Applications received through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)has dropped by nearly half a million in the month of August. This is more than two times the amount being processed in 2021.
IRCC is in the process of allowing 431,000 permanent residents into Canada before 2022’s close an all-time record.
Between April between April and November Canada was home to approximately 250,000 new residents. Study permits and work permits comprised the biggest amount of applications processed by IRCC.
As of the 2nd day of December in this calendar year IRCC has 2.2 million applications on its books. At the end of November the figure was just under 50% of applications were either backlogged or not processed according to standard procedures. The number of applications was 2.4 million applications on the books on November 3 but this number was down by last month’s 2.6 million.
Spousal sponsorship applications for new spouses are being completed within the 12 month period of pre-pandemic services Standard as well as Express Entry applications within 6 months, due for efforts in modernizing and modernize services. With a 99% rate, IRCC has reduced its backlog of permanent residence card renewal applications.
IRCC has introduced modifications to address operational inefficiencies, like digitizing applications. Citizenship applications, as an example have been made 100% digital. Only 28% of the 318,000 applications are classified as backlogged. At the end of this next year, Citizenship plans to employ 1,250 additional staff to speed up the processing of applications.
In a queue, an application isn’t being processed according to the service standards. The service standard defines the timeline or the goal for how long an application will be completed. However, the actual processing times differ from the standard service.
Service standards differ based on the nature of the application. IRCC strives to process 80percent of applications in line with standard service requirements across all lines of business. Its Express Entry program has a six-month requirement to process permanent residency applications. Other lines of business also require more time to complete the process. For child family and spousal support, IRCC states a 12-month service standard is needed.
An application for temporary residence can take between 60 to 120 days for processing, depending on the kind of request (work or school) and if it was filed from Canada or from a foreign country.
At the end of 2025 The Levels Plan 2023-2025, also known as the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025aims to receive more than 500,000 permanent residents. It is predicted that 9 million Canadians will be retired in 2030. Then, there will be a shortage of native-born Canadians to fill vacant positions.