CIM#104: Pension Transferability and Access to MPF, and Delays in PR and Visas for Hong Kongers

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses.

My first question is for the Finance officials.

Yesterday, we were advised by Manulife and Sun Life that in order for Hong Kongers to be able to access their pension funds, they have to, because of the regulations, produce documentation to show that they're either a citizen or a permanent resident in an alternate country.

Could you advise and confirm for us if those regulations are Canadian regulations?

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Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you for that.

I may add that we should actually be calling for the release of all political prisoners in Hong Kong in relation to the national security law and the most recent article 23. I hope the officials will bring that back to the minister as well.

I want to follow up with the IRCC officials, in particular Ms. Snow, on her comment that the average processing time is now eight months. There are about 10,000 people waiting for PR applications to be processed from Hong Kong at the moment. That's as of March 2024.

Can you confirm, then, that those individuals will get their PR applications processed in eight months?

Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 5th, 2024
Evidence of meeting #104 for
Citizenship and Immigration in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session.
(The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.)

5:45 p.m.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you very much.

We will go to Madam Kwan.

Madam Kwan, you have six minutes. Please go ahead.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses.

My first question is for the Finance officials.

Could you advise and confirm for us if those regulations are Canadian regulations?

Sven Linkruus
Director, Financial Services, Trade Relations, Financial Sector Policy Branch, Department of Finance

Those regulations are the requirements of the Hong Kong regulatory authorities in order to release money from the funds. Those are the regulations and rules that the Canadian financial institutions, whose subsidiaries are in Hong Kong, have to follow.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much.

In accordance with those regulations, are you aware if there are any provisions that would make an allowance for people who, for example, are fleeing persecution and, therefore, may not be able to readily produce documentation to verify that they have secure permanent residency elsewhere? Are there provisions within those regulations that would recognize that?

Sven Linkruus
Director, Financial Services, Trade Relations, Financial Sector Policy Branch, Department of Finance

I don't have any information on the specific content or, perhaps, exceptions that might be in the Hong Kong regulations.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you.

I do not believe that they are. I tried to ask the question of both Sun Life and Manulife yesterday, and they didn't answer my question directly, but that seems to be the case.

With that being said, I'm going to go to Global Affairs with my next question.

These are Canadian institutions, and these are individuals—Hong Kongers—who have come to Canada seeking the lifeboat scheme precisely because they've been persecuted, some of them under the national security law and others for their activities in a pro-democracy movement.

In light of this, what action will Global Affairs take to help Hong Kongers access their pension funds for those who are here in Canada?

Jennie Chen
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination,
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Like others, I'm not aware of any specific cases that would have been brought forward. If you are aware of any specific cases, we would invite them to bring them to our attention.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. I can't raise my hand readily here, but that wasn't my question.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

If you raise your hand, I can see that, Madam Kwan, no problem. I will make sure I stop the clock. Thank you. You're doing very well. That's excellent.

Go ahead, please.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you. I appreciate that.

That wasn't my question. My question was about the regulatory measures that are in place. What action will GAC take to address the regulatory measures for Hong Kongers who are here through the lifeboat scheme, before they have received their PR card or citizenship, to access their pension funds?

Jennie Chen
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination,
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

This is something that we'll have to take back internally to discuss the best way to approach this with local Hong Kong authorities. We are in regular contact with local Hong Kong authorities. As you know, there's a broad spectrum of issues with which we are dealing with the Government of Hong Kong, and we would be open to having such a discussion with Hong Kong authorities.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

All right. I would ask then for GAC to report back to this committee on what measures you have undertaken to assist Hong Kongers to access their pension funds, the Hong Kongers who are here through the special lifeboat scheme the government provided to them prior to their succeeding in getting their PR status. Could I get confirmation that undertaking will be followed up on?

Jennie Chen
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination,
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Yes, I will commit to doing so.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you, Chair.

I'd like to now go to the IRCC officials.

