Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to applications for citizenship processed by the government since January 1, 2019, and broken down by year: (a) how many applications have been (i) received, (ii) approved, (iii) denied, (iv) received and are still awaiting a decision; (b) how many applications involving individuals with a criminal record were (i) received, (ii) approved, (iii) denied, (iv) received but are still awaiting a decision; (c) of the applications in (b)(iii), what is the breakdown by type of crime which the government determined was severe enough to deny citizenship; (d) of the applications in (b)(ii), what is the breakdown by type of crime which the government determined was not severe enough to deny citizenship; and (e) what criteria is used by the government to determine which crimes committed in Canada by non-citizens disqualify someone from obtaining future citizenship?

With regard to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office: (a) what is the current wait time between when a patent application is received and the patent is issued; (b) what is the current backlog of patent applications in terms of the number of applications and projected wait time; (c) what is the breakdown of (b) by province or territory and by application country of origin; and (d) for each of the four options listed under "four options to expedite patent examination" on the government's websites, what is the current backlog in terms of the number of applications and projected wait time?

With regard to reports that government staff processing services have, in certain instances, refused to record applicants' accurate places of birth on Canadian passports on the grounds of "political conflict": (a) what are the details of any policy, directive, or instruction that would justify an employee altering, omitting, or refusing to list an applicant's accurate place of birth; (b) have any passport officials been directed, formally or informally, to modify place-of-birth designations for applicants born in Israel or other politically sensitive regions, and, if so, who authorized such direction; (c) what operational guidance has been provided to passport officials regarding internationally recognized place names and the handling of politically sensitive designations; and (d) what measures, if any, are being taken to ensure that erroneous or inconsistent practices with the official policy will be corrected?

With regard to Canadian citizenship applications under the Citizenship Act: (a) how many citizenship applications have been approved or have been received but are awaiting a decision for each year since 2023, for applicants who made applications on the basis of citizenship by descent, reported by month; (b) of those applications approved or that have been received but are awaiting a decision reported in (a), how many were or are based on (i) a Canadian parent (applicant first generation born abroad), as defined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, (ii) a Canadian grandparent (applicant second generation born abroad), (iii) a Canadian great-grandparent (applicant third generation born abroad), (iv) a Canadian ancestor (applicant fourth generation born abroad), (v) a Canadian ancestor (applicant fifth generation born abroad), (vi) a Canadian ancestor (applicant greater than fifth generation born abroad); (c) of the applications approved or awaiting a decision reported in (a), how many are from persons with existing citizenships, and, for those persons with existing citizenships, from which countries do they have existing citizenship; (d) for the applications reported in (a), what criteria, including evidentiary standards, does the government use to verify each generational link, including cases where civil birth records are missing and alternative evidence is accepted (for example, baptismal records, census records, naturalization documents) as permitted under Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada guidance; (e) of the applications approved or which are awaiting a decision in (a), how many citizenships were granted or were accepted for consideration as a result of the removal of the former first generation cut-off rule, which was removed when Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), received Royal Assent on November 20, 2025; (f) what assessments or internal analyses did the government conduct regarding granting citizenship to applicants whose connection to Canada is considered attenuated or distant, and does the government track such cases by degree or number of generations; and (g) what steps has the government taken to ensure that applicants relying on multigenerational chains of descent satisfy the new statutory requirement for a meaningful connection to Canada?

With regard to processing times for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada: what is the current average processing time for (i) temporary residence - Seasonal Agricultural Worker, (ii) temporary residence - International Experience Canada, (iii) economic immigration (all sub­categories), (iv) family sponsorship (all sub-categories), (v) refugees - dependents of Protected Persons, (vi) humanitarian and compassionate case, (vii) citizenship, (viii) permanent resident card applications, broken down by the applicant's country of origin?

