Vol. 151, No. 25 — December 13, 2017

Registration

SOR/2017-246 November 24, 2017

IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION ACT

P.C. 2017-1426 November 23, 2017

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, pursuant to subsections 5(1) and 11(1.01) (see footnote a) and sections 14 (see footnote b) and 26(1) (see footnote c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (see footnote d), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

Amendments

1 Subsection 7.01(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

Nationals of certain countries

7.01 (1) Despite subsection 7(1), a foreign national who is a citizen of a country listed in the table to this subsection and who is seeking to enter Canada by air may not enter Canada to remain on a temporary basis without first obtaining a temporary resident visa or an electronic travel authorization.

TABLE

Country

Brazil

2 Paragraph 12.05(d) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

3 Paragraph 190(1)(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

4 The Regulations are amended by adding, after Schedule 1, the Schedule 1.1 set out in the schedule to these Regulations.

Coming into Force

5 These Regulations come into force at 09:00:00 a.m. eastern standard time on December 1, 2017, but if they are registered after that time, they come into force at 09:00:00 a.m. eastern standard time on the day after the day on which they are registered.

SCHEDULE

(Section 4)

SCHEDULE 1.1

(Paragraph 190(1)(a))

Country

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Executive summary

Issues: Since May 1, 2017, certain Romanian and Bulgarian citizens (i.e. those who have held a Canadian temporary resident visa [TRV] in the past 10 years, or who hold a valid United States non-immigrant visa) have been benefitting from visa-free air travel to Canada. Romanian and Bulgarian citizens who do not meet these eligibility criteria are currently not able to enter Canada without first applying for and obtaining a TRV. On October 31, 2016, Canada publicly announced its intention to fully lift the TRV requirement for Romania and Bulgaria on December 1, 2017.

Description: The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations) are amended to add Romania and Bulgaria to the list of countries and territories whose citizens are exempt from the TRV requirement for travel to Canada. The Regulations are also amended to remove Romania and Bulgaria from the list of visa-required countries whose citizens, if eligible, may apply either for a TRV or an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to enter Canada by air.

Cost-benefit statement: It is estimated that the regulatory amendment will generate a total monetized cost for the analysis period (2017–2026) of between $24.0M to $61.1M in present value (PV). The total monetized benefits resulting from the proposal are estimated to be $8.3M (PV), stemming from increased tourism. This results in a net cost to Canadians in the range of $15.7M to $52.8M (PV) over 10 years. The majority of this cost is related to potential increases in asylum claims from both countries. The majority will be borne by the federal government, but in the case of increased asylum claims, provincial/territorial governments will also be impacted.

“One-for-One” Rule and small business lens: Neither the “One-for-One” Rule nor the small business lens applies to this proposal.

Domestic and international coordination and cooperation: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will work closely with other departments and agencies, particularly the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), to facilitate travel by legitimate visitors while protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians and the integrity of the immigration system. IRCC will work with Global Affairs Canada and Innovation, Science and Development Canada to communicate the change in visa requirement to impacted travellers, as well as the new requirement for an eTA. Internationally, Canada is working with Romania and Bulgaria to ensure the success of the visa lifts.

Background

Under the Regulations, all visitors to Canada require a TRV, with the exception of those from countries and territories whose citizens have been granted an exemption. Travellers who are visa-exempt are required to apply for and obtain an eTA in order to travel to Canada by air (with the exception of citizens of the United States). A visa requirement is the most thorough tool in deterring irregular migration, since TRV applicants must prove that they will abide by the conditions of temporary residence in Canada. However, an eTA is a more facilitative approach for travellers determined to be low risk.

A complete evaluation of Romania and Bulgaria’s eligibility for a visa exemption was conducted in 2016. IRCC worked with the CBSA, Public Safety Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Global Affairs Canada, the Privy Council Office and other partners to evaluate Romania and Bulgaria against the visa exemption criteria in Canada’s visa policy framework. Canadian technical experts visited Romania in June 2016 and Bulgaria in July 2016 to gather the final information needed to complete the evaluation.

Following the successful assessments of these countries, Canada publicly announced on October 31, 2016, its intention to lift the visa requirement for Romania and Bulgaria in a phased manner. The announcement detailed that the visas would be fully lifted on December 1, 2017, and would follow the implementation of expanded eTA eligibility on May 1, 2017.

In order to facilitate the entry of low-risk travellers from countries that are not exempt from the TRV requirement, the Government of Canada amended the Regulations in spring 2017 to expand eTA eligibility to select travellers from Brazil, Bulgaria and Romania. Under this amendment, Brazilian, Romanian and Bulgarian citizens who have held a Canadian TRV in the past 10 years, or who currently hold a valid United States non-immigrant visa, are able to apply for an eTA for entry to Canada by air (instead of a TRV) despite those countries being visa-required.