We know that people cannot access their pension funds until they have PR status and that the current processing time for Hong Kongers is at least 21 months. The government has just introduced an extension of the program because they're not anticipating that Hong Kongers will be able to get their PR cards anytime soon. The extension will be at least three years, and while people wait, they can't access their funds.

What will IRCC do? Will IRCC actually ensure that Hong Kongers' PR applications will be processed within the original priority processing average, which was six months? Will IRCC materialize that for Hong Kongers so that they can expeditiously access their pension funds?

Elizabeth Snow
Director General, International Platform, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The current processing time for the applications is under eight months. I'm unclear where the 21 months surfaced from, but it is under eight months. There are a considerable number of applications that did arrive in 2023 and that we will process through 2024, but, at the moment, there's no indication that processing will increase to 21 months.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I have provided a spreadsheet to the minister's office with a variety of applications where people are just waiting and waiting. The average processing time is 21 months, if you actually talk to people on the ground about that. I'm happy to share that spreadsheet with officials, for sure, but of course those are not all of the people.

We had a briefing from officials—

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Ms. Kwan, your time is up. We're at 6:27 right now, so I'll come back to you for the second round.

Mr. Redekopp, you have five minutes.

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6:05 p.m.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you very much. Your time is up.

Now we will go to Madam Kwan.

Madam Kwan, please go ahead for two and a half minutes.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you for that.

Can you confirm, then, that those individuals will get their PR applications processed in eight months?

Elizabeth Snow
Director General, International Platform, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As was raised by another member, there is a limit to the levels for this year of 13,500 with another 8,000 booked next year. We will process according to the levels plan.

At the moment, the processing is under eight months. We don't anticipate that the processing will rise to 21 months, but we will work within the levels that have been approved by Parliament and that our minister is accountable for.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

How many per month are being processed right now for Hong Kongers?

Elizabeth Snow
Director General, International Platform, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

The department will have to refer back if you wish to have monthly statistics. What I have is the year to date.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I would like to get monthly statistics. Also, on the question around statistics, I asked at the Gaza meeting for the breakdown of the immigration level numbers related to the variety of different special immigration measures. That was on May 27, so by the end of this week it will have been two weeks.

Can we actually get that information by next Monday? It pertains to this study as well

Can I get a confirmation for that?

Elizabeth Snow
Director General, International Platform, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

I will take that back to the department and raise your concern that the committee has been waiting for two weeks.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would actually raise this as a motion and have the committee call on the officials to provide that document. I'd like to get this before we actually adjourn this sitting of the House and still have enough time to go back to it, if necessary.

Mr. Chair, can you confirm if I need a motion to request that undertaking or can direction just be given?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

You can give the direction and I will ask the questions of the officials—if they can. Otherwise, we can always pass this motion.

I will go to Mr. McNamee, Madam Snow or Madam Mascoll, if they want to respond.

I have stopped the watch because your time is already almost up. Let me figure it out.

James McNamee
Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

As Ms. Snow indicated, we will take this back and commit to providing that information to you. We are aware that the request is in the system and it's being worked on.

At this time, I can't give you an exact timeline on when it will be done, but requests from the committee are always given priority.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Madam Kwan, your time is up

Are you satisfied with that or do you want to address this?

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that, especially in light of the fact that we know that people's pension funds are being withheld until the application can be processed.

We just heard from Ms. Snow that the immigration levels plan is going to impact processing in terms of people getting their PR. I think this is all related and the committee members need to have that information.

I would like to ask for the support of the committee members to ensure that we get that information back from officials by next Monday.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Do we have the unanimous consent of the committee?

Is it yes?

Mr. Chiang, do you want to speak to that?

Paul Chiang Markham—Unionville, ON
Liberal

I will defer to our departmental official if that's an appropriate time or if they might need more time.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Okay.

There is the question now and I will give Mr. McNamee the floor.

Mr. McNamee, do you want to respond to Mr. Chiang's question?

James McNamee
Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

I would like to be able to come back to the committee with an exact date to be able to produce that information. It is Wednesday now and Monday is coming up very quickly.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Basically, Mr. McNamee, you are saying that you would not be able to produce it by Monday.

