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CIMM – Committee & Appearance Overview– November 25, 2024

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 (IRCC) and the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Appearance Background

On October 24, CIMM adopted the following motion:

That, as it relates to the committee's future business, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship appear on the 2024 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration once it is tabled in the House and that the appearance take precedence over the scheduled meetings.

The Minister has been invited to deliver a five-minute opening statement, followed by rounds of questioning from committee members. He has been invited to appear for two hours.

It is recommended that the following officials accompany the Minister for the appearance in a supporting capacity and remain for the second hour:

Recent Committee Business

Studies

A list of studies the committee has moved to undertake in the 44th Parliament can be found on the House of Commons website.

Reports

A list of reports the committee has presented in the 44th Parliament can be found on the House of Commons website. 

Environmental Scan

Lines of questioning are likely to be broad. However, the subjects below have recently garnered attention from Members of Parliament (MPs):

  1. Impact on housing crisis: Opposition MPs are likely to question whether the impact on housing crisis has been considered when planning the Levels.
  2. Inclusion of temporary residents (TRs) in this year’s Levels: Opposition MPs may challenge the decision to include TRs in the Levels.
  3. Justification for the Levels: MPs may inquire on how the current Levels plan was established. This includes questions on how analyses were conducted while taking into account the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s work.
  4. Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) streams: It is expected that MPs will ask how Canada can uphold its commitment to refugees when Levels for H&C are going down. Sudan may be the target topic on this.
  5. Quebec Asylum: BQ MP may raise the subject, as well as any monetary amounts that are expected for their support and settlement in the province.

Committee & Appearance Overview

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 Standing Committee on Official Languages (LANG)

Tom Kmiec
(Calgary Shepard, AB)
Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; Member of Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship (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 Maguire
(Brandon-Souris, MB)

Greg McLean
(Calgary Centre, AB)

Conservative Party of Canada

CIMM Members

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

Larry Maguire
(Brandon-Souris, MB)

Greg McLean
(Calgary Centre, AB)

Brad Redekopp
(Saskatoon West, SK)
Deputy Shadow Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Topics of Interest

Relevant Party Issues

The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) has been consistently critical of the government’s immigration system, often referring to it as “broken.” Recent interventions have tended to focus either on the perceived general disfunction at play in the immigration system or raised concerns about the historical “consensus” on Canadian immigration having deteriorated.

The CPC have not released their own immigration plan but have indicated their policies would be consistent with that of the former Conservative government.

Recent Party Activity

October 29 – Oral Questions: Alleged Minister Fraser was warned by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada that immigration levels would lead to housing shortages (Poilievre).

October 25 – X: Described the new immigration levels as an admission by the government it has broken Canada’s immigration system (Poilievre).

October 25 – Oral Questions: Alleged Minister Fraser had “bragged” about increasing international student permits from 400,000 to 500,00 while knowing certain post-secondary institutions were “abusing” students (Rempel).

October 24 – Oral Questions: Accused the government of breaking the national consensus on immigration, dropping police clearance certificate requirements for background checks on temporary residents (Khanna).

September 25 – X: Shared a response he received to order paper question Q-2753 and said that despite the announced cap on international students, numbers were increasing (Kmiec).

New Democratic Party

CIMM Member

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

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

Topics of Interest

Relevant Party Issues

The New Democratic Party (NDP) have frequently been critical of the government’s immigration system. The Party has alleged that migrants are being scapegoated over housing shortages, and that the reduction to immigration levels is a reflection of this trend.

The NDP have persistently been interested in immigration levels room for temporary residency to permanent residency opportunities, refugees, and special immigration measures. The NDP Critic on Immigration, MP Jenny Kwan, has called for special immigration measures to implemented more liberally, and for these measures to include pathways to permanent residency for those who reach Canada.

Recent Party Activity

October 25 – X: Described the new immigration levels as a “litany of empty promises” and a “betrayal.” Accused the government of scapegoating newcomers over the housing shortage (Kwan).

June 5 – CIMM: Inquired about the potential for immigration levels to impact processing times for permanent residency applications (Kwan).

May 27 – CIMM: Asked the minister to provide a list of countries needing special immigration measures or Humanitarian and Compassionate applications that would be “fit into these tight numbers,” referring to those numbers allocated in the 2024 immigration levels (Kwan).

May 27 – CIMM: Argued a temporary program with a pathway to permanent residency should be offered to Sudanese persons, but that limited immigration levels was an obstacle to doing this (Kwan).

Bloc Québécois

CIMM Member

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

Other Active Members

Christine Normandin
(Saint-Jean, QC)
Former Critic Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; BQ Deputy House Leader

Topics of Interest

Relevant Party Issues

The Bloc Québécois (BQ) has been extremely critical of the government on immigration. The Party has consistently claimed that current immigration levels exceed Quebec’s capacity to welcome newcomers, with particular concerns often being voiced over integration and assimilation.

The BQ have specifically voiced many concerns over the number of asylum seekers entering Quebec and have often demanded these persons be distributed more equally between the provinces.

Recent Party Activity

October 28 – Oral Questions: Expressed worry that Quebec is unable to accept its current number of asylum seekers, and suggested refugee numbers from the United States might surge in the wake of presidential candidate Donald Trump being elected (Therrien).

October 25 – Oral Questions: Remarked the new immigration levels are beyond the integration capacity of Quebec, and that numbers should be reduced to a level where Quebec can integrate newcomers without losing political weight (Normandin).

October 25 – Oral Questions: Argued the new immigration levels fail to address Quebec’s “biggest issue,” that of asylum seekers. Suggested Quebec cannot continue to accept asylum seekers, and that the “burden” should be better distributed between other provinces (Normandin).

October 24 – Oral Questions: Contended the reduction to immigration levels was consistent with what the BQ has long demanded (Brunelle-Duceppe).

Liberal Party of Canada

CIMM Members

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

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)
Previous Member of LANG

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

Topics of Interest

Party Position

The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) outlines their immigration commitments in their 2021 Platform.

The liberal 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan was announced on October 24, 2024.

Recent Party Activity

October 24 – X: Posted that the new immigration levels plan is intended to reduce the number of temporary and permanent residents in the short term to alleviate pressures on housing and infrastructure (Zahid).

October 24 – X : Pointed to the positive benefits of immigration, but argued Canada must also manage immigration levels to ensure it has adequate housing and resources available for newcomers to successfully integrate into society (Dhaliwal).

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