Debates of Sept. 15th, 2025

Question No.73—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's settlement and resettlement services: (a) what is the national budget for settlement services for each fiscal year starting from 2024-25 and the subsequent three years to 2027-28, aligned with the three-year Immigration Levels Plan, broken down by (i) category or type of service (i.e. language training, information and referrals, integration support services, employment related support services, etc., including Francophone, rural and remote targets), (ii) municipality, (iii) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada region, (iv) province or territory; (b) what are the projected national budgets for settlement services for the following five fiscal years, broken down by (i) category or type of service, (ii) municipality, (iii) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada region, (iv) province or territory; (c) what is the current Settlement Allocation Model and permanent residency data used for the last five years and next three years to allocate funding to each region; (d) have there been any modifications to the Settlement Allocation Model since 2022, and, if so, what are the changes and how did they impact funding levels, broken down by (i) category or type of service, (ii) municipality, (iii) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada region, (iv) province or territory; (e) if there haven't been any modifications to the Settlement Allocation Model since 2022, does the department intend that this model remain in use to determine the funding allocations in 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28; (f) how many new service providers received funding in the most recent Call for Proposals in comparison to Call for Proposals 2019, broken down by (i) category or type of service, (ii) municipality, (iii) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada region, (iv) province or territory; (g) was funding for new service providers added to the existing national settlement budget, or was the budget increased to include new providers; (h) regarding the most recent Call for Proposals, how many existing service providers experienced funding reductions, broken down by (i) category or type of service, (ii) reduction by percentage, (iii) municipality, (iv) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada region, (v) province or territory; (i) regarding the most recent Call for Proposals, how many service providers did not receive funding as a result of not having their contracts renewed, broken down by (i) category or type of service, (ii) municipality, (iii) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada region, (iv) province or territory; (j) what strategies has the department implemented to transition clients from one service provider to another, in instances where contracts have not been renewed or funding has been reallocated, including settlement supports to displaced Ukrainians on Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel visas that must transition out of support by March 31, 2025, broken down by (i) service delivery model (i.e. in-person, remote, online), (ii) when it will be operationalized; (k) what policy changes is the department undertaking to the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada in the 2025-28 funding period; and (l) will the government continue to offer Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada first and second stage classes to permanent residents wishing to enter the labour market?

(Return tabled)

Question No.74—

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora—Kiiwetinoong, ON]

With regard to the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario: what is the total value of the agency's grants and contributions for the fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25, broken down by federal electoral district?

(Return tabled)

Question No.78—

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

With regard to the approval rate for French-speaking international students: how many study permit applications, other than extension applications, has Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada processed since January 1, 2023, broken down by (i) country of residence, (ii) number of people, (iii) year?

(Return tabled)

Question No.79—

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie South—Innisfil, ON]

With regard to government travel, broken down by minister's office since January 1, 2021: (a) which ministers or exempt staff have rented vehicles, including, but not limited to, car and driver services, limousine services or car services, within Canada or elsewhere; (b) for each use identified in (a), what was the (i) date of the rental, (ii) pick-up location of the rental, (iii) drop-off location of the rental, (iv) nature of the official business, including any events attended, (v) cost of the rental, (vi) vehicle description, including the type and model, if available, (vii) name of each passenger, if known, (viii) name of the vendor, (ix) duration of the rental; and (c) for each rental listed in (a), was a driver provided?

(Return tabled)

Question No.80—

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie South—Innisfil, ON]

With regard to clothing allowances and expenditures on clothing, for use by the Prime Minister, the Governor General or other ministers, since January 1, 2023, and broken down by year: (a) which individuals have received a clothing allowance and, for each, how much was the allowance; and (b) what are the details of all expenditures by the government on clothing or outerwear which was provided to any of the individuals in (a), including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) amount spent and the value of the item, (iii) description of the item, (iv) title of the individual?

(Return tabled)

Question No.82—

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

With regard to the Canada Pension Plan, and broken down by year, for each of the last five years: what was the number and percentage of new Canada Pension Plan recipients, broken down by their age at the time that they received their first Canada Pension Plan payment, starting at age 60?

(Return tabled)

Question No.83—

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

With regard to government action taken following the concerns raised by the Auditor General in Report 11 "Programs to Assist Seniors": (a) what specific changes is the government making to the New Horizons for Seniors Program in response to the concerns; (b) how will the government measure the number of seniors benefitting from each of the grants provided under the New Horizons for Seniors Program and what benefits are seniors receiving; (c) what follow-up checks has the government done to ensure that New Horizons for Seniors Program grant money was spent appropriately and in accordance with the terms of the funding agreement; and (d) since January 1, 2024, how many instances have there been where the government found that New Horizons for Seniors Program grant money was not spent appropriately, and what are the details of each such instance, including the (i) recipient, (ii) location, (iii) amount of funding provided, (iv) purpose of the funding, (v) summary of how the funding was inappropriately spent, (vi) action taken by the government in response, (vii) amount of funding recovered, if applicable?

