Hon. Danièle Henkel: Senator Moreau, two federal agencies are involved in renewing work permits. Service Canada handles the labour market impact assessment, while Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada processes the permit. Some workers are being denied renewals because Service Canada has not yet issued its decision. One federal agency closes the file while the other is still working on it. In the meantime, workers are losing their income and businesses are losing their staff.

How will the government coordinate its departments’ roles to prevent this from happening to workers and employers who have completed the necessary paperwork on time?

Hon. Pierre Moreau (Government Representative in the Senate): Your question gives me the opportunity to inform you that the Minister of Immigration recently instructed officials at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to implement an exceptional measure whereby work permit applications will no longer be refused when the related labour market impact assessment application is still being processed by Employment and Social Development Canada. The measure is being implemented by the department as we speak.

Processing times have been significantly reduced in recent months. This measure will provide greater stability for employers and temporary foreign workers, whose importance to small and medium-sized businesses, and indeed to large businesses as well, is recognized by the government. It will also benefit rural and agricultural businesses, as Senator Miville-Dechêne pointed out.

Senator Henkel: Senator Moreau, the government has extended the deadline for providing this case review from 60 to 90 days, but allowing more time does not guarantee that the two agencies will coordinate their decisions. Can you assure us that, before denying a renewal for lack of a case review, IRCC will check with Service Canada and take into account processing delays attributable to the administration?

Senator Moreau: As I mentioned in my first response, the immigration department is working closely with Employment and Social Development Canada to provide coordinated responses. You’re right, the increase in processing time does not suggest that cases will be dealt with any faster, but coordination between the two departments — and this is reflected in the current figures — helps speed up the work and, therefore, reduce the backlog of cases already piling up.