CIMM Committee Report

Supplementary Report of the Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada has serious reservations about the focus of the Standing Committee’s report on the Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) system. Sadly, the Committee’s report focuses on a number of smaller issues, rather than tackling some of the major systemic problems that witnesses at the Committee identified.

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act requires that visitors to the country must have a TRV unless they are from a country on the visa exemption list.  In 2009, the Canadian Government removed Mexico from the visa exemption list. In light of the changes that have been made to Canada’s refugee system, the Liberal Party feel that there may no longer be a justification for this policy and recommends:

That the Government of Canada re-examine its decision to remove Mexico from the visa exemption list.

The Liberal Party feels that the Committee chose not to deal with problem of ever increasing wait times for Canadian TRVs. Table 1 of the report shows a clear increase in waiting time from an average of 8 days in 2007 to 18 days in 2012.  These delays will have a negative effect on the Canadian economy.  International business and tourism are both hindered by these wait times.  Therefore, the Liberal Party recommends:

That the Government invest the necessary resources to reduce waiting times for TRVs to at least 2007 levels.

Witnesses at the Committee also raised a number of concerns about the Visa application process. Anecdotally, many Liberal MPs have heard from their constituents that the TRV application is onerous and requests more information that many other countries. The Department of Citizenship and Immigration itself has concluded, in a review of TRV applications from the American, Australian, French and British governments, that the “Canada collected more information than the other countries reviewed.”[1]

Betsy Kane, from Capelle Kane Immigration Lawyers, suggested that it is not terribly clear what is required of an applicant when they are applying for a TRV, ““It always has struck me that with the TRV application, CIC is not transparent and forthcoming as to what is required to get over the hurdle of a TRV application. The CIC website gives guidance as to what is involved in a letter of invitation, but there is no form, no template, as there is for every other type of application or submission to CIC.”[2]

David Goldstein, President of the Travel Industry Association of Canada, identified the wait times and the ambiguity of the process: “There's nothing more frustrating for applicants than to go to a visa application centre or to a consulate and leave all of their personal documents, without any idea of what the process is or when they're going to get an answer.”[3]

Many witnesses also had concerns about the ambiguity of the department’s scoring system and the standardized rejection letters that applicants receive when they are unsuccessful. Betsy Kane stated:

“The other thing I've been asked to discuss is the way CIC communicates its refusal letters. We all are tired of seeing those boilerplate letters, which are completely useless. We all know that the only real way to find out why the visa was refused is to either do an access to information request or to go to our members of Parliament. If CIC were more transparent on the front end and either had a larger boilerplate letter or had the opportunity to put in a few lines similar to what they're already putting in the GCMS, at least the applicant would have knowledge as to why they were refused and would stop burdening members of Parliament with requests just to verify why they were refused.”[4]

It is clear that there is a significant amount of ambiguity in the TRV application process. This lack of clarity impacts all travellers to Canada, whether they are visiting family, business associates or our vast, beautiful country.  This, in turn, is a drag on the Canadian economy, costing jobs from coast to coast to coast. Therefore, the Liberal Party recommends:

That the Government of Canada establishes and makes public a clear scoring system for TRV applications

That the Government of Canada review TRV applications to ensure that they are as simple and clear as possible and only request information clearly required under the Government’s scoring system for TRV applications.

Finally, there is one more concern that the Liberal Party does not feel was adequately covered by the Committee’s report.  In many cases, TRV applicants have been required to surrender their passports to Immigration officials while their applications are processed. As Daniel-Robert Gooch, President of the Canadian Airports Council said:

“Surrendering a passport for weeks, as I mentioned, is a non-starter for frequent travellers. It's all rather inconsistent and confusing, and it can leave a really negative impression of Canada with the individuals we want to come here, have a great time, and hopefully come back. Travellers will choose other markets, and instead of Canada those other markets will get the economic benefits and jobs that result from the increased tourism and trade opportunities.”[5]

The Committee has suggested that CIC do their best to educate applicants as to when they do not have to surrender their passport.  In order to remain competitive with other countries the Liberal Party recommends:

That the Government of Canada review the TRV application process and ensure that applicants do not have to surrender their passport to CIC for an extended period of time.

Canada’s TRV system is crucial to our competitiveness internationally. Canada is a small country by population, but that disadvantage can be overcome by being more nimble and responsive to emerging global trends.  We must keep our national security front of mind, however a TRV system that allows visitors, regardless of whether their purpose is family, business or tourism, to quickly apply and receive their visa will make Canada a more desirable destination for investment and tourism.