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Business of Supply

This was a Committee of the Whole examination of the immigration minister’s spending plans, where Conservative members used their questions to press the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship on asylum numbers, border screening, visa decisions, fraudulent immigration consultants, temporary foreign workers, and the removal of people with no legal status. The minister pointed to falling asylum claim numbers, cooperation with provinces to relocate refugees, enforcement actions including the removal of 23,000 people last year, and Bill C-12 as a measure to further reduce asylum claims. Liberal members also used some questions to highlight immigration’s economic benefits and summer jobs for youth.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

248 statements

Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“I respect the member and appreciate her knowledge. To answer her question, the Safe Third Country Agreement with Canada is still in place.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, this may be one of the first times that I have responded to the hon. member. I know she has been here for a while. I very much respect her as a person, but also as a parliamentarian. I know she has connections to my province of Nova Scotia. I really appreciate her wealth of knowledge here. She asked me a question about the STCA. The information I have is that the STCA continues to be partnered with Canada.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We can only process a set number of immigration applications each year because of our plan. We have been clear about this limit. We met our target last year, and we are on track to meet it again this year.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, my colleague raises a really good point that we have been talking with my department’s officials about, because we receive those concerns in my constituency office as well, as do all parliamentarians. I would say that part of the process is to do with the fact that we have a levels plan that is part of managing migration in Canada, permanent and temporary. As a result of that, we can only process so many per year. We have been clear and transparent with Canadians on what that number is. In fact, we met our target last year and we are on track to do so this year. It is part of the levels plan that we have that we can only process so much.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We process 80% of immigration files on time, even though we receive a very high number of them. We are also working with our security and border agencies to cut down wait times for security checks.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, it is a very good point. In terms of the IRCC’s processing standards, 80% are processed in time within our standards. We have very high-demand volumes. To go back to the member’s earlier question on security screening, we are working very diligently with both CBSA and CSIS to bring those down.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We paused the home care worker program because we got too many applications. We need to process the ones we already have before we take more.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, it is a very good question because many people use home care workers. We had to pause the program because we found an abundance of volume there, and we felt, as everybody does now, that it is just not fair to keep accepting more and more applications until we are able to process some of the ones that we have in the queue.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We have set limits on how many temporary residents, like students and workers, we can accept. These limits are in the 2025 budget, and we are working to process people based on them.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, we have levels, in terms of the temporary resident population, that we can accept, whether it is students, workers or the people who are coming on humanitarian pathways. It is all calculated together. It is all in budget 2025, which was tabled in the House. We are working to process those numbers accordingly.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We have an immigration plan that sets numbers for permanent residents. In 2024, Canada also added a plan for temporary residents.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, again, these are excellent questions, and they are ones that Canadians are asking me when I go to different provinces, and the territories that I went to as well. No, it is neither of those. It is the fact that we have a levels plan. The levels plan has a permanent resident number, but for the first time, in 2024, Canada introduced the temporary resident plan—

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We have a clear, open plan, and we are carrying it out. We will keep doing our best.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, we definitely have a plan. We are definitely delivering on that plan. It has been transparent, it has been clear, and perhaps that is part of the reason there have been so many questions from Canadians. We have been so clear and so transparent, and it is different than in past years, and we will continue to do the best that—

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We are keeping our election promises. We plan to lower the number of temporary and permanent immigrants by 2027 while still bringing in skilled workers.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, I appreciate my colleague’s opinion. We are working to deliver for Canadians, to fulfill the commitments we made in the election, to bring down the numbers of temporary and permanent residents in 2027 and to bring in talent.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“I respect the member's experience with immigration and politics. She asked a good question about our border agreement, and I want to finish answering it.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, I want to welcome my colleague to the discussion here tonight. She is my immigration critic, and I had a great discussion with her in the summer when we were talking about levels and everything else. I very much value her experience in immigration and also in politics, not just federally but provincially. The member does ask a good question on the STCA. Does she mind if I continue?

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“This is not a simple yes-or-no question. I am ready to answer it if the member wants.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, it is not a yes-or-no question. I can answer that question if the member would like.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We watch what happens in the United States very closely to see how it affects our refugee system.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, we do monitor the U.S. We use a robust framework to continuously monitor U.S. developments and their impact on the refugee protection system.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“The department has strong rules in place. The department and its partners keep watching this closely.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, again, as I said, there is a robust framework. There is continuous monitoring by the department, but also by the partners that the department works with.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“The immigration department works with other departments to monitor this, and we will keep doing that.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, as I said, IRCC monitors that with the partners we work with. It is not simply IRCC. There are other departments that it works with in order to monitor them, and we will continue to do that.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“Students from Gaza use the same visa application as any other international student. But we have told our officials to process student visas for people in Gaza faster.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, first let me say that when the member speaks of Gaza and the Middle East, my heart goes out to everyone there. Obviously, I know it is very difficult. When the member speaks of students, they all go through the same application as any international student. I can tell the member that we have directed officials to accelerate the student visa processing for people in Gaza, and I can confirm—

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“I do not have the information the member wants. I can say that, as of February 28, Canada approved about 1,360 Palestinians to come here, and about 985 have arrived through special programs.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, I do not believe I can reply to that. I do not think I have what the member is asking for. I can tell the member that, as of February 28, approximately 1,360 Palestinians have been approved to come to Canada and approximately 985 people have arrived through the special measures.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“In 2024, the government made a plan to bring up to 5,000 extended family members of Canadians from Gaza to Canada temporarily.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, in 2024, prior to me becoming a minister, the government introduced special measures to facilitate temporary residence for up to 5,000 extended family members in Gaza of Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We made a promise about immigration numbers, and we are doing our best to keep it.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, the Government of Canada made a commitment for certain numbers, and we are fulfilling that commitment to the best of our abilities.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“The government made a promise, and we are keeping it. The numbers show how many people have arrived and how many applications we have processed.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, as I said, the government made a commitment, and the commitment is being fulfilled. I have cited the numbers of who has already arrived and of the applications that have been processed.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We have already set up ways for people from Hong Kong to come to Canada temporarily and permanently.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, in terms of Hong Kong, I believe I already addressed that with another member, but a number of measures have been implemented for Hong Kong, both for permanent resident pathways and temporary resident measures.

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We received 46,444 permanent residency applications from people in Hong Kong. So far, 13,160 of them have arrived in Canada.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, the member asked for a number for the Hong Kong PR pathways. We received 46,444 applications for people, and the total that have arrived is 13,160.

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