Determining Need and Ability to Repay

The Overseas Processing manual for Loans (OP 17) is the overarching guidance for the delivery of immigration loans.40 _{OP 17 indicates that, in order to approve a loan, an officer must review}

three key criteria:

The need for a loan, which focuses on the individuals’ ability to find employment and the type of employment most likely to be found;

The potential ability to repay, which looks at an individual’s ability to earn income, capacity to use one of Canada’s official languages, current employment and transferable skills, the need for extensive41 _{retraining or additional education in order to compete in the labour market,}

temporary or permanent restrictions on employment due to medical problems or long-term illness and the presence of other financial obligations (including number of dependent family members); and

Contributing factors, some of which need to be assessed in combination with other factors, as they are not considered to be “stand-alone”. These factors include age, official language capacity, level of education, number of family members and their income, and motivation and initiative.

A comparison with other loan programs revealed that assessment criteria are common when the Government of Canada issues loans. For example, the eligibility criteria for Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC) Canada Student Loans Program include: the student category (single or married, dependent or independent), the post-secondary education expenses (tuition, fees, etc.), and financial resources (income, savings, assets, parental or spousal

contributions, etc.).42

Finding: While TB Directives stipulate that loans are to be authorized on the expectation of full repayment, the procedures required to assess a potential recipient’s ability to repay a loan, as outlined in OP 17, are not practical, given that limited information and time are available to conduct this assessment as part of refugee processing overseas. Furthermore, refusing a loan could prevent the resettlement of the refugee.

According to the TB Directive on Loans and Loan Guarantees: “Loans are authorized appropriately” and “on the expectation of full repayment of principal and interest...Accordingly, if a fixed

40 _{OP 17 outlines the procedures for determining eligibility and approving loans and contributions, making}

alternative arrangements, counselling loan applicants and administering the loan forms; it has undergone various updates, the most recent of which occurred in May 2014.

41 _{“Extensive” retraining is defined as two years or more. Source: Canada, CIC (2014) OP 17 – Loans.} 42 _{Canada, ESDC (2011) Evaluation of the Canada Student Loan Program.}

repayment schedule is not feasible or if repayment is conditional on some future event, a loan may not be issued.”43

The assessment for transportation and admissibility loans is done within the context of the selection interview with refugees.44 _{The document review and interviews revealed that the}

potential ability of a specific individual to repay an immigration loan is very difficult to assess in this context, due to time constraints and a lack of information. Interviews with visa offices indicated that very little time is spent on the loan during the selection interview – typically between one and five minutes. As well, it was mentioned in a few interviews with CIC

representatives that the need for the loan overrides the ability to repay, as the main focus at that point in time is refugee resettlement. In addition, a review of the overseas refugee selection process, conducted as part of the evaluation, found that the immigration loan comprises a very small component of the overall selection interview process.45

Program guidance requires visa officers to assess applicants against the criteria required to come to Canada as a refugee, as well as assess them against the criteria for an immigration loan.46 _OP

17 notes that the loan assessment is intended to be “distinct” from the assessment in the selection interview.47 _{However, the resulting decisions are inextricably linked. The loan is the}

main mechanism currently being used to assist refugees in coming to Canada, supporting the mandate of the refugee resettlement program. For refugees without financial means, where no contribution funds or other avenues of assistance are available, a refusal for a loan would prevent them from coming to Canada, irrespective of the selection decision. Therefore, considering the refugee context, a refusal for a loan would not be feasible, as it would be counter to the

objectives of the resettlement program, which the loan program is trying to support.

A review of the refugee selection process revealed that, at the time the eligibility for the loan is being decided, various decisions surrounding the refugee’s application would not be normally determined (e.g. health, final destination, etc.).48 _{There are no formal tools to assess official}

language capacity and employability. Rather, the visa officer is asked to consider a complex myriad of factors which may affect linguistic ability and employment potential, and try to predict how the individual will fare in Canada. OP 17 does acknowledge that the potential ability to repay a loan “is more difficult to evaluate as it involves weighing many contributing factors”, and that “sound judgment and discretion are essential to evaluate an applicant’s ability, or potential ability, to repay a loan.”49

In sum, considerable guidance is provided to assess eligibility for the loan in OP 17. However, irrespective of the guidance provided, the assessment of the potential ability to repay a loan is impractical given the timing and circumstances of the overseas refugee processing context, and given the critical role of the loan in ensuring that refugees have the means to come to Canada once selected.

43 _{Canada, TBS (2009) Directive on Loans and Loan Guarantees.}

44 _{Canada, CIC. Refugees and Humanitarian Protected Persons Abroad – Interview, Analysis and Decision Tool Kit.}

45 _{Canada, CIC. Refugees and Humanitarian Protected Persons Abroad – Interview, Analysis and Decision Tool Kit; Canada, CIC}

(2015) Process Overview: GAR Program; Canada, CIC (2015) Process Overview: PSR Program.

46 _{Canada, CIC (2014) OP 17 – Loans; Canada, CIC (2009) OP 5 – Overseas Selection and Processing of Convention Refugees}

Abroad Classes and Members of Humanitarian-protected Persons Abroad Classes.

47 _{Canada, CIC (2014) OP 17 – Loans.}

48 _{Canada, CIC (2015) Process Overview: GAR Program; Canada, CIC (2015) Process Overview: PSR Program.} 49 _{Canada, CIC (2014) OP 17 – Loans.}