Citizenship and Immigration committee  We have almost 220 organizations across Ontario. Understandably, not all work with refugee claimants, but many do. The ones that we've heard from, the ones that I mentioned, are deeply concerned about the bill. Their other concern is that unlike other cases when the committee has important legislation before you, they don't have a chance to be heard.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Good afternoon. The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, OCASI, thanks you for this opportunity to speak to you on this very important bill. I will unfortunately not be able to share with you in detail all of our concerns with the bill in the time that I have been given, pretty much like the other witnesses.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I thank you for the question. It gives me a chance to explain--I had run out of time earlier--that there are actually two areas there. One is the ban in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act on sponsorship by anyone who has ever been on social assistance, even if that person is not currently on welfare.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's right.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, I completely agree. The guidelines that are followed are the Statistics Canada guidelines on what constitutes low-income, and yes, it is incredibly difficult to be low-income and to be able to support another family member. The thing is that families are very complex. The arrangements that we see are very different, very unique in each circumstance.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you. The proposed change could result in more genuine applications being rejected. In conclusion, we strongly encourage you to consider holding public hearings on Bill C-11 because of the impact it can have. We believe it will only serve to increase more delays in the family class area.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you. First I'd like to thank the committee for inviting OCASI to present before you. OCASI is the umbrella organization for immigrant- and refugee-serving agencies in Ontario. As such, we don't work directly with immigrants and refugees, so what I'm bringing you today is based on the experience of our member agencies across the province, of which there are more than 200.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's wonderful. I'm impressed.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, I'll make a pitch for that. I agree with Elizabeth on the success of the loans program. The challenge, though, is that we only see people who are in a position to access loans. We don't know anything about the experience of people who cannot take advantage of this possibility.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Right.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you. I can actually provide a clarification. The Colour of Poverty campaign uses this definition, that race is a social construct; it uses “racialized” in that context. What it would mean is someone who is not white, regardless of their country of origin and country of birth.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the standing committee, for this opportunity to appear before you. I do policy and public education at the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, OCASI. We're the umbrella organization for the immigrant and refugee-serving sector in Ontario, and we're the largest of our kind, given that most immigrants come to Ontario.