CIMM – Committee & Appearance Overview – October 24, 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 (IRCC) and the Immigration and Refugee Board.
Recent Committee Business
Studies
A list of studies the committee has moved to undertake in the 44th Parliament can be found here.
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 the committee has presented in the 44th parliament can be found here.
On June 12, 2023, the CIMM committee 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, 2023, CIMM tabled their 16th report entitled Asylum-Seekers at Canada's Border.
Appearance Background
The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) adopted a motion on September 26, 2023 to hear the priorities and objectives of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
The Minister has agreed to appear on October 24, 2023 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. to discuss his Priorities and Objectives.
The Minister will deliver a five-minute opening statement, followed by rounds of questioning from committee members. The following officials will appear to support the Minister:
- Christiane Fox, Deputy Minister
- Michèle Kingsley, Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic, Family & Social Migration
- Louise Baird, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy
Environmental Scan
It is expected that CIMM will have various questions and follow-ups on the 13 objectives identified in the December 2021 IRCC Mandate Letter. Of these, certain ones are expected to take precedence including Temporary Foreign Workers, regularization of undocumented workers, and inventories and processing times.
The committee will expect to hear about accomplishments and updates on the separate objectives, and also whether the Minister has new objectives planned for the future. The Minister’s top issues include:
Top Priorities and Objectives
- International Students
- Asylum Reform
- Service Standards (Inventories and Processing Times)
- Digital Platform Modernization (DPM3)
- Client Experiences
Priorities set out in the 2021 Mandate Letter
- Immigration Levels Plan
- Human rights defenders / people under threat stream
- Afghanistan
- Family Reunification
- Making the citizenship application process free for eligible permanent residents
- Temporary Foreign Workers (Trusted Employer stream, Simplifying of renewals, improving foreign credential recognition with provinces)
- Foreign Credential Recognition
- Regularization of undocumented workers
- Quebec processing times
- Irregular migration, asylum and Safe Third Country Agreement
- Pathways to Permanent Residence for international students and TFWs
- Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot
- Economic Immigration
Top Departmental Issues
- Recent progress by the Genuine Students Impacted by Fraud Task Force
- Settlement and Integration
- Pressures on Canadians induced by non-permanent residents
- Francophone Immigration outside Quebec
- Ukraine
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 Maguire (Brandon-Souris, MB)
Greg McLean (Calgary Centre, AB)
Relevant Departmental Correspondence is saved here.
Conservative Party of Canada
Party Positions
The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) outlines their commitments to a non-partisan, welcoming and well-managed immigration system in their Policy Declaration.
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.
Recent Party Activity
- September 22 – Twitter: Shared his letter to Minister Marc Miller pushing to fulfill promises to allow Bangladeshi students to be part of the Student Direct Stream (Redekopp).
- September 19 – Facebook: Criticized the amount of money spent on the passport redesign (Kmiec).
- July 26 – Twitter: Made comments that it would “be a shame” to replace citizenship ceremonies “with a click on a device” (McLean).
- June 6 – Oral Questions: Accused the government of incompetence over its handling of the defrauded international students and called for their deportation orders to be stayed (Poilievre).
- May 16 – Debates: Shared on behalf of the Conservative Party that the government could have acted much sooner to close Roxham Road.
- May 11 – Debates: Criticized immigration backlogs, long wait times, and poor communication from IRCC. Said the Liberals have broken the immigration system (Kmiec).
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 Maguire
(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
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.
Recent Group Activity
- June 21 – CIMM: Stated “the NDP believes in the principle that if you're good enough to work here and if you're good enough to study here, you're good enough to stay here” (Kwan).
- June 19 – CIMM: Inquired on the potential tuition fee increases for international and domestic students (Kwan).
- June 16 – Oral Questions: Called on the government to expand the exemption in the Safe Third Country Agreement to migrant women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people (Kwan).
- June 12 – Debates: Encouraged the government to remove the cap on the number of Afghan refugees (Kwan).
- June 7– Oral Questions: Raised concerns about international students defrauded by immigration consultants, asked that these students’ deportations be stayed and that they be granted a path to permanent residency (Singh).
- May 11 – Debates: Spoke in support of increasing the Francophone immigration target, making it easier to have foreign credentials recognized, and eliminating barriers for the immigrant community so they can fully participate in Canadian society (Kwan).
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
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.
Recent Party Activity
- August 23 – Twitter: Shared an article criticizing comments about limiting international student admissions to address the housing crisis (Brunelle-Duceppe).
- June 19 – CIMM: Questioned if the Government of Canada was responsible for exacerbating the mental health problems of international students threatened with deportation (Brunelle-Duceppe).
- June 14 – CIMM: Questioned if there were any specific rules to follow to detect fraud or to detect racism in fraud cases for foreign students (Brunelle-Duceppe).
- June 14 – CIMM: Questioned if immigration consultants who guide students should be subject to more checks by IRCC (Brunelle-Duceppe).
- June 13 – Debates: Said the structure of IRCC needs to be reviewed on a number of levels and suggested the creation of an emergency division within the Department to avoid administrative delays in times of humanitarian crisis (Brunelle-Duceppe).
- June 9 – LANG: Noted that many temporary students are turned away in Quebec, and inquired on the reasons for such refusals (Beaulieu).
- May 11 – Debates: Expressed concerns about Quebec not being consulted in decisions about immigration targets (Brunelle-Duceppe).
- May 9 – Oral Questions: Called on the Minister of IRC to commit to not tripling the Canadian population by 2100 (Brunelle-Duceppe).
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 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
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.
Recent Party Activity
- June 19 – CIMM: Inquired on the approach of the new Task Force for distinguishing between genuine misled students and those who purposefully engaged in fraudulent activities (Dhaliwal).
- June 14 – CIMM: Inquired on what more can be done to help foreign students come to Canada without fear of fraud (Dhaliwal).
- June 9 – LANG: Asked if the immigration application system, specifically the Chinook tool, puts Francophone applicants at a disadvantage (Kayabaga).
- June 7 – CIMM: Requested that members not exploit or politicize the international student situation, but rather resolve the issue as soon as possible (Ali).
- 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).
- May 9 – LANG: Noted the importance of considering the low admission rates for Francophones from Africa when determining the number of student visas to grant (Kayabaga).
- May 1 – CIMM: In support of Bill S-245, said that it is treating someone as a second-class citizen to have different rules for their children’s citizenship status based off where they are born (Dhaliwal).
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
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