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House Hansard - 174

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 28, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 174 - Mar/28/23
Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)
  • Mar/28/23 3:11:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents who are refugees and former refugees are facing major delays in obtaining travel documents even when they provide proof of urgency. Between 2020 and 2021, only 15% of applications were processed within 20 business days by IRCC. Many have been waiting for over a year. The member for Vancouver East and I have written to the minister twice about this issue. When will the minister take action to ensure that refugees and former refugees can access their right to travel?
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Context: House Hansard - 174 - Mar/28/23
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)
  • Mar/28/23 3:12:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has a proud tradition of resettling some of the world's most vulnerable people. Of course we, through the pandemic, resettled more refugees than any other country in the world. We know that when people come here, having the desire to travel and to see loved ones in other parts of the world is a priority for them. Over the course of the past year and a half, we have made significant investments to add staff to our department. We have adopted new technologies and relaxed administrative burdens to speed up processing times so people can be more quickly reunited with their loved ones. I would be pleased to continue my work to expedite processing times, including for refugee travel documents, so more people can connect with those they care about most more quickly.
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