Is that correct?

James McNamee
Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

I would like more time, if possible, yes.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

Greg McLean Calgary Centre, AB
Conservative

I too have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

No, Madam Kwan, you know that your time is up, but I still entertained the question, so there's no....

I have Mr. McLean on the speaking list and I will put you on the speaking list as well.

Mr. McLean, did you want to speak?

Greg McLean Calgary Centre, AB
Conservative

Yes. Thank you.

I'm sorry, we're talking about some readily available data here. Are you saying we can't get it in a day or two?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Mr. McNamee.

James McNamee
Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Often the data that we release has to be reviewed to ensure that it is publicly releasable. Sometimes information includes small cell data that identifies individuals, and we want to avoid that wherever possible, so it takes a little bit of time.

Greg McLean Calgary Centre, AB
Conservative

Well, of course, we're not looking for personal identification; we're looking for numbers. You should have a database of this, and it should be readily available to be able to handle it in a few hours, quite frankly, so I'm challenged by why this can't be produced very quickly here.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

We're not all experts. I will leave it to the officials to respond.

Madam Kwan, please go ahead.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I'm just trying to get clarity here with respect to that. Just to be clear, the request for that data was made on May 27, so by next Monday it will have been two weeks—not just a couple of days—for this data to be made available for this committee. It's the same data that we requested be sent to our committee. It's been two weeks, and time is of the essence here.

Am I hearing, then, on the unanimous consent motion that you asked committee members about, that Mr. Chiang is voting no, or is there unanimous consent? I'm just not clear.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal

No, nobody's voting “no” yet. It's only debate right now.

Now, Madam Kwan, the members have questions to ask the officials, and that is fully appropriate. As I said, I'm giving this additional time to discuss it. There's no vote, and no one has said that they don't support it. They were just asking the question to make sure that the officials have the appropriate time.

Every member has the right, as I said, and I have not called the vote yet.

Go ahead, Madam Dzerowicz.

Julie Dzerowicz Davenport, ON
Liberal

Since we're still in debate—

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I'm sorry—

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Yes, go ahead, Madam Kwan.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Mr. Chair, can I just finish? I just wanted that clarity on where we're at with respect to that vote, so thank you for clarifying. I very much appreciate that.

I want to have a quick response from the officials with respect to potential data that might compromise individual privacy, such as names and so on. I want to reiterate that the undertaking is about the larger data number and not about the individuals, their names or their specific case in terms of processing.

It is for the government to advise this committee, based on the immigration levels plan of this year under the H and C category of 18,500—next year it is 8,000, and the following year is also 8,000—how they're going to target the various different needs of the special immigration measures and other H and C needs in the global community that IRCC is contemplating and trying to address as well as the protected-persons category.

These are broad numbers, particularly what those targets are for each of those different countries or regions, so that we may know how these numbers will measure up in terms of processing.

I just want to be clear that there's no personal information here.

Julie Dzerowicz Davenport, ON
Liberal

In the debate, Mr. Chair, I was just going to ask officials how much time they felt they needed, whether they felt they needed one extra week or a couple of extra days. I wanted to see where they were at.

James McNamee
Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

We're aware of the request, and I believe that it's being acted on as expeditiously as possible. I just can't tell you exactly that it will be ready on Monday, but I will tell you that we're working on it, and it will be ready as soon as possible.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

That will be appropriate, Mr. McNamee, if I see consensus in the committee.

Mr. McNamee, what do you feel? Whatever you feel confident in, just give the answer. If I need to go to a vote, then I will. If I see the consensus in the committee, then that will work.

James McNamee
Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

I think in a week's time it would be possible to produce it or to finalize whatever product we are in the process of producing, because the request has been in place now for a while, as Ms. Kwan has indicated.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Okay, Madam Kwan and other other members, I think it's appropriate. I see heads nodding, so we'll give the IRCC time to produce the requested information by next Wednesday.

