Reducing Canada's immigration backlog

- Referred from Canada's official immigration website


Canada was built on immigration. With more than 15 million people from every corner of the globe coming to Canada since Confederation, our immigration program is one of the largest and most successful in the world.

But with success come challenges. There are approximately 925,000 people waiting in line—almost enough to meet our immigration targets for the next four years.

And yet hundreds of thousands more people continue to apply every year. Under the old law, all applications had to be evaluated and processed to a final decision. The backlog continued to build and threatened to reach 1.5 million by 2012 if we did nothing. This would have meant a wait time of 10 years for applicants.

Applications in the largest backlog—federal skilled workers—used to be processed in the order they were received, regardless of whether the applicants’ skills or professions would enable them to find a job in Canada.

There are probably many millions of people in the world who meet the criteria to enter Canada and, among those, several million who would like to do so. We had to have an immigration system that effectively balanced Canada’s own needs with its popularity as a destination. We also wanted to reduce wait times so that families were reunited faster and the workers we needed arrived sooner.

That’s why, on March 14, the Government of Canada introduced changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The changes aim to modernize Canada’s immigration system and shorten the time it takes to immigrate to Canada. They were approved by Parliament on June 18, 2008.

Those who submitted an application before February 27, 2008—the day after the federal budget, of which these changes were a part—will continue to be processed under the old system. But the backlog will stop growing and finally start coming down.

Going forward, anyone will still be able to apply, but CIC will no longer be required to process all new applications submitted on or after February 27, 2008. Applications not processed in a given year can be held for future consideration or returned with a full refund to the applicant, who will be welcome to reapply at another time.

The Minister will have the authority to issue instructions to immigration officers on the processing of applications, including with regard to jobs available in Canada, so that people with those skills and experience can be brought to Canada more quickly. The Minister’s instructions will apply to categories of applicants, not individuals.
It is important to note that our objectives for family reunification and refugee protection will not be affected.

Our annual levels plan will continue to establish clear targets for the number of immigrants we intend to welcome every year. For example, in 2008, Canada plans to accept between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents, including approximately 70,000 in the family class, some 30,000 protected persons, and at least 20,000 provincial nominees to help provinces meet the demand for workers, many of whom are lower skilled.

The decisions on individual applications will be made by CIC immigration officers. The Minister cannot reverse these decisions.

The Minister’s instructions will be consistent with the overall objectives of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which are to support Canada’s economy and competitiveness, reunite families and provide protection for those in need.

They also will be consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects against discrimination on such bases as race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age and mental or physical disability.

Instructions will be developed based on input from the provinces, territories and stakeholders. The instructions will be made public and will reflect our commitments to provinces and territories. They will be published in the Canada Gazette, reported in the Department’s annual report to Parliament and published on CIC’s website.

The measures will do a much better job of responding to our economic and regional needs, reducing wait times for new applicants, reducing the backlog and allowing newcomers to provide a better life for themselves and their families. They will provide the flexibility to process applicants with the skills Canada needs, as is the case in many competitor countries, including Australia and New Zealand.