Citizenship and Immigration Committee
Sept. 27th, 2022
5:30 p.m.
Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP
Thank you.
Speaking of IRCC backlogs and exceptional situations, there are situations in which individuals send in their applications and have missed a signature or missed a document and IRCC sends the whole thing back. They then have to restart the whole process all over again. Does that make sense to you? Or should the government actually do a better job of reaching the applicants, fixing the missing document or that situation and then continue to process the application?
Claire Launay
President, Le Québec c’est nous aussi
I think that's a perfect example of the dysfunctional system that is IRCC. Maybe it worked when the volume of applications was lower, but now with the volume we have, that kind of back-and-forth takes so much time.
Yes, that does contribute to the backlog. That creates more time, more trouble and more precarity for people, who then, let's say, see their current status expire. That's why IRCC needs to take a look at its own practices and revise them. I don't think that's an impossible task.
Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP
Yes.
I have a situation where people have postgrad work permits actually hanging in the balance and, because of that situation, they have been waiting for over a year to get their permit renewed. In the meantime, they have zero income and are on the verge of homelessness. Of course, with having to make a new application, IRCC has to go through the entire process right from the beginning. I think none of that makes sense. Would you say to the government that they should stop with this nonsense and actually get on with doing an appropriate job?
The Chair Salma Zahid
Liberal
I'm sorry for interrupting, Ms. Kwan. Your time is up.
Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP
Just a yes or a no....
Claire Launay
President, Le Québec c’est nous aussi
I would give it a bit more nuance, but generally, yes.
Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP
You're more diplomatic than I am.
https://openparliament.ca/committees/immigration/44-1/32/jenny-kwan-18/