Following the full visa lifts on December 1, 2017, all Romanian and Bulgarian travellers entering Canada for leisure or business will, like all other visa-exempt foreign nationals, require an eTA to fly to Canada via the air mode. Romanians and Bulgarians wanting to work or study in Canada will need to apply for a work or study permit, as is the case for all foreign nationals.

Issues

As of May 1, 2017, Romanian and Bulgarian citizens who have held a Canadian TRV in the past 10 years, or who hold a valid United States non-immigrant visa, have been benefitting from visa-free air travel to Canada. Romanian and Bulgarian citizens who do not meet these expanded eTA eligibility criteria are currently not able to enter Canada without first applying for and obtaining a TRV. Canada has publicly announced its intention to fully lift the TRV requirement for all citizens of Romania and Bulgaria on December 1, 2017.

Objectives

The objective of this regulatory amendment is to strengthen Canada’s ties to Romania, Bulgaria and the European Union (EU) as a whole. The lifting of the TRV requirements will lead to immediate economic benefits through which the increase in the number of business travellers and visitors will build momentum to expand trade, investment and tourism, strengthen people-to-people ties, and provide lasting benefits for Romania, Bulgaria and Canada.

Description

The Regulations are amended to add Romania and Bulgaria to the list of countries and territories whose citizens are exempt from the TRV requirement for travel to Canada. The Regulations are also amended to remove Romania and Bulgaria from the list of visa-required countries whose citizens, if eligible, may apply either for a TRV or an eTA to enter Canada by air.

The list of countries whose citizens are exempt from the TRV requirement for travel to Canada is moved from paragraph 190(1)(a) of the Regulations to Schedule 1.1 at the end of the Regulations for ease of reference.

Finally, the word “mentionné” is changed to “visé” in paragraph 12.05(d) of the French version of the Regulations for the sake of grammatical accuracy.

Regulatory and non-regulatory options considered

In order to add Romania and Bulgaria to the list of countries exempt from the TRV requirement, a regulatory change is necessary and is the only option.

Benefits and costs

The cost-benefit analysis assumes a baseline scenario where Romanian and Bulgarian visitors to Canada would continue to be subject to a TRV requirement or, where eligible, an eTA under expanded eTA eligibility. The baseline is then compared with the proposed visa lifts for all citizens of both countries. Based on this comparison, it is estimated that the regulatory amendment will generate a total monetized cost for the analysis period (2017–2026) of between $24.0M to $61.1M in present value (PV). The majority of this cost is related to potential increases in asylum claims from both countries. The total monetized benefits resulting from the proposal are estimated to be $8.3M (PV), stemming from increased tourism. This results in a net cost to Canadians in the range of $15.7M to $52.8M (PV) over 10 years. However, these costs are expected to be counterbalanced by non-monetized qualitative benefits to Canada and Canadian interests.

The primary costs associated with lifting the visa on Romania and Bulgaria include transition costs to the Government to implement the visa lift such as updates to operational guidance as well as communications and information technology costs to ensure that visitors are aware of the changes and are able to apply for an eTA. As with all visa lifts, it is expected that some additional asylum and enforcement costs will be incurred. Inland enforcement costs, such as the impact of additional travellers at ports of entry, immigration investigations, hearings, detentions and removals of non-asylum visitors are assessed. Since predicting the impact on the asylum and inland enforcement systems is difficult, the total enforcement costs are presented as a range whereby expected asylum claims are costed at a higher end asylum scenario as well as a more moderate approach that uses previous visa lifts and their associated impacts on asylum claims to Canada as a proxy.

While a net monetized cost is expected to be incurred as a result of the visa lift, this regulatory amendment is expected to bring about benefits consistent with governmental priorities. The TRV exemption will improve Canada’s overall competitiveness as a tourism destination, as well as encourage growth of air travel to and from Canada. This lift will help support Canada’s New Tourism Vision’s ultimate goal of increasing the number of overnight visits by international travellers by 30% by 2021, and overall plan to improve access to Canada by international travellers. The result is an anticipated increase in the number of business and leisure travellers, including those visiting friends and family amongst the Romanian and Bulgarian communities in Canada resulting in a total benefit of $8.3M (PV) in additional tourism spending in the Canadian economy. These additional visitors are anticipated to boost trade and investment, and benefit the tourism and air travel sectors, as well as strengthen people to people ties. In addition, there could also be a positive impact on the airline industry, as the visa lift for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens would lead to higher volumes of passengers travelling to Canadian airports.