With regard to labour market impact assessments, broken down by each of the last five years: (a) how many applications were there in the (i) high wage stream, (ii) low wage stream; (b) how many high wage stream applications were (i) approved, (ii) rejected, (iii) withdrawn; (c) how many low wage stream applications were (i) approved, (ii) rejected, (iii) withdrawn; (d) what percentage of applications were subject to integrity review, broken down by year and stream; (e) for applications subject to integrity review, why were they selected for review, broken down by year and stream; (f) for applications subject to integrity review, what percentage had problems identified, broken down by year and stream; and (g) for applications where problems were identified, what were the names of the companies, the specific infractions, and the consequences imposed in each case?

With regard to applicants for Employment Insurance sickness benefits and compliance investigations conducted by the department: (a) how many investigations specific to applicants for Employment Insurance sickness benefits were conducted between June 2024 and June 2025 for the region of (i) Bas-Saint-Laurent, (ii) Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, (iii) Capitale-Nationale, (iv) Mauricie, (v) Estrie, (vi) Montréal, (vii) Outaouais, (viii) Abitibi-Témiscamingue, (ix) Côte-Nord, (x) Nord-du-Québec, (xi) Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine, (xii), Chaudière-Appalaches, (xiii) Laval, (xiv) Lanaudière, (xv) Laurentides, (xvi) Montérégie, (xvii) Centre-du-Québec; (b) how many investigations specific to applicants for Employment Insurance sickness benefits were conducted between June 2025 and June 2026 for the region of (i) Bas-Saint-Laurent, (ii) Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, (iii) Capitale-Nationale, (iv) Mauricie, (v) Estrie, (vi) Montréal, (vii) Outaouais, (viii) Abitibi-Témiscamingue, (ix) Côte-Nord, (x) Nord-du-Québec, (xi) Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine, (xii), Chaudière-Appalaches, (xiii) Laval, (xiv) Lanaudière, (xv) Laurentides, (xvi) Montérégie, (xvii) Centre-du-Québec; and (c) how many investigations specific to applicants for Employment Insurance sickness benefits were conducted between June 2026 and September 2026 for the region of (i) Bas-Saint-Laurent, (ii) Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, (iii) Capitale-Nationale, (iv) Mauricie, (v) Estrie, (vi) Montréal, (vii) Outaouais, (viii) Abitibi-Témiscamingue, (ix) Côte-Nord, (x) Nord-du-Québec, (xi) Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine, (xii), Chaudière-Appalaches, (xiii) Laval, (xiv) Lanaudière, (xv) Laurentides, (xvi) Montérégie, (xvii) Centre-du-Québec?

With regard to the temporary public policy announced by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship on November 20, 2023, to reunite previously resettled Yazidis and other survivors of Daesh in Canada with their family members in northern Iraq, excluding any applications received before October 31, 2023: (a) how many applications have been received under this specific public policy since November 20, 2023, broken down by month and by the location of the processing office; (b) how many applications (i) have been accepted, (ii) have been rejected, (iii) have been withdrawn, (iv) have been deemed incomplete, (v) are still in process; (c) how many principal applicants and how many dependents are included in each of the categories listed in (b); (d) what is the average and median processing time for complete applications under this public policy, including those that were rejected or withdrawn; (e) what were the five most common grounds for rejection under this public policy; (f) how many times has the department used its discretion to waive documentation or admissibility requirements due to the applicant's circumstances under this public policy, and in what types of cases or contexts were these waivers applied; (g) how many applications under this policy have either been (i) voluntarily withdrawn by the applicant, (ii) closed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, (iii) abandoned by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; (h) for each case in (g)(i) to (g)(iii), what were the reasons or grounds cited by the department; (i) how many of the 400 allocated spots under the policy have been filled to date, and does Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada anticipate filling all 400 before the expiry date of December 31, 2026; and (j) has Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada communicated any eligibility criteria, quotas, internal directives, or guidance to visa officers or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada staff related to prioritizing, triaging, or refusing certain types of applicants under this public policy, and, if so, what are those instructions?

With regard to exemptions under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for supervised consumption sites since November 4, 2015, and broken down by year: (a) how many applications have (i) been received, (ii) been approved, (iii) been rejected, (iv) been renewed, (v) not been renewed, for supervised consumption sites; (b) what are the details of each application in (a), including the (i) name of the site, (ii) location of the site, (iii) date of the application, (iv) date of the decision; (c) for the applications rejected in (a)(iii) and (a)(v), what was the reason for rejection; and (d) how many supervised consumption sites approved since 2015 are currently operational to date?