Thank you very much, Madam Kwan. Your time has long been up, so we will go to—

A Voice

It's approved?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

It's approved—unanimously agreed.

We have Mr. Kmiec for five minutes.

Please go ahead.

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6:30 p.m.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Ms. Kwan, please go ahead.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I think committee members are correct to say that it's not up to us to determine the minister's availability. All we can do, of course, is ask. The minister will say, “No, I'm sorry. I can't come, but here's an alternate date.” I think we should really just make the ask and see what the minister comes back with. This is normal practice.

We try to get the supplementaries done as soon as we can, and we have already had to delay that timeline because of other urgent studies, such as the Gaza and Sudan situations. When the minister showed up last time, we talked about that.

I think it's fair to make this request of the minister, and then they'll come back to us and tell us about his availability.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

There's a date attached to the motion. I would ask the clerk to read this motion just to make sure the members are very clear on what Mr. Redekopp is asking for.

Mr. Clerk, please go ahead.

The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Rémi Bourgault

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to appear for one hour with officials and invite departmental officials along with officials from the Immigration and Refugee Board to appear for one additional hour on the Supplementary Estimates (A), as well as the subject matter of Main Estimates for the fiscal year 2024-25, before June 21, 2024.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

I have Mr. Ali, Mr. El-Khoury and Ms. Dzerowicz.

Go ahead, Mr. Ali.

Shafqat Ali Brampton Centre, ON
Liberal

Thank you, Chair.

I agree with everything, but I just want to give an option to the minister, if it's not possible for him until June 21, to give an alternate date when he would be appearing before the committee, as Ms. Kwan has suggested.

I think if we can add that into it, it would give him leverage so he's aligned with our—

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

I can entertain it only if there is an amendment to the motion. You've got to say that the motion is amended. Otherwise, I will call this a discussion.

I cannot propose it myself. If one of the honourable members asks to amend, just like Mr. Chiang earlier requested of Mr. Redekopp, the amended motion should be on the floor. Only then can I go to the amendment.

Mr. Ali, you still have the floor. I will go to Mr. El-Khoury afterwards.

Shafqat Ali Brampton Centre, ON
Liberal

Can we suspend for one minute so we can talk? If it's a friendly amendment, we could work together on this.

A voice

It's not friendly.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

I will suspend for a few minutes.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

We are back to business.

I have a speaking list.

Mr. Ali, you have the floor, and then Madam Dzerowicz, Mr. El-Khoury and Mr. Kmiec. I have four on the speaking list.

Oh, Mr. El-Khoury is off, so the person I have is Mr. Ali.

Mr. Ali, go ahead. The floor is for you.

Shafqat Ali Brampton Centre, ON
Liberal

Thank you, Chair.

I suggested that I move a friendly amendment. At the end of the motion, add, “or an alternative date that the minister is available.”

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Mr. Redekopp, do you accept the friendly amendment?

Brad Redekopp Saskatoon West, SK
Conservative

Yes, I do, but with one condition that we finish the Liberal, Bloc and NDP round as planned. I'm done with my time.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Sure.

All those in favour of the amendment?

(Amendment agreed to)

(Motion as amended agreed to)

We are going to Mr. Redekopp. No? We are going to Mr. Ali. No?

Look at how generous both the Conservative and Liberal friends are for Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe, we are skipping the Conservatives and the Liberals, and we are going to give you and Madam Kwan the last round before we adjourn the meeting.

Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe, you have a quick two and a half minutes.

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Bloc

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's like Christmas came early.

Ms. Chen, you told us that Canada has called for the repeal of the Hong Kong national security law and is calling for the release of all political prisoners charged or imprisoned under that law.

As we know, Jimmy Lai is a political prisoner. Am I to understand that Canada is calling for the release of all these political prisoners, including Mr. Lai?

Jennie Chen
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination,
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Yes, Mr. Chair, I would agree with that statement.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Bloc

I'm glad to hear that answer.

Thank you, Ms. Chen.

