Canadian communities and economists are dependent on immigration to Canada, which also plays a significant role in Canada’s identity. Immigrant, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been making steady improvements to Canada's immigration system by reducing wait times and modernizing services.

The Honourable Sean Fraser, Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, today emphasized the strides that have been made this year in eliminating the backlogs of applications that have been in the IRCC's inventories for longer periods of time than permitted by its service standards.

A record-breaking year for processing visa applications.

Nearly 500,000 fewer Canada Visa applications have been added to the IRCC's overall inventory since August.

The agency has also progressively raised the threshold for processing. Nearly twice as many applications—4.8 million—had been handled by the end of November by the IRCC than there had been at the same time last year.

Through digitization, hiring and training new staff, and implementing automation technology, the IRCC has streamlined procedures and streamlined applications.

The department is still on schedule to complete 80% of new application processing within service requirements for the majority of programs, and it is working hard to improve processing, which reduces client wait times.

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More visitors, students, and workers coming to Canada-thanks to- Canada's temporary residency

This year, Canada is on track to process more Canada study permits than ever before for international students wanting to study in Canada.

As of November 30, IRCC had processed more than 670,000 Canada study permits, up from more than 500,000 at the same time last year.

These efforts have resulted in the majority of new Canada study permits being processed within the required 60 days.

In order to accommodate the increasing number of travellers who want to visit Canada, IRCC continues to cut back on backlogs and process Canada visitor visas more swiftly.

Canada is already processing more Canada visitor visa applications on a monthly basis than it was before the outbreak.

Over 260,000 Canada Visitor Visas were processed alone in November.

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Reuniting spouses and families through Canada permanent residence: enhancing service

In 2021, Canada accepted 405,000 more Canadian permanent residents than ever before, exceeding the previous record set in 1913. Canada will likely meet its goal of adding more than 431,000 new permanent residents in Canada after 2022, which will be another record-breaking year.

For the benefit of our clients, IRCC has also been updating its services and boosting assistance for programs for Canada PR. All new spousal sponsorship applications or Canada Spouse Visa applications and new Express Entry applications are now processed within the pre-pandemic service standard of 12 months and 6 months, respectively. A 99% reduction in the pandemic backlog of applications for card renewals at the IRCC means that permanent residents should anticipate fewer wait times when renewing their Canada permanent residence cards.

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Addressing the labour shortages with immigration

Canada supports immigration as a tactic to help employers find employees with the necessary skills in important industries, such as health care, skilled trades, manufacturing, transportation, and technology, to manage the social and economic difficulties we will face in the future.

  • Extending work permits to wives and working-age dependents of temporary foreign workers at all skill levels is just one of the policies the Canadian government has put in place to assist them to realize their full labour market potential. It will help alleviate labour shortages by supporting firms in locating the personnel they require by extending the eligibility for work permits to family members travelling to Canada with the primary application.
  • The temporary removal of the 20-hour per week restriction on the amount of time that qualifying post-secondary students may work off campus while classes are in session. This temporary modification recognizes the crucial role that international students may play in meeting the labour demands while also pursuing their academic goals, especially given that there are already over 640,000 of them studying in Canada and are potentially available for additional hours of work.
  • Taking action to give foreign nationals with post-graduation work permits that have expired or will expire between September 20, 2021, and December 31, 2022, the chance to continue working there for an extra 18 months by either renewing their work permits or applying for new ones.
  • Paving the way for the creation of economic routes that refugees and their families might take in addition to the conventional resettlement process in order to find a safe and long-term solution. The Canadian Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) was expanded to include more skilled refugees thanks to additional financing from IRCC, and it is now rolling out a new, more flexible application procedure with reliable partners to make it simpler for suitable candidates to apply.
  • Reducing the 20-month wait time for work permits for asylum seekers in Canada to one month.
  • With the implementation of a new permanent Atlantic Immigration Program, an expanded Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, and a new work permit stream for Quebec-selected skilled workers, we are helping to bring workers to areas of the country that need them most.
  • Exempting physicians who collaborate with public health authorities under a fee-for-service approach from the existing rules. With this move, it will be simpler for physicians who were born abroad to remain in Canada, where they can continue to practice medicine and support the healthcare system.
  • Announcing additional financing of $115 million over five years, beginning in 2022–2023, and $30 million in continued funding in Budget 2022 for the Foreign Credential Recognition Program expansion, with a focus on assisting skilled immigrants' absorption into the labour market in the health sector.
  • The National Occupational Classification 2021 will be implemented for immigration programs run through the Express Entry system. 16 more occupations are now qualified for the Express Entry programs as a result.
  • Modifying the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by deciding which immigrants to admit based on essential characteristics that support specified economic priorities, like educational qualifications, professional experience, or proficiency in an official language. The spring of 2023 is predicted to see the debut of Express Entry's new category-based selection authorities.

The Canadian government will continue to give monthly updates on its efforts to reduce backlogs, as well as on the measures it is taking to enhance client satisfaction, reunite families, and solve the workforce shortage in the country. We are committed to creating an immigration system that benefits newcomers, visitors, our businesses, and all Canadians, even while they are aware that there is still more work to be done.

You can also read the latest Canada Immigration News and Draw Updates here. If you are interested in studying in Canada then for more info, please visit here

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