Canada is one of the most popular locations globally for immigrants. However, growing backlogs, excruciating processing periods, and a lack of communication and transparency are exacerbating the hardships of individuals seeking the Canadian dream. Much of the temporary resident visa and work permit inventory has significantly increased due to the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), which is a temporary residency pathway to Canada that has been introduced. Recent figures from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released by the immigration news website CIC News, indicate that backlogs in all categories grew to more than 2 million in April, up from 1.8 million in March.
Despite having arguably one of the best immigration policies globally, the nation lacks processing abilities due to several factors, including many IRCC in-person offices closed due to COVID-19, the transition to work from home, and many immigration programs introduced by the federal government that contributed to the existing backlogged immigration system. Permanent residents have waited an average of 27 months for their citizenship grant and an average of 99 days for their first PR card.
Along with the exhausting processing times comes a lack of communication and transparency for when applicants can expect an answer from immigration officials. Applicants have noted that they are unable to reach IRCC agents and those who initiated their permanent residency status from abroad have been told to contact their local visa office via webform. In a recent CTV News publication, the firm’s Alex Fomcenco notes that he has heard countless stories of similar nature. This lack of communication and transparency has caused applicants and their families to put their lives on hold.
Applicants have noted that the uncertainty stemming from a lack of communication has prevented them from leaving the country – if their PRC card arrives in Canada while they are in their home country, for instance, this implicates their entry back into Canada. Further, applicants from all types of programs are waiting to hear from the IRCC, where the uncertainty also implicates their family and children back home.
In the CTV publication noted above, one individual noted that her son back home cannot join her until he and the family receive their permanent residency; the insecurity of application processing has prevented her son from applying to Canadian universities since he cannot attend a Canadian post-secondary school without paying steep international tuition fees, unless deemed a resident. Notably, the permanent resident application inventory was at about 530,000 people as of April 2022.
IRCC has acknowledged its continuous struggle the backlog and associates part of it to closures at various processing offices and visa application centres during COVID-19. IRCC received an additional $85 million in funding, according to the 2021 Economic and Fiscal Update, to reduce wait times for new applications and application inventory backlogs, which Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said will be utilised primarily to hire more staff. Canada’s immigration system needs to tackle backlogs to combat the country’s economic slowdown as immigrants and temporary workers will fill labour shortages.
Applicants are so dissatisfied with the backlog that they are petitioning the Federal Court of Canada to force the government to process the applications. While that is a costly and tedious process, it has been suggested for Canada to consider following suit of its neighbour south of the border by implementing premium processing. Doing so could provide relief to individuals, reduce the significant backlog, and ultimately boost Canada’s economy.
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