FAMILY REUNIFICATION Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration Borys Wrzesnewskyj Chair MARCH 2017 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Reproduction in accordance with this permission does not constitute publication under the authority of the House of Commons. 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Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca FAMILY REUNIFICATION Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration Borys Wrzesnewskyj Chair MARCH 2017 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION STANDING COMMITTEE ON CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION CHAIR Borys Wrzesnewskyj VICE-CHAIRS David Tilson Jenny Kwan MEMBERS Julie Dzerowicz Bob Saroya Ali Ehsassi Marwan Tabbara Hon. Michelle Rempel Salma Zahid Randeep Sarai OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Gary Anandasangaree Iqra Khalid Charlie Angus Kelly McCauley Fin Donnelly John Nater Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Robert-Falcon Ouellette Peter Fragiskatos Ruby Sahota Randy Hoback Raj Saini Matt Jeneroux Brigitte Sansoucy Darshan Singh Kang Geng Tan CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Erica Pereira LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Sandra Elgersma Julie Béchard iii THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION has the honour to present its EIGHTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the Committee on Thursday, February 25, 2016, the Committee has studied family reunification and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS FAMILY REUNIFICATION .............................................................................................. 1 PREAMBLE ............................................................................................................... 1 PART 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 3 PART 2: CURRENT FRAMEWORK FOR FAMILY REUNIFICATION ....................... 5 A. Family Class Sponsorship Program ................................................................ 5 1. Main Requirements to be a Sponsor ....................................................... 5 2. Members of the Family Class .................................................................. 6 a. Spouse, Common-law Partner and Conjugal Partner ........................ 6 b. Dependent Child ................................................................................ 8 c. Parents and Grandparents ................................................................. 9 PART 3: PLACE OF FAMILY REUNIFICATION IN CANADA’S IMMIGRATION PROGRAM ......................................................................................................... 10 A. Costs ............................................................................................................. 11 B. Benefits ......................................................................................................... 13 1. Emotional well-being ............................................................................. 13 2. Cultural Identity ..................................................................................... 14 3. Economic Benefit for the Family Unit .................................................... 15 C. The need for more research .......................................................................... 16 D. Appropriate Size of the Family Class Program ............................................. 17 PART 4: CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES ...................................................................... 19 A. Definition of Family ........................................................................................ 19 B. Dependents ................................................................................................... 20 C. Section 117(9)(d) of the Regulations ............................................................ 22 D. Financial Requirements ................................................................................ 24 E. Processing Times .......................................................................................... 25 F. Client Service ................................................................................................ 31 vii PART 5: CHANGES TO THE FAMILY CLASS PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS ....... 34 A. Spouses and Common-law partners ............................................................. 34 1. Integrity of the Spousal Sponsorship program ....................................... 34 a. Bad Faith as Set Out in the Regulations .......................................... 34 b. Assessing a Genuine Relationship................................................... 35 c. Marriages of Convenience and Section 130(3) of the Regulations .. 37 d. Conditional Permanent Residence ................................................... 38 e. Marriage by Proxy and Remote Marriages ....................................... 39 2. Economic Issues in Spousal Sponsorships ........................................... 40 3. Other Challenges related to the Spousal Sponsorship program ............ 40 a. Dual Intent ........................................................................................ 40 b. Challenges Particular to In-Canada Spouses and Common-Law Partners .......................................................................................... 41 B. Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program ........................................ 42 1. Application intake .................................................................................. 42 2. Program requirements for Parent and Grandparents ............................ 43 a. Minimum Necessary Income ............................................................ 44 b. Period of time — proof of income ..................................................... 44 c. Length of Undertaking ...................................................................... 45 3. The Super Visa for Parents and Grandparents ..................................... 45 PART 6: BARRIERS TO FAMILY REUNIFICATION OUTSIDE OF FAMILY CLASS SPONSORSHIPS .................................................................................. 47 A. Live-in Caregivers ......................................................................................... 47 B. Refugees and Protected Persons ................................................................. 49 C. In-Canada applications on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds ....... 50 D. Temporary Foreign Workers and Those without Legal Immigration Status .. 51 PART 7: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................... 52 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................. 63 APPENDIX A: INCIDENCE OF EMPLOYMENT EARNINGS OF PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS UNDER FAMILY CLASS (INCLUDING DEPENDENTS) BY LANDING COHORT AND YEAR SINCE LANDING ...................................................... 71 APPENDIX B: INCIDENCE OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE TO PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS UNDER FAMILY CLASS (INCLUDING DEPENDENTS) BY LANDING COHORT AND YEAR SINCE LANDING ...................................................... 73 viii APPENDIX C: LIST OF WITNESSES ........................................................................... 75 APPENDIX D: LIST OF BRIEFS ................................................................................... 79 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ............................................................. 81 DISSENTING OPINION OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA .................. 83 SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA ... 91 ix FAMILY REUNIFICATION PREAMBLE On 23 February 2016, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (the Committee) agreed to conduct a study on the subject of family reunification.1 A second motion, adopted on 25 February 2016, specified that the study include: 1. an examination of the quota system and its impact on family reunification; 2. consideration of the recent use of the Super Visa Program as an alternative to the parent and grandparent sponsorship program;