(Return tabled)

Question No.84—

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada transferring refugees to Niagara Falls, Ontario, between January 1, 2024 and June 1, 2025: (a) how many have been transferred to Niagara Falls in total; (b) what is the monthly breakdown of the number of refugees transferred to Niagara Falls; (c) which hotels is the government using to lodge refugees in Niagara Falls; (d) how many hotel rooms are currently being occupied by refugees in Niagara Falls; (e) what is the capacity of each hotel room that is being occupied by refugees in Niagara Falls; (f) how many refugees are staying in each hotel room in Niagara Falls; (g) what is the average length of time Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada expects (i) an individual refugee, (ii) a refugee family, to be lodged in a Niagara Falls hotel room; (h) for all refugees being lodged in government-funded Niagara Falls hotel rooms, without identifying names or other personal information, how many days has each refugee stayed; (i) what is the average cost per night that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada pays per refugee staying in a Niagara Falls hotel room; (j) for the night of June 1, 2025, what was the total cost Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada paid hoteliers to house refugees located in Niagara Falls; (k) what is the average cost that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada pays per refugee who lives in a Niagara Falls hotel room for daily meals and refreshments; (I) for the month of May 2025, what was the total cost Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada paid hoteliers to feed refugees located in Niagara Falls; (m) what are the countries of origin for refugees who have been accommodated in Niagara Falls; (n) what is the breakdown of refugees transferred to, or accommodated in, Niagara Falls, by each country of origin; (o) how much funding was transferred by the federal government to the municipality of Niagara Falls to deal with the influx of refugees in the city; (p) how much funding has been transferred by the federal government to the Region of Niagara to deal with the influx of refugees in the region; (q) how much funding was transferred by the federal government to local not-for-profit, charitable and non-governmental organizations in Niagara Falls to deal with the influx of refugees in the city; (r) what are the names of the specific not-for-profit, charitable and non-governmental organizations in (q) who have received federal government funding; (s) what is the breakdown of funding for each organization to date; (t) how many more refugees does Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada currently plan to transfer to, or accommodate in, Niagara Falls; (u) how many refugees have moved out of government-funded hotel rooms in Niagara Falls and into personal accommodations; (v) when does the federal government plan to stop paying for refugee hotel rooms in Niagara Falls; and (w) what are the terms and conditions of the financial agreement that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has with each hotelier located in Niagara Falls that houses refugees and receives federal monies to provide this service?

(Return tabled)

Question No.85—

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

With regard to the federal Tourism Growth Fund that was announced by the Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec on November 20, 2023: (a) how much of the $108 million from the Tourism Growth Fund has been spent as of June 1, 2025; (b) what is the spending breakdown for each of the seven regional development agencies, including the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, Prairies Economic Development Canada and Pacific Economic Development Canada; and (c) within each of the seven regional development agencies, (i) what is the spending breakdown between for-profit and non-profit tourism projects, (ii) what is the name of each tourism project that received money from the Tourism Growth Fund, (iii) what is the date of each project funding announcement, (iv) how much money did each tourism project receive from the Tourism Growth Fund, (v) in what federal riding is each tourism project located, (vi) what is the description of each project that received funds from the Tourism Growth Fund?

(Return tabled)

Question No.86—

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

With regard to asylum claimants who qualified under the four exception categories to the Safe Third Country Agreement, from 2019 to 2025: (a) how many claimants qualified under each of the following exception categories, broken down by year, including 2025 to date, (i) family member exceptions, (ii) unaccompanied minors, (iii) document holders (valid visa, work permit, study permit, etc.), (iv) public interest exceptions; (b) broken down by each of the exception categories in (a), how many claims (i) were approved, (ii) were denied, (iii) are still under review, (iv) were withdrawn or abandoned; (c) what was the average processing time for claims under each of the exception categories in (a), broken down by year; (d) how many claimants in (a) were from each country of origin, broken down by year; (e) how many claimants in (a) were processed in each province or territory, broken down by exception category and year; and (f) what measures are currently in place to ensure the timely processing of claims under each of the exception categories in (a)?

(Return tabled)

Question No.87—

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

With regard to asylum claimants who qualified under the over-14-day exemption to the Safe Third Country Agreement, from 2019 to 2025: (a) how many claimants qualified under the over-14-day exemption, in each of the past five calendar years, broken down by year; (b) how many claims from (a), were processed in each province or territory, broken down by year; (c) how many claims from (a), were from each country of origin, broken down by year; (d) how many claims under the over-14-day exemption (i) were approved, (ii) were denied, (iii) are still under review, (iv) were withdrawn or abandoned, broken down by year; (e) what was the average processing time for claims under the over-14-day exemption, broken down by year; and (f) What measures or processes are in place to verify that claimants meet the requirements of the over-14-day exemption?

(Return tabled)

Question No.88—

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

With regard to the government’s agreements with Volkswagen and PowerCo, to build a battery assembly plant in St. Thomas Ontario, and with Stellantis-LG to build a battery assembly plant in Windsor Ontario: (a) in relation to each agreement, how many battery production subsidy claims have been received by the government, from each party, pursuant to the agreement being made; and (b) what are the details of each individual claim, including, for each, the (i) period the claim covers, (ii) number of batteries produced that are covered by the claim, (iii) date the claim was received, (iv) date the claim was approved?

(Return tabled)

Question No.89—

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

With regard to government funding for electric vehicle battery plants, since November 4, 2015: (a) how much funding has the government provided for the (i) Northvolt electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant, in Montreal, (ii) Volkswagen electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in St Thomas, Ontario, (iii) Stellantis LG electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Windsor, Ontario, (iv) Honda electric vehicle assembly, battery manufacturing, and cathode processing plant, in Alliston Ontario, (v) General Motors CAMI assembly plant and refurbishment of the Oshawa plant, (vi) Asahi Kasei electric vehicle battery component plant, (vii) E-One Moli Energy lithium-ion battery cell production plant, in Maple Ridge BC; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a)(i) to (a)(vii) by type of subsidy (construction, production, etc.) and by manner in which it was provided (direct payment, tax credit, etc.)?