I'll yield the floor over to whoever wants to take it.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

I took the time, without the consent from Mr. Chiang. Mr. Chiang, can I give two and a half minutes to Madam Kwan, and then come back to you? I know I am going out of order, but hopefully you will entertain my request as the chair.

I see consent. Okay, thank you.

Madam Kwan, you have two and a half minutes before I go to Mr. Chiang, because I just went off the track.

Madam Kwan.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I just want to be sure, and the question is for GAC.

Of course, yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, and 30 years ago the national security law and the protests came about. Many people will say that what's happening right now in Hong Kong is basically Tiananmen massacre 2.0.

Just this past week we had a situation where what's called the "Hong Kong 47" are under arrest and charged with being in violation of the national security law and also article 23.

My question for GAC is this. What is the minister doing in relation to that? Is she actually calling for the release of these political prisoners and for the Hong Kong authorities to stop prosecuting these individuals?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Madam Chen.

Jennie Chen
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination,
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The last few days have seen some very important developments on the China human rights scene. As some of you may have noted, Global Affairs Canada released a statement on May 30 regarding the outcomes of the trial of what we call the "Hong Kong 47", again expressing our grave concerns about the application of the national security law for what we believe are legitimate expressions of political views in Hong Kong.

Yesterday Global Affairs Canada also released a statement on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Tiananmen Square. We think it's very important that Canadians and the world do not forget what happened 35 years ago in Beijing.

I would say that our minister is very focused on the relationship with China at this moment, including human rights.

AS SPOKEN

6:55 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I'm sorry. I was asking very specific question.

Is the minister calling for the release of these political prisoners and for the Hong Kong authorities—the Chinese government—to stop prosecuting political prisoners? It's a yes-or-no question.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

If you can, be brief in your answer.

Jennie Chen
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination,
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

As mentioned in the universal periodic review statement by Canada in January, we called for Hong Kong to discontinue all cases against individuals charged with exercising their human rights and freedoms.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

Mr. Chiang, I'm sorry. I just saw the hand from Mr. Ali. I thought Mr. Ali was giving me the go-ahead to go to the other parties. You have my apologies.

Mr. Chiang, you have the floor.

Click this link to read the full transcript of the committee meeting:

https://openparliament.ca/committees/immigration/44-1/104/?singlepage=1

Latest posts

CIMM#115: Pension Transferability and Access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), and Delays in Permanent Residence and Visas for Hong Kongers Recent Reforms to the International Student Program

James McNamee, Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I would say that's generally the case. If the work permit they obtained was originally connected to the public policy, that's correct. I don't know if that's the situation in all cases. In some cases, applicants may have had an LMIA-based work permit to begin with.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
That's right. However, under the special immigration measure, the LMIA is not required. I have a list of applicants in those circumstances. Their work permit renewal application was rejected. They were asked to submit an LMIA, which makes no sense. I want to flag that as a deep concern now emerging for people whose open work permits are being rejected as they wait for their permanent resident status. At this rate, given the immigration levels plan numbers and the processing delays happening, and with the number of applicants in place, you can imagine that it's going to take something like eight years to get through the backlog of people getting their PR status. This means that if they are trying to get their pension, they will not be able to do so for eight years, because they are required to provide proof of permanent residence.
I want to flag this as a major concern. I hope the department will take action to fix the error being applied to applicants whose open work permits are being rejected under this stream. Can I get a confirmation from officials that this will be undertaken?

James McNamee, Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes, that issue has been raised with the department already, and we're looking into it to see what exactly happened in those situations.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC, NDP
Okay. Officials are aware of it, and yet it's still happening. I have cases coming to me that are happening. I'm about to prepare a giant pile of this stuff for the minister, so I hope the officials will fix that. The other thing related to the pension, of course, is lengthy delays for people to get their permanent status. Based on the immigration levels plan and the number of applicants in place, is it the officials' anticipation that it will take about eight years to get those applications processed?

