Speaking Notes - The Honourable Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, at a meeting of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for Immigration

Toronto, Ontario, July 5, 2005

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Thank you. First, I want to welcome you to this conference, which gives some of us a chance to meet for the very first time, and all of us an opportunity to listen to each other’s ideas.

We have made good progress both individually and collectively in a number of important areas over the last few months. So I would like to think this meeting represents something of a watershed in our efforts to strengthen the partnerships that are so critical for Canada’s success today as well as in the months and years ahead.

One of my first acts as Minister was to outline a six point plan. Today I am proud to note we have reached some important milestones in each. My six point plan included a commitment to help better integrate international students into Canadian society. This is what we are doing today by extending the off-campus work agreements nationally. That means every region of Canada will benefit from the experience and skills international students bring with them.

Another important element of my six point plan is to make sure that every community and region in Canada benefits from immigration. That means working to ensure that communities across Canada can attract and retain the newcomers many will need to thrive and prosper in the future. This is what we are doing, so that all regions in Canada can benefit from immigration. All of us are working very hard to develop strategies especially for smaller centres including Francophone minority communities.

I am proud of the work accomplished by the CIC-Francophone Minority Communities Steering Committee to help promote immigration to Francophone Minority communities.

I am pleased to note in this regard that the increase in the number of Francophone immigrants who settled in Canada in 2004 reached 4.9 percent. That exceeds the targeted increase of 4.4 percent by 2007 set out in Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Strategic Framework to Foster Immigration to Francophone Minority Communities. So we are making reasonable progress.

Better service delivery is also an important component of my six point plan. Budget 2005 provides CIC with the resources to help improve many aspects of service delivery — including making it easier for newcomers to get information about their applications or about their new life in Canada through the development of an online information portal.

By providing community-specific information, the portal will be a useful promotion tool for all of us as well as for communities and municipalities that want to attract and retain more newcomers. It is also going to provide a coordinated access point for online information and services so that newcomers can make informed decisions about coming to Canada as well as preparing for the Canadian labour market before they arrive.

As part of my six point plan, I also made a commitment to newcomers as well as all Canadians that Citizenship and Immigration Canada would find ways to reduce processing times draw down some of our current inventories. I also said we had to make it easier for families to bring their loved ones to Canada. This is what we’re now doing. We have increased the processing of applications from parents and grandparents who have applied to come to Canada from 6,000 to 18,000 per year in 2005 and 2006 through an investment of $36 million over the two years. Multiple entry visitor visas will make it easier for these applicants to visit Canada while their application is processed.

The Government of Canada is directing additional resources to reduce high inventories and also enhancing technology to modernize processing and increase productivity. Our goal is to restore the processing times to an average of 12 months for a grant of citizenship and to four months for a proof of citizenship. Special measures are also now in place to accommodate citizens who demonstrate an urgent need for a certificate in order to obtain a Canadian passport. As well, the age for automatic waivers of language and knowledge requirements for citizenship has been reduced from 60 to 55.

It is hoped that all these measures will help us build a stronger Canada by attracting and welcoming people from all parts of the world. We have also done a lot collectively.

The framework agreements we have reached with some of the Provinces represent a continuing reminder of the value of close cooperation on immigration matters, so it is encouraging to see so many initiated, extended or concluded.

The Provincial Nominee Program is also an area where we can all take great pride in our accomplishments and look forward to some significant advancements in the year ahead.

Enhanced Language Training initiatives is another area where we have made some good progress towards working in partnership on a cost-sharing basis to develop and deliver a variety of programs to help newcomers gain access to jobs better suited to their skills and qualifications.

We have also had some success in terms of attracting and retaining newcomers to communities away from the larger Metropolitan centres of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver and putting in place the programs and partnerships that can move these efforts forward.

Today we have an opportunity to informally get to talk to each other and map out how we can build on these successes and continue the good work already underway. We need strong leadership at every level of government to succeed. Most of all we need strong partnerships and close collaboration if our efforts are going to produce the kind of results that Canadians need and want.

By working together as equal partners to strengthen and improve the immigration programs, we can help ensure Canada’s prosperity and national growth for both this and future generations yet to come.

Thank you.