CIMM – Opening Remarks – November 29, 2022

The Honourable Sean Fraser, P.C., M.P. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

CIMM Committee Meeting on The Annual Report on Immigration Levels and Supplementary Estimates B 2022

November 29, 2022
651 words (4-5 minutes)

Motion 1: Levels

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and departmental officials to update the committee on the 2022 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, including Canada's Immigration Level Plan 2023-2025.

Motion 2: Supplementary Estimates B

That, pursuant to the Order of Reference of the House of Commons dated November 17, 2022, regarding the Supplementary Estimates (B) for the fiscal year 2022-23, the committee requests that (a) the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to appear for one hour on Tuesday, November 29, 2022; and (b) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada officials appear for one hour on Tuesday, November 29, 2022.

Introduction

Thank you, Madame Chair.

I want to start by acknowledging we are meeting today on the traditional and unceded territories of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Peoples.

[Optional: I am here today with

• Christiane Fox, Deputy Minister
• Hugh St-Pierre, Chief Financial Officer
• Daniel Mills, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Operations
• Marian Campbell Jarvis, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic and Program Policy
• Catherine Scott, Assistant Deputy Minister for Settlement and Integration]

I appreciate the opportunity to discuss our government’s plan for immigration to support the economy and our humanitarian commitments.

Increased Levels

Canada is a destination of choice to start a new life. We are a democracy that values freedom and human rights, with good job opportunities and a high quality of life, strong communities.

We need more people to fill job vacancies, create new businesses, tackle our demographic challenges, and contribute to our health care and social security systems. That is why our government committed $1.6 billion in the fall to support processing and settlement of newcomers and the implementation of our Immigration Levels Plan.

This ambitious plan will see immigration levels increase to 465,000 new permanent residents in 2023, and grow to 500,000 by 2025.

Bringing more people to Canada helps fill job vacancies and helps our communities grow. It also supports our commitment to do our part to support the world’s most vulnerable people.

I am happy to report that we are more than half-way towards our goal of resettling at least 40,000 Afghan refugees. And we are continuing our support for nearly 83,000 Ukrainians who have found refuge in Canada from the unprovoked attack by Russia.

To continue our commitment in 2022 and beyond, in Supplementary Estimates B we are seeking significant investments to support these newcomers as they permanently or temporarily transition to Canada and access language programs, schools, work opportunities, housing and health care.

By putting resources towards strengthening our immigration system we are improving processing capacity and adding technologies to reduce backlogs created by the pandemic, and to ultimately deliver a more effective immigration system in the years ahead.

Client Services

Through significant investments, we have been modernizing our systems and expanding our workforce to reduce wait times, address the backlogs, and return to service standards. As of October 31, we have transitioned to 100% digital intake for most permanent residence lines of business. We have implemented online tools for clients to access updates on their applications, and are expanding them further next year.

To process more files, reduce wait times, and reduce the inventory of applications, IRCC will have added up to 1,250 additional staff by the end of the fall.

These measures will help IRCC address our unique challenges including the pandemic-created backlogs, and back-to-back humanitarian crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine.

And it will help us come out on the other side of these challenges with a stronger more responsive system to support immigration in the years ahead. We are already seeing some of the results.

While 2021 was a record year for immigration, 2022 is on track to surpass it for permanent residency admissions with over 431,000 expected newcomers this year. This includes 105,000 sponsored family members, nearly 85,000 refugees^Footnote1, protected persons, and admissions on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

On study permits, in 2022 we will surpass records. And Canada has issued nearly four times as many work permits to temporary residents in 2022 as in 2021. It will take time to eliminate the backlog, but the system is operating at record levels.

Closing

We have countless stories of how newcomers have come to Canada and made it a better place. Doctor Malholtra, born in India, has delivered over 10,000 babies in Saskatchewan, many in First Nations communities, earning her the name “Angel of the North”. Constable Mubiru of the RCMP is helping to build bridges between law enforcement and the Black community in Nova Scotia. The stories of Serbian and Iranian immigrants in BC working to feed the homeless. Immigrants – and those of us descendent of immigrants – have helped to make Canada a better country.

Thank you for inviting me here today. I am happy to take your questions.