In his Report tabled today in Parliament, the Auditor General of Canada, Denis Desautels, notes serious deficiencies in the management and delivery of the economic component of the Canadian Immigration Program, whose aim is to recruit skilled workers and business immigrants. Immigration offices abroad are overtasked, controls to protect health and safety of Canadians are deficient, and the Department is vulnerable to fraud and abuse. In addition, the Department is open to criticism of the quality and consistency of its decisions.
Immigrants provide a steady flow of talent and new skills to our labour force.
He added that it is highly questionable whether the Department has the capacity it needs to meet the annual immigration levels set by the government. Immigration levels have been set for the past several years at between 200,000 and 225,000. Applicants could wait up to three years for a decision. There are significant weaknesses in medical assessments of prospective immigrants. The same routine tests have been required for the last 40 years despite the emergence of new diseases.