Marisa Berry Méndez, Joycna Kang and Léonie Tchatat made statements and answered questions.

Martin Champoux moved, — That, whereas Quebec and Ontario receive a disproportionate share of asylum seekers in Canada, while efforts to relocate them to other provinces remain minimal, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study specifically on:

1. the impacts of this inequitable distribution on the provinces’ public services and public finances;
2. ways to make the system more equitable;
3. on practices in other countries and groups of countries, such as the European Union, for distributing asylum seekers;

that the committee invite experts, lawyers specializing in immigration and constitutional law, representatives of organizations working with asylum seekers, and any other witnesses deemed relevant to appear before it; that the committee formulate recommendations aimed at making the asylum seeker system more equitable; that the committee devote a minimum of three meetings to this study; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a full response to its report.

Debate arose thereon.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Martin Champoux, Peter Fragiskatos, Amandeep Sodhi, Salma Zahid, Sameer Zuberi — 5;

NAYS: — 0.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.

At 12:00 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 12:07 p.m., the meeting resumed.

Sam Routley, Yvonne Su and Richard Kurland made statements and answered questions.

At 12:33 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 115(5), it was agreed that the committee continue to sit.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.

It was agreed, — That the deadline for the submission of briefs in relation to the study of Canada’s Immigration System be Monday, May 4, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.