by Allan Lynch Good to Know NEWS Canadians perceive ourselves as an open, welcoming and inclusive society. So it was a shock when the International Health Economics Association (IHEA) moved their 2025 congress from Calgary to Bali over “visa discrimination.” Calgary would have been the third time the IHEA met in Cana- da (1996 in Vancouver, 2011 in Toronto). In a statement, the IHEA executive wrote, “In selecting the venue for its biennial congresses, the IHEA board considers ease of securing visas as one of the criteria, and this was a factor when Calgary, Canada was selected to be the location of the 2025 IHEA congress.” The statement mentioned “severe delays” and “onerous process and high costs” of securing a Canadian visa. The IHEA registered their event with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which has a special division dedicated to business events, “but we were told that this would not guarantee that visas could be processed in a reasonable timeframe.” David Woodward, executive director of meetings and conventions with Tourism Calgary, says, “They cancelled in June 2024 for July of 2025. That’s a 13-month window. The worse-case scenario are visas for applicants coming from Africa, which are the longest process. I feel they jumped the gun. I notice there is a large number of students involved in this group so maybe they were worried it would be too cum- bersome for those who weren’t experi- enced travellers.” Julie Lafortune, an IRCC communica- tions advisor, says, “Event organizers are encouraged to register their event with IRCC so they can receive information on Canada’s visa and entry requirements, along with personalized services to make sure they have the resources and the sup- port they need to plan their event.” By mid-2024 over 400 events were reg- istered with IRCC, a substantial increase from the 250 registered in 2023. To speed up the process, the IRCC has hired more staff, “and are implementing technology-based solutions such as digital intake and advanced analytics,” says Lafortune. Minto Schneider, chair of Meetings Mean Business Canada, agrees that while some planners and incentive houses complain about the approval time for visas, “the IRCC is pretty clear on what the timelines are. Look at the website: They’re very upfront.” Among the issues for Canada and other countries is visa fraud. For example, You- Tube posts advise conference attendance Barriers to Entry What the recent cancellation of an international conference in Calgary tells us about Canada’s visa system as a way to skirt visa regulations. And Woodward says a number of the early registrations for another conference were fraudulent. This type of fraud is not only bad for the country, it hurts the organizers since stolen credit cards may be used and skewed attendance numbers could neg- atively impact sponsorships, grants and government support. Schneider says, “MMBC agreed to look at where international conferences were coming from and see where we are on visa approvals because it seems to take a long time to get visa approvals for certain countries.” Another idea is to feature planners of annual international events in a webinar “to talk about best practices of running an event to meeting planners.” The webinar could also show planners “how to look at your registration list to determine if there are some fraudulent applications or registrations.” Woodward’s message is “don’t be de- terred from bringing an international convention to Canada. Canada is open, and there’s a process in place. Early visa applications will make the process that much more seamless. Canada is a conven- tion-friendly destination.” Fall 2024 | Ignitemag.ca | 13
