What's Canada doing about the immigration backlog?
From Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Image credit: Viktor Foracs on Unsplash
Canada is a destination of choice for people looking for a new place to work, study and build their lives with their families, and immigration is key to helping employers fill hundreds of thousands of vacant positions across the country and grow the economy.
Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will have hired up to 1,250 new employees by the end of fall to increase processing capacity and tackle the backlogs in the short term, while taking action to make the system more sustainable in the long term.
These new hires, as well as support provided through the $85 million from the Economic and Fiscal Update 2021, have helped reduce wait times and return to pre-pandemic service standards for new clients in critical areas, including the six-month service standard for the Express Entry permanent residence pathway, the 12-month service standard for family reunification through spousal sponsorship, and permanent resident cards.
The target for 2022 is to welcome 431,000 permanent residents, and with approximately 275,000 admissions from January 1 to July 31 – a number reached faster than in any previous year – Canada is well on its way to achieving it,
IRCC issued over 199,000 work permits in 2021. In 2022, over 349,000 new work permits were issued from January 1 to July 31. These include over 220,000 open work permits, which allow permit holders to work anywhere in Canada in almost any occupation. This means up to 1,700 new people every day are able to come work in Canada to help grow the economy.
In 2021, IRCC finalized almost 560,000 study permit applications from international students, surpassing the previous record from 2019 by 31 per cent. IRCC is already outpacing that number in 2022, with almost 360,000 study permits finalized between January 1 and July 31.
A few quick facts:
• At any given time, IRCC is managing over 1 million applications. In 2021, it finalized 1.7 million applications across all lines of business.
• New measures include the resumption of Express Entry draws in July 2022.
• A new temporary policy will give recent international graduates with expiring temporary status the opportunity to stay in Canada longer.
• Policy changes benefit those who applied for permanent residence via the temporary resident to permanent resident pathway in 2021.
Responding to humanitarian crises and updating ageing technology to meet demands have led to processing delays and longer wait times.
“There is unprecedented interest in Canada as a destination for newcomers from around the world,” said Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. “A well-run immigration system supports our communities’ futures and allows our industries to tap into essential talent and new business opportunities, so they can continue to grow and remain competitive.”
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) focus is on reducing existing backlogs, which are the applications that have been in its inventories longer than its service standards. At the end of July, about 54 per cent of applications were considered in backlog. The aim is to process 80 per cent of all new applications within these standards, accounting for expected delays in complex cases.
Continuing to improve Canada’s immigration system will increase the country’s ability to attract top talent from around the world, and help solve key labour shortages in sectors like tourism, health care, agriculture, transportation, and the skilled trades. To keep Canadians up to date on progress toward reducing the backlogs, IRCC will publish monthly data on its website. More information will be shared in the coming weeks and months on additional measures that will help get workers into the economy, reunite families, and ensure that Canada’s immigration system works for everyone