As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below.

Fully Digitizing Immigration and Asylum Systems

Recommendation 1

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada fully digitize immigration and asylum systems, while still retaining the option for paper applications to ensure broad access to these systems. This includes allowing applicants in all streams to:

• submit applications electronically;
• submit documents and signatures electronically, and follow up with paper documents in the event of application discrepancies;
• be interviewed virtually; and
• be issued visas electronically.

Issuing a Letter with a Scannable Barcode

Recommendation 2

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada issue a letter with a scannable barcode for permanent resident visas, rather than affixing a visa to physical passports.

Increasing Settlement Funding for Digital Technology

Recommendation 3

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada increase funding to settlement services to promote digital literacy and the availability of digital tools.

Recognizing Expired Permanent Resident Cards

Recommendation 4

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada implement measures that enable permanent residents with expired permanent resident cards, whose card renewals have been impacted by COVID-19 processing complications, to be allowed to return to Canada for the duration of the pandemic period.

Extending the Validity of Medical Exams

Recommendation 5

That, during the pandemic period, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada extend the validity of medical exams beyond a year and undertake concurrent processing of biometrics, medicals, and criminality and security checks.

Obtaining Medical Exams in Canada under Exceptional Circumstances

Recommendation 6

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada implement a temporary public policy allowing sponsored spouses with no access to a panel physician and medical exam in their own country to obtain the exam in Canada, on a visitor visa, during pandemic conditions.

Funding Visa Application Centre Staff in Francophone Africa

Recommendation 7

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada encourage and fund Visa Application Centres in francophone Africa to increase staffing to accelerate the processing of student biometrics and permits.

Prioritizing Family Reunification Processing for Protected Persons

Recommendation 8

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada prioritize the processing of family reunification applications where family members are classified as protected persons.

Adding Resources to Process Temporary Resident Extensions

Recommendation 9

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada add resources to speed up the processing of extension applications for temporary resident status.

Disaggregating Processing and Application Data

Recommendation 10

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada collect and publish expanded anonymized processing and application data for all immigration streams, disaggregated by applicant race, religion, gender, age, source-country, and parental status inclusive of data not currently collected by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Increasing Access to an International Student Helpline

Recommendation 11

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada provide improved service to students and recruitment officers through a dedicated international student helpline, with officers who are appropriately trained and available.

Tracking Applications in Real Time

Recommendation 12

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada upgrade information technology infrastructure to make all applications transparent and trackable in real time, to provide a realistic processing time for individual applications and to prioritize the restoring of full application processing standards.

Strengthening Communication Protocols

Recommendation 13

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada continue to improve the negotiation and articulation of clear protocols and policy communication among Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, visa offices, airlines, provincial and territorial governments and designated learning institutions.

Releasing to Applicants a Full Justification of Refusals

Recommendation 14

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada direct visa officers to release to applicants the full records of any information and the full reasons for the refusal of their application.

Creating an Immigration Ombudsperson

Recommendation 15

That the Government of Canada introduce legislation to create an Immigration Ombudsperson to oversee Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and to receive complaints.

Issuing Temporary Resident Visas to Spousal Sponsorship Applicants

Recommendation 16

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada instruct visa officers to issue temporary resident visas to spousal sponsorship applicants, making section 179(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations inapplicable, if there are no concerns of inadmissibility.

Creating a Super Visa for Applicants in a Spousal Sponsorship

Recommendation 17

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada develop a super visa with conditions similar to that of the parent and grandparent super visa that would allow spouses multiple entries into Canada while their sponsorship application is being processed.

Building Compassion into the System and Communicating Mistakes

Recommendation 18

That during the COVID-19 period, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada contact applicants to correct mistakes, including missing documents, and provide applicants with sufficient opportunity to respond before returning the entire file, and that files regain their place in the queue if re-submitted to the same stream.

Locking-in Age of Dependents

Recommendation 19

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada adopt the policy that is used in refugee applications and lock-in the age of all dependent children as of 1 March 2020 until permanent resident applications are processed and there is no further risk that these dependents may be aged out because of processing backlogs due to COVID-19.

Prioritizing the Processing of Adoption Cases

Recommendation 20

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada put additional resources to address the backlog of international adoption cases and that adoption applications be treated as a priority for expedited processing.