With regard to applications affected by An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), S.C. 2025, c. 5, and broken down by calendar month, and separately for the periods November 20, 2025, to December 14, 2025, and December 15, 2025 to the date the response is prepared: (a) how many applications for citizenship were received in which the applicant’s claim to citizenship was assessed, or ultimately assessed, under paragraph 3(1)(b) and the substantial-connection framework in subsection 3(3) of the Citizenship Act; (b) of the applications in (a), how many were (i) approved, (ii) refused, (iii) withdrawn, (iv) abandoned, (v) pending at the end of each month; (c) of the applications in (a), what was the applicant’s country of birth, by count; (d) of the applications in (a), what other citizenship or citizenships were declared by applicants in those files, by count; (e) in how many applications in (a) did the department determine that the relevant Canadian parent satisfied the 1,095-day physical presence requirement, and what categories of evidence were accepted for that purpose, broken down by evidence category and count; (f) in how many applications in (a) did the department request additional information or documents to establish the parent’s physical presence in Canada, and what were the 10 most common evidentiary deficiencies identified, by count; (g) of the refusals in (b)(ii), what were the reasons for refusal, broken down by category and count, including, but not limited to, (i) insufficient evidence of the parent’s physical presence in Canada, (ii) parent not a citizen at the relevant time, (iii) applicant not captured by paragraph 3(1)(b), (iv) insufficient proof of parentage, (v) missing or inconsistent identity or civil-status documents, (vi) any other reason; and (h) how many applications received before December 15, 2025, were processed under any interim measure relating to the first-generation limit and later finalized after December 15, 2025, and what were the outcomes of those applications?

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada assessments and artificial intelligence: (a) does the government use artificial intelligence in any way in relation to the assessments; (b) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, (i) when did the department begin using artificial intelligence, (ii) what artificial intelligence programs are used, (iii) for what purpose is each program used; (c) how many government officials' positions related to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada assessments have been made redundant or unnecessary as a result of the use of artificial intelligence, in total and broken down by position; (d) how much money does the government estimate it saves each year by using artificial intelligence in relation to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada assessments; and (e) what safeguards are in place to ensure that applicants are not wrongly denied acceptance or eligibility due to mistakes made by artificial intelligence programs?

With regard to the Housing Accelerator Fund: (a) which local governments applied for funding, broken down by province or territory; (b) for each application in (a), which local government's applications were (i) granted, (ii) denied, (iii) received, but have not yet received a decision; and (c) which local governments, located in the riding of Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, applied for funding, and, for each application, (i) what is the name of the community, (ii) when was the application received, (iii) what is the status of the application, (iv) how much funding has been approved, if applicable?

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada programs, and the Sudanese family reunification program: (a) how much money in processing fees has been collected from Canadian families and Sudanese applicants through the Sudanese family reunification program; (b) why is Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada able to prioritize processing some pathways above the Levels Plan, but not for Sudanese applicants; (c) for the Sudanese family reunification program, what is the average time (i) from application submission to approval, (ii) from approval to arrival in Canada, (iii) from application submission to arrival in Canada, (iv) between submission of medical information and approval of security checks, or vice versa; (d) what are the details of the policy, directive, instruction, or other instrument that determines the pace of applications for Sudanese individuals versus applications from other programs or streams; (e) has a minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada ever provided directives or instructions to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada with respect to the Sudanese family reunification program in any form, and, if so, what are the details of each instance; (f) how many pending applicants are awaiting approval in the Sudanese family reunification program; (g) how many of the applicants in (f) does Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada expect to have their applications processed to completion by January 1, 2027; (h) by what date does Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada expect applicants who applied for the Sudanese family reunification program in 2024 will have their applications processed to completion; (i) by what date does Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada expect applicants who applied for the Sudanese family reunification program in 2025 will have their applications processed to completion; (j) what is the total amount of funds that anchors have been required to set aside to fulfill application requirements for applicants through the Sudanese family reunification program; (k) how many deaths of Canadian anchors or deaths of applicants while their Sudanese family reunification program applications were awaiting processing are Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada aware of; (l) what impact has the deaths of Canadian anchors or deaths of applicants while their applications are awaiting processing had on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada decision-making within the Sudanese family reunification program; (m) for each year since January 1, 2015, what have been the average times for an application to be processed to completion for applicants under family-based pathways from countries in Central America, the Caribbean, Ukraine, and Sudan; (n) since 2022, for applicants through the Sudanese family reunification program, how many cases is Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada aware of in which Canadian children were born to Sudanese mothers outside of Canada and for whom one or more of the child's parents has subsequently died; and (o) what actions were taken to expedite the applications, approvals, or arrivals of children and mothers indicated in (n) and, in each case, what were the details?

