Parliamentary Committee Notes: Funding to Support Afghan resettlement

Date: March 1, 2022
Classification: Unclassified
Branch / Agency: FCMB, IEB / CBSA

Proposed Response:

• The CBSA has been proud to support the government’s humanitarian efforts on the resettlement of Afghan nationals in Canada.
• The Agency is directly supporting these efforts by undertaking security screening, intelligence, and admissibility assessments, and by applying an integrated pre-, at-, and post-border approach to screening.d
• The CBSA has also mobilized liaison officers overseas to support this work, and can confirm that all risk assessments and security screening steps are being performed as needed.
• The CBSA has a long, well-established and well-respected practice in the area of risk assessment and security screening, and collaborates with relevant departments and agencies as well as with international partners to ensure the integrity of the process.
• If serious admissibility concerns are raised during screening, the CBSA would make a non-favourable recommendation to IRCC.
• If serious admissibility concerns are raised at a port of entry; the process is as follows:
  • If serious inadmissibility concerns are found, the CBSA may proceed with immigration enforcement if necessary. The case could then be referred to an admissibility hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).
  • If the IRB finds the individual inadmissible, a removal order would be issued. The individual would have the standard options of seeking a judicial review of the application and a pre-removal risk assessment, if eligible.
  • Immigration law provides for specific processes with respect to people who have protection as refugees.

Financial Implications:

• In support of these efforts, the CBSA is requesting $8 million in the Supplementary Estimates (C), 2021-22 and $1.1 million in the Main Estimates, 2022-23.
• The requested funding will be used to process Afghan nationals and to cover operating costs for the alternative arrival processing site in the Greater Toronto Area.

Background:

On July 22, 2021, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced special immigration measures for Afghan nationals who are at risk due to their work supporting Canadian missions in Afghanistan.

The Government of Canada (GoC) has announced that 50,000 eligible Afghan refugees will be resettled into Canada by early 2024. This means the CBSA will continue to play a pivotal in welcoming Afghan refugees to Canada.

The CBSA works closely with its partners to coordinate the movement of Afghan nationals and to facilitate their arrival by commercial and chartered flights. The CBSA has established an alternative processing site in Toronto to process charter flights that cannot meet the Transport Canada standards for screening, as well as for charters that cannot be accommodated by the Pearson International Airport Terminal.

Canada’s unprecedented and accelerated efforts under the Special Immigration Measures and Operation Safe Haven culminated in the evacuation of 8,210 Afghan nationals and consular clients who arrived in Canada between early August and February 21, 2022.

Collection of biometrics is critical to conducting criminal and security screening, and to identity verification. Along with enhanced biographic information, these processes help the CBSA identify potential inadmissibility risks, such as national security, human rights, and war crimes concerns, before individuals arrive in Canada.

Biometrics enrollment of Afghan nationals in Afghanistan remains a challenge over the medium term. In order to mitigate this challenge, a multi-stage approach to security screening will enable the GoC to resume the processing of Afghan Nationals.

The multi-stage approach will provide for enhanced biographical information collection and analysis for applicants who are in Afghanistan. Should no concerns be identified, the applicant will be asked to proceed to a third country for biometric collection.

An Afghanistan Inadmissible Assessment Framework was developed in the event admissibility concerns are identified in a third country. The Framework is triggered when the CBSA provides a non-favourable admissibility assessment; and IRCC renders a final negative admissibility determination.

The CBSA continues to be directly engaged in supporting this effort from a border security (security screening, intelligence and admissibility assessment) and facilitation perspective by applying an integrated pre-border, at-border and post-border approach. The Agency is also working closely with other federal departments and non-governmental organizations on this important humanitarian effort.

Contacts:

Approved by: Scott Harris, Vice President, Intelligence and Enforcement Branch
Approved by: Scott Millar, Vice-President, Strategic Policy Branch

Financials Approval: Andrew Francis, A/Vice-President, Finance and Corporate Management Branch

Date modified:

2023-05-11