Canada’s Immigration Delays to be Resolved Soon

A new task force has been announced for improving the services provided by the federal Government of Canada. Immigration applications will also be speeded up. The Canadian Prime Minister calls service delays ‘unacceptable’.

On June 25, 2022, the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau announced a new task force for improving government services in general. According to the Canadian Prime Minister, “The delays in immigration application and passport processing are unacceptable and the Government of Canada is urgently working to resolve them as soon as possible.”

With a focus on reducing wait times, the task force comprising a Committee of Cabinet Ministers will:

• Review service delivery, 
• Identify gaps and areas for improvement, and 
• Make recommendations for ensuring the highest quality of services. 

The task force will be driving action for improving the processing of Canadian immigration and passports by finding out priority areas for action and outlining solutions in the short term and for the longer-term. The focus will be on clearing out backlogs, reducing wait times, and improving service quality.  

According to the Canadian Prime Minister, “We know service delays, particularly in recent months, are unacceptable. We will continue to do everything we can to improve the delivery of these services in an efficient and timely manner ..”

Canada has been struggling to cope with a significant immigration backlog in the recent past. Currently, Canada’s immigration backlog stands at around 2.4 million individuals. 

In 2021, Canada welcomed 405,000 new permanent residents. However, many of these were either already in Canada or those applying for family unification. 

Source: CIC News

The backlog has gradually progressed over the months as follows: 

Source: CIC News

Express Entry backlogs continue to improve. There were 31,603 Express Entry Canada PR applications pending in June 2022, as against 40,889 at April-end. Of these, 25,081 were from candidates eligible for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP). The FSWP inventory stood at 32,883 at the end of April this year.  

How many from India have applied for Canada PR in 2022?

As per official statistics with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), a total of 9,191 Indians have applied for Canadian permanent residence between January-April 2022. 

While Express Entry is the most popular route to Canada PR, there are other ways as well for becoming a permanent resident in Canada. 

Source: Monthly IRCC Updates - Source Countries - Applications Received for Permanent Residency (in Persons) by Month

Canada will soon be back to the 6-month processing standard for Canadian permanent residence applications through the Express Entry system. All-program Express Entry draws are expected to be resumed July 6, 2022.