Developing Guidelines for Adoptive Children with Urgent Medical Needs

Recommendation 21

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada develop clear rules and guidelines to ensure cases involving the urgent medical needs of adoptive children are expedited.

Creating a Weighted Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Stream

Recommendation 22

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada create a parent or grandparent sponsorship stream that properly weighs previous applications and looks to address the current backlog, and that there be a pre-screening of files.

Changing Financial Requirements for Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship

Recommendation 23

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada allow the income requirements for the parent and grandparent sponsorship program to be the minimum necessary income equal to the low-income cut-off established by Statistics Canada for the years impacted by the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, conducting a yearly review to determine whether to extend allowing the minimum necessary income to be equivalent to the low-income cut-off, all while respecting Quebec’s jurisdiction.

Ensuring Safe In-person Learning for International Students

Recommendation 24

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency continue to support international students and designated learning institutions to permit international students to safely enter Canada and study in-person.

Reducing Administrative Requirements for Co-op Work Terms

Recommendation 25

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada expand the standard conditions of study permits to allow international students to work full-time for an internship or co-op placement that is part of an educational program without the need to complete any additional procedures.

Assessing the Need to Expand Eligibility for Federal Settlement Funding

Recommendation 26

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, in partnership with provinces and territories, assess service needs in order to consider expanding eligibility for federal settlement support in order to include temporary residents on study or work permits.

Examining Acceptance Rates for International Students

Recommendation 27

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada examine acceptance rates for international students whose applications are processed in Africa, particularly francophone Africa, and develop a plan to address the lower acceptance rates of students from this region compared to other source countries such as Pakistan.

Issuing the Authorization Letter Automatically

Recommendation 28

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada issue authorization letters automatically to foreign nationals who have had their confirmation of permanent residence and permanent resident visas expire during the pandemic period, and that the need to renew expired supporting documents be waived for the duration of the pandemic.

Prioritizing the Issuing of the Standard Acknowledgement of Receipt

Recommendation 29

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada prioritize issuing the usual acknowledgement of receipt.

Issuing Bridging Open Work Permits in Quebec

Recommendation 30

That the government grant bridging open work permits to temporary residents who are waiting for permanent residency through Quebec’s Skilled Worker Program.

Providing Work Permits for Caregivers during COVID-19

Recommendation 31

That, concerning caregivers who do not possess occupation specific work permits, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada issue work permits to caregivers without the need for Labour Market Impact Assessments during the COVID-19 period; that hours interrupted due to the pandemic be counted towards their qualifying work experience under the pilot programs; and that the age of children be locked in for the consideration of qualifying work experience.

Developing a Pathway to Permanent Residence for Those Performing Essential Work

Recommendation 32

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada develop a clear pathway for permanent residence for workers performing essential work during the pandemic period.

Permitting the Entry of Asylum Seekers

Recommendation 33

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency, where possible and in partnership with all the relevant resettlement partners including the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, permit refugees and asylum seekers to enter Canada, regardless of their country of origin or nationality, while requiring them to comply with all public health requirements.

Using the Guardian Angel Program as a Model

Recommendation 34

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada develop programs similar to the Guardian Angel program, especially considering the inclusion of foreign workers who contributed during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of status.

Creating a More Accessible Temporary Residence Option for Hong Kong Residents

Recommendation 35

That, in response to the increasingly dangerous situation in Hong Kong, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada create an open work permit, aimed at Hong Kong foreign nationals, with moderate language and education requirements.

Creating a Five-Year Post-Graduate Work Permit

Recommendation 36

That, in response to the increasingly dangerous situation in Hong Kong, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada create a five-year post-graduate work permit aimed at Hong Kong foreign nationals who study or have studied in Canada.

Creating a Hong Kong Extended Family Reunification Stream

Recommendation 37

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada create a family reunification stream for Hong Kong family members, including extended family members of Canadian citizens and of pro-democracy activists living in Canada.

Developing a Hong Kong “Source-Country” Asylum Stream

Recommendation 38

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada implement a temporary public policy to address Hong Kong refugee claims and grant asylum to pro-democracy activists within Hong Kong, using initiatives such as Rainbow Railroad as a model in order to discreetly identify and support asylum seekers.