Canada Seeks Record Number of New Entrants Despite Backlog

Earlier this month, the Canadian government announced plans to welcome nearly 1.5 million immigrants by the end of 2025.

Pushing higher immigration rates will allow more people to build a life in Canada, but the bureaucracy required to obtain permanent residency is holding back many .

Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of immigration applicants in the country reached a high of 2.7 million.

A Halifax woman who fled her war-torn Palestinian homeland completed the application process in 2017 and passed all test requirements. Five years later, she’s still waiting for her swearing-in ceremony. During that time, she is not considered a Canadian citizen.

Last week, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser announced the federal government’s next step in welcoming more immigrants to Canada by enabling workers in 16 new occupations to obtain permanent residency. was shared.

The federal government has made it clear that its decision to welcome increased immigration to Canada is based on economics, not urgency or necessity.

Mr. Fraser’s announcement doubled down on economic strategies and explained labor shortages in key sectors such as healthcare, construction and transportation. In these industries, employees often face underpaid, overworked and severe labor rights issues. After all, there’s a reason Canadians are leaving these departments en masse.

And what about immigrant candidates who may not have the “global talent” skills that the federal government finds attractive? Implementing such a rigid and exclusive priority system not only excludes those most in need of evacuation, but also dismisses the idea that these skill sets could be learned once settled in Canada. To do.

“We are using all tools to address labor shortages, especially in key sectors such as healthcare, construction and transportation,” Fraser said last week. “These changes will support employers by supporting Canadians who need these services and providing them with a stronger workforce they can rely on to propel the economy forward into a prosperous future. To do.”

Handling backlog counts

According to federal website data, more than one million people are currently waiting for outstanding applications. That’s more than half of the 2.2 million applications currently being processed.

Of the 1.3 million people seeking temporary residency in Canada, 60% are currently unprocessed and 54% of permanent residency applications are also outside service standards.

When it comes to citizenship, 100,000 people are facing backlogs and their rights as Canadian citizens are at a standstill.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) aims to reduce its backlog by 20% by the end of the year, but in 2021 it was only able to process 1.7 million applications.

Data show that nearly three-quarters of work permit applications are from Canada-Ukraine Authorizations for Emergency Travel, as is 16% of temporary visa applicants.

At a press conference on November 1, Fraser told reporters that Canada’s immigration level plan for 2023-2025 will “manage the social and economic challenges Canada faces in the coming decades.” “We accept immigration as a strategy to help businesses find workers,” he said.

The new plan follows a record year welcoming newcomers to the country. In 2021, Canada welcomed her over 405,000 newcomers. Goals for the next few years include 465,000 permanent residents in 2023, another 485,000 in 2024, and 500,000 in 2025.

How IRCC plans to meet Canada’s goals

By email to the Immigration Bureau, rabble.ca We asked for details on the current waiting time for successful applicants to take the oath ceremony and whether authorities will have to meet deadlines.

Instead, IRCC communications adviser Jeffrey MacDonald said the Canadian government is “modernizing and expanding its services” by offering “online tests, virtual citizenship ceremonies, and an online application tracker.” .

Referring to the government’s plan to hire up to 1,250 new employees by the end of fall 2022 to meet the influx of applicants, McDonald said, “We will address labor shortages, improve the customer experience, and support families. Reduced the backlog of applications with a focus on “Reunion”.

“Increased immigration will help address long-standing challenges such as declining working-to-retirement ratios, declining fertility rates, and labor shortages. It will continue to make an impact,” McDonald wrote.

The IRCC will also benefit from an allocation of $1.6 billion over six years announced in the November 3rd Autumn Economic Statement. This includes $315 million in fresh funding to speed up processing times and support settlement of new entrants, plus $50 million to close a critical workforce gap in 2022-2023. is added to

According to the IRCC, employees made 4.3 million final decisions between January and October 2022, compared to 2.3 million decisions in the same period last year.

The IRCC expects to set a new record for the processing of research permits in 2022, with 593,000 permits processed as of October 31, compared to 455,000 in 2021. During the same period, the IRCC processed 645,000 work permits, up from 163,000 the previous year.

McDonald said the IRCC is on track to hit a record target of 431,000 new permanent residents in 2022, with about 388,000 new permanent residents already welcomed by the end of October.

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