economic purposes and emphasize prioritizing family reunification. They commit to removing the immigration backlog, resettling refugees, and ending programs and policies that prolong the time families spend apart

Regarding the issue of exploited international students, the NDP has a stance that their deportation orders should be stayed and they should be granted a pathway to permanent residency.

CIMM Member

Jenny Kwan
(Vancouver East, BC)
Caucus Chair; Long-standing Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; Critic for Housing

Topics of Interest

• Rights, safety and precariousness of Caregivers and other migrant workers
• Processing capacity and backlogs
• Extending the definition of family for reunification
• International Students impacted by Fraud

Other Active Members

Alexandre Boulerice
(Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, QB)
Deputy Leader; Critic for Labour; Deputy Critic for Climate Change, Official Languages

Randall Garrison
(Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, BC)
Critic for Justice, 2SLGBTQI+ Rights; Deputy Critic for National Defence

Recent Party Activity

• Sept. 27 – Twitter: Retweeted a video on the exploitation of temporary foreign workers (Boulerice).
• Sept. 26 – CIMM: Moved a motion to study the impact of closed work permits on temporary foreign workers (Kwan).
• Sept. 26 – CIMM: Highlighted the alleged “modern day slavery” of the Temporary Foreign Worker program; noted the need for regularization of closed work permits (Kwan).
• June 21 – CIMM: Questioned of the government will be adopting an immigration policy to allow temporary foreign workers a path to permanent residency (Kwan).
• June 9 – Debates: Noted the unhealthy reliance and treatment of Asian temporary foreign workers doing domestic work under closed work permits (Boulerice).
• May 2 – Debates: Highlighted the issue of using the temporary foreign worker program to address Canada’s skilled labour shortage (Kwan).

Bloc Québécois

Party Position

The Bloc Québécois (BQ) prioritizes francophone immigration to Quebec and ensuring immigration does not contribute to the decline of French in Canada.

In May 2023, the BQ led the debate on an opposition motion on Immigration Levels, calling on the Government to reject the Century Initiative objectives and not use them as a basis for developing future immigration levels.

CIMM Member

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe
(Lac-Saint-Jean)
Second Vice-Chair of CIMM; Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Human Rights;

Topics of Interest

• Francophone immigration, including international students from French-speaking countries in Africa
• Immigration measures for Afghanistan
• Taking a stand against China in relation to the Uyghur genocide
• Quebec's interests and protection of the French language
• Human rights conflicts
• Processing delays
• Family reunification

Other Active Members

Yves-François Blanchet
(Beloeil—Chambly, QB)
Leader of the BQ

Alain Therrien
(La Prairie, QB)
House Leader of BQ

Kristina Michaud
(Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QB)
Critic for Climate Change, Youth, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Recent Party Activity

• Oct. 23 – Debates: Inquired if the government will tell temporary foreign workers that a closed permits will be a thing of the past (Perron).
• Oct. 19 – Debates: Highlighted the burden taken by employers in the agricultural sector to deal with temporary foreign worker applications (Garon).
• Oct. 6 – Debates: Noted the illegal working conditions under the threat of expulsion foreign workers are facing (Normandin).
• Oct. 3 – Debates: Critiqued the slow processing times of foreign worker applications, leading to a labour shortage for different sectors (Perron).
• Sept. 27 – Twitter: Highlighted his motion in committee to study the impact of closed work permits on temporary foreign workers (Brunelle-Duceppe).
• Sept. 26 – CIMM: Highlighted the need for the committee to conduct a study on the impact of closed permits (Brunelle-Duceppe).
• May 29 – Debates: Noted the gap and problem of inadequate coverage for temporary workers through the EI system (Garron).
• May 8 – AGRI: Highlighted the issue of the closure of the Olymel plant, leading a number of foreign workers out of work with a closed work permit (Savard-Tremblay).

Liberal Party of Canada

Party Position

The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) outlines their immigration commitments in their 2021 Platform. They made commitments to reform economic immigration programs, to support Francophone immigration outside Quebec, to increase immigration levels and decrease wait times, and to welcome more refugees.

CIMM Members

Sukh Dhaliwal
(Surrey-Newton, BC)
Chair of CIMM

Topics of Interest

• International Students
• Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship
• Family Reunification
• Settlement and Integration

Shafqat Ali
(Brampton Centre, ON)

Salma Zahid
(Scarborough Centre, ON)

Fayçal El-Khoury
(Laval—Les Îles, QC)
Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees

Arielle Kayabaga
(London West, ON)
Member of LANG

Paul Chiang
(Markham-Unionville, ON)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Recent Party Activity

• Oct. 23 – Debates: Highlighted the improved quality of employer inspections and the opening of pathways to permanent residency for temporary foreign workers (Boissonnault).
• Oct. 10 – Twitter: Shared that Canada is welcoming an additional 4000 temporary foreign workers (Miller).
• Oct. 6 – Debates: Noted that temporary foreign workers have the same rights to workplace protections as Canadians (Kusmierczyk).
• Aug. 8 – Twitter: Announced the Recognized Employer Pilot for the agricultural sector which will protect temporary foreign workers (Kusmierczyck).
• Sept. 26 – CIMM: Highlighted the need to investigate in depth closed and open work permits (Chiang).
• May 12 – Twitter: Shared the need to continue to improve processing times across all categories for all countries (Zahid).
• May 11 – Debates: “To address the labour shortage, we need a responsible, professional, robust and ambitious immigration system” (El-Khoury).
• April 17 – CIMM: Noted that the government has opportunities for agriculture workers to move from temporary permits or work permits to permanent residency (Dhaliwal).