With regard to applications received by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada categorized under the 2026 levels plan for the category of Humanitarian and Compassionate and Other: (a) how many applications have been (i) received, (ii) processed, (iii) approved, (iv) denied, (v) withdrawn, (vi) backlogged;  (b) what is the number of applications in (a)(i) through (a)(iv) received from (i) Ukraine, (ii) Sudan, (iii) Hong Kong Stream A, (iv) Hong Kong Stream B; (c) on what dates were applications in (b)(i) through (b)(iv) (i) received, (ii) processed, (iii) approved, (iv) backlogged; (d) what is the expected length of time it will take to process applications under the Humanitarian and Compassionate and Other category given the levels plan is limited to 6,900; (e) do the Humanitarian and Compassionate application processing times refer to first stage processing, first and second stage processing, or something else; (f) do the application processing times apply to all Humanitarian and Compassionate applications or are there any exemptions, and, if so, please explain; and (g) do the Immigration Levels determine these processing times?

With regard to security screening of permanent residence applicants by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada: (a) does the department track security screening wait times for permanent residence applicants disaggregated by (i) country of citizenship, (ii) country of last permanent residence, (iii) visa office processing the application; (b) for each country, region and visa office tracked in (a), what are the mean and median security screening wait times for permanent residence applicants, broken down by year; (c) for each category tracked in (a), which ten countries, regions and visa offices recorded the longest average security screening wait times in each of those years; and (d) what steps, if any, is the department taking to address disproportionately long security screening wait times for permanent residence applicants associated with particular countries, regions and visa offices?

With regard to applications received by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, broken down by immigration stream and type of application: (a) how many applications are in the backlog for the (i) Federal Skilled Worker Program, (ii) Federal Skilled Trades Program, (iii) Canadian Experience Class, (iv) Start-up Visa Program, (v) Self-employed Persons Program, (vi) Economic-Federal Economic Pilots: Home Care Worker Immigration: Child Care pilot, (vii) Economic-Federal Economic Pilots: Home Care Worker Immigration: Home Support pilot, (viii) Economic-Federal Economic Pilots: Home Child Care Provider Pilot, (ix) Economic-Federal Economic Pilots: Home Support Worker Pilot, (x) Caring for People with High Medical Needs, (xi) Interim Pathway for Caregiver, (xii) Live-in Caregiver Program, (xiii) Economic-Federal Economic Pilots: Agri-Food Pilot, (xiv) Economic-Federal Economic Pilots: Rural Community Immigration Pilot, (xv) Economic-Federal Economic Pilots: Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, (xvi) Economic-Federal Economic Pilots: Francophone Community Immigration Pilot, (xvii) Economic-Federal Economic Pilots: Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, (xviii) Economic- Atlantic Immigration Program, (xix) Economic- Provincial Nominee Program, (xx) Economic- Quebec Skilled Workers and Business, (xxi) Family - Spouses, Partners and Children, (xxii) Family - Parents and Grandparents, (xxiii) Refugees and Protected Persons - Protected Persons in Canada, (xxiv) Refugees and Protected Persons - Dependents Abroad of Protected Persons in Canada, (xxv) Refugees and Protected Persons - Resettled Refugees – Government Assisted, (xxvi) Refugees and Protected Persons - Resettled Refugees – privately sponsored, (xxvii) Humanitarian & Compassionate: Humanitarian and Compassionate, (xxviii) Ukraine PR pathway for Ukrainian nationals with family in Canada, (xxix) Family-based permanent residence pathway for people affected by the conflict in Sudan, (xxx) Hong Kong Pathways Stream “A”, (xxxi) Hong Kong Pathways Hong Kong Stream “B”; (b) for each stream in (a), what is the length of the backlog; (c) for each stream in (a), what is the date range of applications currently being processed; and (d) for each stream in (a), what is the estimated time required to clear the backlog?