The removal of the TRV requirement is also anticipated to further improve relations between Canada and Romania, Bulgaria and the EU as a whole. Since January 2014, the EU has had a Visa Reciprocity Mechanism in place, which is intended to apply pressure to countries that enjoy visa-free travel to the EU but which do not reciprocate with visa-free access for citizens of all EU member states. Since April 2016, this mechanism has technically required the European Commission to adopt a policy for all EU member states to impose visas on Canadian travellers due to Canada’s visa requirements on Romania and Bulgaria. In lifting the visa requirements for Romania and Bulgaria, Canada will avoid repercussions under the Visa Reciprocity Mechanism, including the financial implications that an EU visa requirement would have on Canadian travellers and Canadian businesses. To date, no repercussions materialized, and the risk of them happening was assessed as low given the negative implications for both the EU and Canada if visa requirements were to be imposed. Lifting the Romania and Bulgaria visa requirements nevertheless removes the risk, albeit low, of repercussions from the Visa Reciprocity Mechanism.

Cooperation between Canada and the EU has already improved as a result of the new spirit of collaboration engendered by Canada’s announcement to lift the TRV requirements for Romania and Bulgaria. In October 2016, when the visa lift was announced, Canada and the EU were finalizing the launch of the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA), which is intended to further broaden bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues such as international peace and security, counter-terrorism, human rights and nuclear non-proliferation, clean energy and climate change, migration and peaceful pluralism, sustainable development, and innovation. The SPA represents the new foundation upon which Canada–EU political relations are based, and the mechanism through which Canada formally engages the EU on significant issues for and in the relationship. Within the SPA, Canada committed to offering all European citizens visa-free travel “as soon as possible.” The SPA takes Canada–EU relations to a new level of intensified and structured engagement. The EU is an important trading partner, and improved bilateral relations are expected to facilitate increased trade and business opportunities for Canada.

Cost-benefit statement

Costs, Benefits and Distribution

Base Year
2017

Year Five
2021

Final Year
2026

10-year
Total

Annualized
Average (see note a)

QUANTIFIED IMPACTS in millions (PV) $
 

Stakeholders

          

TOTAL (see note b) BENEFITS

Canadians, Canadian Economy, Government of Canada

0.0M

1.0M

0.7M

8.3M

1.2M
   

Lower bound

Upper bound

Lower bound

Upper bound

Lower bound

Upper bound

Lower bound

Upper bound

Lower bound

Upper bound

TOTAL COSTS

Government of Canada, Provincial and Territorial Governments

0.3M (see note c)

2.6M to 7.1M

2.0M to 5.1M

24.0M to 61.1M

3.4M to 8.7M

NET PRESENT VALUE

      

–15.7M to –52.8M

–2.2M to –7.5M

Note a: Projects with different time horizons (e.g. 10 years vs. 15 years) require some adjustments before their net present values can be compared. The "annualized average" is a useful economic measure that converts the net benefits of a project to constant annual values spread uniformly through the life of the project. This method of converting net benefits of projects to annualized values enables direct comparisons among alternative projects with different time horizons allowing net benefits that occur in different time periods to be measured on a consistent basis.

Note b: Monetized benefits are the economic impact from travellers from Romania and Bulgaria traveling to Canada for leisure, business, and visiting friends and family who otherwise would not have done so but for the visa exemption.

Note c: Note that the coming into force of the visa lift is December 1, 2017. Thus, most impacts, with the exception of transition costs and other costs associated with preparation for the lift, commence in 2018.

A Cost Benefit Methodology chapter is available upon request.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this proposal, as there is no change in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply, as this regulatory amendment applies to individuals and imposes no costs on small business.

Consultation

Consultations related to the Romania and Bulgaria visa lifts were conducted with, and input was sought from, a number of other federal departments and agencies, including the CBSA, Public Safety Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Global Affairs Canada, and the Privy Council Office.

There were no formal public consultations related to the proposal to lift the visa requirements for Romania and Bulgaria. After the decision was announced publicly on October 31, 2016, media interest was factual and relatively neutral in tone.

Rationale

The Regulations facilitate the travel of legitimate visitors from Romania and Bulgaria to Canada. It is anticipated that the removal of the TRV requirement will bring further economic benefits to Canada by increasing the number of business and leisure travellers, as well as those visiting friends and family. While acknowledging the costs of additional immigration and enforcement measures that will need to be in place prior to and following the visa lift, these additional visitors are anticipated to boost trade and investment, and benefit the Canadian tourism and air travel sectors.

The exemption from the TRV requirement will strengthen ties to the Romanian and Bulgarian communities in Canada and strengthen Canada’s bilateral relations with Romania, Bulgaria and the EU.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

These Regulations come into force at 9:00 a.m. eastern standard time on December 1, 2017, but if they are registered after that time, they come into force at 9:00 a.m. eastern standard time on the day after the day on which they are registered. As these Regulations remove the TRV requirement, no compliance measures are required. However, the impact of this change will be monitored and evaluated with existing information sources and according to existing practices.

Contact

Lisa Bokwa
Director
Visa Policy
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
180 Kent Street, 8th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario