Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raised two issues in his question, one on the requirement to complete biometrics to get here and the other on the execution on the ground. I would like all members of the House to know that, as of yesterday, certain individuals in low-risk cohorts will no longer be required to have biometrics before they are permitted to enter into Canada. In addition, we are putting m…
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Mr. Speaker, in my view, it is essential, when we move forward with a plan to literally process an unlimited number of applications from a war zone, that we have to have some semblance of security screening, particularly when we know there are high-risk travellers who could potentially be eligible. As I shared just a moment ago, certain individuals in the low-risk cohorts, as of yesterday, are no …
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Mr. Speaker, I would remind members of the House that, when we made the decision to create an authorization for emergency travel, the primary motivation at the time was that it allowed us to set up a system in a matter of just two weeks. We have done that. We have now seen tens of thousands of people apply. Had we gone with the creation of a new system through an electronic travel authorization, w…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his advocacy for the well-being of Afghans who are fleeing horrifying circumstances on the ground and who seek refuge here in Canada. I am pleased to share with the House that we now have more than 9,500 Afghan refugees who are already in Canada pursuing a second lease on life. When I was in western Canada just last week, I had the opportunity to sit down a…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect, the work that we have done over the last number of weeks has been extraordinary. We have now seen, since the beginning of the year, more than 12,000 Ukrainians arrive in Canada. They are here now. We have also introduced new programs just in the last couple of weeks that have seen tens of thousands of applications come into the system. We have seen people arrive as recen…
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Mr. Speaker, to a certain degree, the hon. member's argument is self-defeating. On the one hand, he says we are not working with the airlines, but he acknowledged in his question that we are having discussions with the airlines. We continue to work not just with the airlines but with members in Canada who want to make generous donations. There was a flight that arrived literally last night in Edmo…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the concern that he has demonstrated in recent months for the people of Ukraine and for his willingness to help the government design measures that are actually going to advance the arrival of Ukrainians. I would point out, with respect to the situation involving biometrics on the ground, that we actually are opening a second visa application centre in Wars…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect, the member drew an analogy to the situation in Syria where we intervened, after the 2015 election, three years into a conflict. The member mentioned it is day 34 of the conflict in Ukraine. Let me tell him some of the things we have done. We have extended the ability of people who are already in Canada to stay. We have waived fees for applications through IRCC. We have e…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect, the member suggested the only people who were saying it was going well are Liberals. I would invite him to speak to one of the 12,000 people from Ukraine who have arrived in Canada since the beginning of this year. We have been leveraging resources not only internal to our department, but from other departments since the very beginning of this effort. I would point out t…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question, but more importantly, for her sincere concern for the well-being of those who fled Ukraine to come to Canada. I am very pleased to share with her that yesterday we announced that we would be extending settlement supports to Ukrainians who have landed in Canada, including employment assistance, language training and other measures that we make …
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Mr. Speaker, I would dare suggest that it is not a hollow answer to the 10,000 Ukrainians who are already in Canada or the tens of thousands more who have applied or who will be welcomed to Canada in the future. We are having these conversations in real time, including with airlines, including with provinces and territories, including with private sector contributors, including with service provid…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her sincere concern for the well-being of those who are fleeing the unimaginable circumstances in Ukraine. We have now seen more than 10,000 Ukrainians arrive in Canada since the beginning of this calendar year, and we are going to continue to do more to promote and facilitate the safe transport of people to Canada as quickly as possible. With respect to ou…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her advocacy for the well-being of those fleeing Ukraine. With respect to her point regarding the open work permit, I would like to point out that nearly 80% of those who have applied to come through the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel have also applied for the open work permit, which we have made them eligible for. With respect t…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada will provide a safe haven for those who are fleeing Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Canada has welcomed nearly 10,000 Ukrainians since January. Last week, we launched the new Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel to make it easier for Ukrainians to safely come to Canada. We are going to continue to work not only to give them permission to apply to Canada bu…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and particularly for his co‑operation on the Ukraine file. It is possible for all parties to work with our government. We are prioritizing Ukrainian applications. Since January, more than 10,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada. Last week, I announced new measures that will make it easier and faster for Ukrainians to come to Canada safely. I w…
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Mr. Speaker, we are working with our partners, including the provinces and territories, the business community, the Ukrainian-Canadian community and settlement agencies, on how best to support those arriving from Ukraine. I have had conversations on this issue with the private sector and I spoke with the European Commission just before question period. I will continue my work to facilitate the arr…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and, in particular, for his co-operation on the Ukraine file. We are prioritizing applications from Ukrainians. Since January, over 10,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada. Last week, I announced new measures that will make it easier and faster for Ukrainians to safely come to Canada. I will continue to work with my colleagues to facilitate the ent…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has welcomed nearly 10,000 Ukrainians since January. We are working with our partners, including the provinces and territories, the business community, the Ukrainian Canadian community and settlement agencies. This is the best way to support people arriving from Ukraine. We are going to continue to work with partners to arrange the best way for people to get here as quickly as …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and his conversations with me over the past number of days. The reality is that we have announced a program that is going to allow the fastest and safest way for people to resettle in Canada. With respect to the timelines that people are operating under, I would point out that as of today, there are already 6,265 Ukrainian nationals who have ar…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his concern for the well-being of Ukrainians seeking to come to Canada. I am pleased to share that we started working on this important file in mid-January, and since the beginning of this year, there are now 6,265 Ukrainians who have already arrived in Canada. We are going to continue to prioritize any applications from Ukrainian nationals, and just yester…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member, my Bloc Québécois counterpart, for her question and particularly for her co-operation on the Ukraine file. We are prioritizing applications from Ukrainians. More than 6,200 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada since January. Yesterday, I announced new measures that will make it faster, easier and safer for Ukrainians to come to Canada. I will continue working with my …
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Mr. Speaker, to conclude, I thank the Bloc for its co-operation and I look forward to continuing our work together to advance solutions that will not just allow people to come, but facilitate their entry into Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, President Putin's war on Ukraine is a war on freedom, democracy and the rights of all Ukrainians. For over a month, we have been prioritizing applications for permanent or temporary residence from Ukrainians who wish to come to Canada, as well as applications from Ukrainians who are currently in Canada on a temporary basis and wish to extend their stay. Yesterday, we announced new mea…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question and I would share that it is completely unacceptable and egregious that anyone fleeing war would be discriminated against on the basis of the colour of their skin or their country of origin. We have, to date, already resettled a number of Afghan refugees who transited through Ukraine. To the extent that there are individual case files, of cours…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share that over the past few months since I have been appointed minister, I have been working hard to advance investments that would actually have a meaningful impact on processing times. We have hired more than 500 new staff. We have invested more than $85 million. We have moved towards digital features that would boost the productivity of our department. We have incr…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the critics of all parties for their spirit of collaboration and co-operation over the past number of days in advance of the announcement we made this morning. That announcement is historic. This will remove many of the barriers that typically result in refusal so we can welcome as many Ukrain…
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Mr. Speaker, President Putin's war on Ukraine is a war on freedom, democracy and the rights of all Ukrainians. For the past month, we have been prioritizing applications for permanent or temporary residency from Ukrainians who wish to come to Canada. Those who are currently in Canada on a temporary basis can extend their stay. Today we announced new measures that will make it easier, faster and sa…
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Mr. Speaker, the situation in Ukraine is characterized by unspeakable violence, and we condemn in the harshest terms this war of choice by President Putin. That is why we started preparing more than a month ago by boosting our operational capacity in the region. It is why we extended a dedicated service channel to provide reliable information. It is why we created a new pathway for people who are …
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that all members of this House and all parties want nothing more than to support Ukraine in its time of need. That is why we have introduced new measures to expedite application processing, and 4,000 applications across our lines of business have already been approved. It is why we have introduced new measures to make it easier to stay. My interest, and I …
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Mr. Speaker, Putin's war in Ukraine is an attack not just on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, but on the idea of democracy in Europe itself. We started preparing more than a month ago to welcome newcomers from Ukraine to Canada. On January 19, we started a process internal to our department to process applications on a priority basis and have processed more than 3,800 already.…
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Mr. Speaker, when that member first asked me a question about the success of our resettlement efforts in Afghanistan, there were 3,800 Afghan refugees in Canada. Today, there are more than 7,700. In the past few weeks, we have seen more than 460 arrive on 20 commercial flights. There are more flights arriving every week. We have made one of the most substantial commitments of any country in the wo…
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Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member will appreciate that, during the evacuation, there was an emergency situation and we responded as quickly as was humanly possible. One of the reasons, which I think the hon. member will appreciate, is that we no longer had a military presence with the logistics capability of moving thousands and thousands of people on our own because we had not had a military p…
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Mr. Speaker, I am the minister who has been appointed by the Prime Minister to lead this effort. We will collaborate with other ministers, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to help ensure we are successful in partnership with the global community to see this mission succeed. I heard members opposite heckling about the timing of the election when it came to the Afghan refugee resettlement …
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to reflect on the fact that during the fall of Kabul, there was an absolute emergency. We did what we could to rescue thousands of vulnerable Afghans who are now living in Canada. I am pleased to share that there are more than 7,500 Afghan refugees living in Canada today. The situation in—
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Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the situation in Afghanistan is terrible, but it is why we have made a world-leading commitment to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees. I am pleased to share with the House that there are now more than 7,500 in Canada today, and we will not waver until we succeed in our mission to welcome 40,000 into our country.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the veterans organizations, the NGOs and our NATO allies that were helpful in rescuing Afghan refugees, some of whom are now in Canada. However, the politicization of this event by the member opposite is a disgrace. He said I should be ashamed of our record on Afghanistan, but I remind him that he campaigned, during the election he spoke …
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the support of members of Parliament on both sides of the aisle in the House for their contributions to the effort in Afghanistan. I hope we continue to receive that support and advice from the conversations they are having in their communities. One of the things that came from my conversations over the course of that campaign was the opportunity to engage with the g…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Sudbury for this important question and for the opportunity to practise my French. Immigration is essential to the entire country's economic recovery. Through the rural and northern immigration pilot, we have welcomed over 420 newcomers to 11 rural communities, including Sudbury. These are people who work in our hospitals and in our businesses. They are …
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to subsection 94(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 2021 annual report to Parliament on immigration.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to clarify that I have been appointed as the lead minister responsible for the resettlement of 40,000 Afghan refugees. I am further pleased to share that hundreds of Afghan refugees have arrived on 20 different commercial flights in the past few weeks and we are seeing a regular pace of arrivals. With or without the co-operation of Her Majesty's loyal opposition, we wil…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his enthusiasm for immigration as a strategy to grow the economy. I look forward to tabling my plan with immigration levels for the next few years in Canada sometime next week. He is right. We need to manage immigration in an appropriate way so the workers who come here to fill gaps in the labour force to maximize our economic potential have a place to li…
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Madam Speaker, it is essential when it comes to Canada's immigration system that we have a rules-based process to protect the integrity of the system and to ensure that those who are coming to Canada meet the requirements of admissibility to Canada. It is also essential that we work with the Minister of Health and the Public Health Agency of Canada to put in place protections that will protect our…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to the hon. member and what I would say is a ginned-up question and theatrical performance, our focus throughout this pandemic has been to use the immigration system to continue to meet the needs of the Canadian economy. At a time when our borders were closed to protect the public's health, we pivoted to a strategy that started welcoming more people who were already insid…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question is rather timely given that, Monday of last week, I announced details of the $85 million that was set aside in the recent economic and fiscal update to address processing capacity within the department. The money that we are going to be investing is going to improve processing times for work permits, for study permits and for permanent residency cards, impro…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's outrage is manufactured at best. The reality of the situation is that the pandemic caused unprecedented pressures on our immigration system because we were trying to welcome a record number of newcomers at a time when our border was closed to protect the public's health and well-being against the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. By pivoting to an internal strat…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to answer the hon. member's question. He is right to point out that businesses need access to workers and they need access to them quickly. I would respond by pointing to the fact that last year we welcomed the greatest number of permanent residents, including those under economic migration streams, in Canada's history. Just this Monday, I also had the opportunity to make…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share that yesterday, in order to respond to the very serious pressures the pandemic has put on our immigration system, I announced there would be an $85-million investment to improve processing times for work permits, study permits, temporary resident visas and proof of citizenship, and to eliminate the inventory of PR cards. At the same time, we made further announce…
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Mr. Speaker, as I am sure the hon. member opposite will appreciate, Canada has both domestic and international legal obligations in how we need to treat irregular asylum seekers who cross the border into Canada. I am pleased to let the hon. member know that I am doing everything in collaboration with my counterparts in the province of Quebec, and I had the opportunity to have a productive conversa…
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Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member can appreciate that there were necessary measures put in place to protect the health and well-being of Canadians during the pandemic. Now that the situation has changed, we have made good on our domestic and legal obligations to ensure we are treating asylum seekers in accordance with Canadian and international laws. I will remind the hon. member opposite that …
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his concern, and I point out, as he is looking at the role immigration plays in the economy, that we are going to set a record for the number of people who are admitted to Canada this year. I will also point out that as of last month, 106% of the jobs lost during the pandemic have now been recovered, making our labour force participation rate the highest …
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