With regard to technical issues affecting the Service Canada Grants and Contributions Online Services between November 1, 2025, and the Canada Summer Jobs application deadline in December 2025: (a) on what dates and for how long was the Service Canada Grants and Contributions Online Services portal unavailable or experiencing technical difficulties; (b) how many applicants reported portal-related issues, broken down by (i) region, (ii) type of applicant (non-profit, small business, public sector employer); (c) what were the most common technical issues reported, including any inability to complete or submit applications; (d) did the government assess the impact of these issues on applicants’ ability to submit complete Canada Summer Jobs applications by the deadline, and, if so, what did the assessment find; (e) what alternative submission methods were offered to applicants; (f) did the government consider extending the Canada Summer Jobs application deadline in light of these issues, and, if not, why; and (g) what measures are being taken to ensure applicants affected by portal issues are not disadvantaged in the evaluation of their applications?

With regard to the government's policy on pipeline approvals: (a) what is the government's policy, including which specific parties or entities must agree or consent before an approval is given; and (b) how long will it take for the government to approve or reject any new pipeline proposal?

With regard to Employment Insurance eligibility determinations related to employer COVID-19 vaccination policies: (a) what is the government’s position on whether an individual’s vaccination status, or refusal to disclose such status, constitutes “misconduct” under the Employment Insurance Act; (b) were any changes made, formal or informal, to the interpretation or application of “misconduct” or “just cause” in Employment Insurance decisions during or since the COVID-19 pandemic, and, if so, what were those changes and when were they implemented; (c) how many Employment Insurance claims were denied on the basis of “misconduct” related to vaccination policies, and what proportion of those cases included an assessment of “just cause”, broken down by year since COVID-19 vaccinations began; (d) what guidance, directives, or decision-making tools were provided to Service Canada or Social Security Tribunal decision-makers regarding Employment Insurance claims involving vaccination policies, and when was each provided; and (e) what steps, if any, has the government taken to review or reassess Employment Insurance decisions made in these cases to ensure compliance with the Employment Insurance Act, and when was each step taken?

With regard to the process for Pre-Removal Risk Assessments referred to in sections 101(1)(b.1) and (b.2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act: (a) what training is provided to reviewing officers who make decisions on the Pre-Removal Risk Assessments prior to their determination of applications, including the length of time, topics covered, and materials used; (b) are the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada’s National Documentation Packages automatically put before Pre-Removal Risk Assessment officers; (c) are the Immigration and Refugee Board’s guidelines automatically put before Pre-Removal Risk Assessment officers; (d) does Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada have a procedure or service standards in place for treating requests for extension of time or disclosure, or other procedural requests made once it receives an application, and for doing so in a timely manner, and, if so, how are such requests made and considered; (e) does Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada have a policy for Pre-Removal Risk Assessment officers to offer accommodations for individuals prior to determining their applications, and, if so, what is the policy; (f) does Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada have a policy on how Pre-Removal Risk Assessment officers should deal with applications by self-represented individuals, and, if so, what is the policy; (g) do Pre-Removal Risk Assessment officers intend to give Pre-Removal Risk Assessment applicants notice of any issues of concern that arise in their written materials, and, if so, what is the policy; (h) do Pre-Removal Risk Assessment officers intend to give Pre-Removal Risk Assessment applicants notice of any proposed locations of an Internal Flight Alternative, given the requirement in the Federal Court jurisprudence to provide notice; and (i) what other policies are in place relating to Pre-Removal Risk Assessments application that were not otherwise covered in (a) to (h)?