James McNamee, Director General, Family and Social Immigration Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We have looked at that possibility. Certainly, it will take longer than we had previously indicated to the committee. I would note that the first year of the levels plan is the fixed year. The years that follow, in this case, 2026 and 2027, are flexible. There are opportunities to adjust those numbers in the future, and that could affect that timeline. It's hard to say whether eight years will be the timeline, but it will be longer than had been originally predicted because the numbers have gone down.

CIMM#114: Recent Reforms to the International Student Program

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
Aside from looking at patterns of potential violators—the groups and organizations taking advantage of students with these fraudulent letters of acceptance—will you be including in the analysis what types of institutions are being utilized for these fraudulent letters? In other words, is it private institutions versus public institutions, colleges versus universities and so on? Will that be part of the analysis?

Bronwyn May, Director General, International Students Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
It's not always the case that a letter originates from an institution. We would need to look at various possible sources.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
Maybe I can reframe that.
Obviously, as these are fraudulent letters of acceptance, they wouldn't be issued by the institutions. However, regarding the list of institutions being used for the purpose of these fraudulent letters, I would be interested in obtaining information to determine what percentage are private institutions and public institutions, how many of them are colleges, how many of them are universities and so on. That will tell us very specific information that I think is important when trying to tackle fraudulent activities.

Bronwyn May, Director General, International Students Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I completely agree. That's a very important line of analysis.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
I will make the further request to make sure you share this information with the committee. I'll argue that this information should not be kept secret. It should be public and transparent—shared with all Canadians—so that we're aware of what the landscape is and of how international students are being taken advantage of. With respect to that analysis, will there be information and data on what countries are being targeted?

Click to read the full discussion from the Committee meeting

CIMM#113: Pension Transferability and Access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), and Delays in Permanent Residence and Visas for Hong Kongers

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
All right. Thank you.
Hence, we have this problem. You have the Canadian government, which created this lifeboat scheme for Hong Kongers who are fleeing persecution in Hong Kong as a result of the national security law. The government, in its wisdom or lack thereof, created this lifeboat scheme that only provides for temporary residence by way of a work permit or a study permit. Then these people have to go to the queue to make an application for permanent residence, and we know that there is a huge backlog and delay in processing.
In the beginning, there was swift action, but as time has passed, it's been lengthened by way of the delay, to the point where the former minister even made an announcement to further extend people's work permits and study permits for another three years. That is to say, a person could be here for six years—as long as six years—under this current scheme without getting permanent residence. This is because the minister anticipated that people would not be able to swiftly get their permanent resident status. That is the reality.
As a result of that, people are not able to provide proof of permanent residence, because the application is in process. To make it even worse, the government—the minister—just made an announcement about the levels plan, cutting levels to the tune of 105,000 permanent resident status applications.
You can imagine how long the wait-list is for Hong Kongers as they continue to wait. Now, these Hong Kongers have zero intention of returning to Hong Kong, because they know that they would be persecuted if they did. People know that. I think the Canadian government knows that.
This is my question, then, to you as the manager of their pension, which, because of this rule, they're unable to access: Would your organization be willing to write to the regulator to ask for consideration for these applicants who are in a prolonged period of waiting for permanent resident status, to ask that their declaration indicating that they do not intend to return to Hong Kong be accepted as proof that they intend to leave Hong Kong permanently so that they can access their pensions? Is that something that your organization would consider doing?

Maryscott Greenwood, Global Head, Government Relations, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company
I think I understand the question.
The basic premise of your question has to do with the period of time it takes for the Government of Canada to determine and provide permanent residency or citizenship. It seems to me that this is a function of the Government of Canada, as opposed to a regulated entity. That's how I would answer that.

Laura Hewitt, Senior Vice-President and Head, Global Government Affairs and Public Policy, Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc.
Yes. I would say that it's not within our authority to change the criteria.
However, our numbers show that once that permanent residency does come through, we're able to process the applications and approve Canadian permanent residents.

CIM#104: Pension Transferability and Access to MPF, and Delays in PR and Visas for Hong Kongers

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CIMM#113: Pension Transferability and Access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), and Delays in Permanent Residence and Visas for Hong Kongers

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