New Concerns Rise as Canada’s Refugee Employment Program Struggles with Extended Processing Delays

The news that Canada’s refugee employment program struggles with extended processing delays has created serious concern among employers and refugee applicants who once relied on the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) as a fast, reliable pathway. What was launched as a six-month immigration route has now stretched into multi-year waits, leaving Canadian industries short-staffed and qualified refugees facing dangerous, unstable living conditions abroad.

A Program Built to Solve Shortages Now Trapped in Delays

When the EMPP began in 2018, it was meant to do two things at once: help Canadian companies fill essential roles and give skilled refugees a permanent residency pathway. For the first few years, it did exactly that. Many businesses praised the program for quick processing and access to workers with proven experience in healthcare, engineering, agriculture, construction, and logistics.

But as processing times grew from six months to 54 months, employers started to report significant financial setbacks. Refugee applicants, already in vulnerable positions, suddenly found themselves stuck sometimes for years despite having verified job offers and employers waiting to onboard them.

These delays have created a ripple effect across sectors already facing staffing gaps.

Businesses Report Real Losses

Canada’s refugee employment program struggles with extended processing delays: Effects on employers and applicants

TalentLift, a non-profit that supports employers hiring refugees internationally, surveyed more than 20 companies using the EMPP. The findings reveal:

• Production cuts
• Cancelled expansion plans
• Lost contracts
• Lower annual revenue
• Delayed project launches

For small and medium-sized businesses, the consequences are especially painful. Many cannot easily shift workloads or hire locally when the skills they need simply do not exist in their region.

At the same time, refugee applicants with confirmed Canadian jobs are facing severe hardship while stuck abroad:

• Arrests tied to precarious immigration status
• Evictions and loss of housing
• Food insecurity
• Risk of deportation
• Lack of income and unsafe work environments

These individuals expected stability. Instead, they are living in uncertainty long after their Canadian employer began preparing for their arrival.

Why Processing Times Ballooned

Several factors explain the delays:

• Increased volume of EMPP applications
• Shifts in national immigration targets
• Complex security and background checks
• Medical documentation expiring before approval
• Additional requests for evidence
• Limited processing capacity across visa offices

While IRCC states that 80% of complete files now finish in roughly 17 months, many employers say those timelines still fail to match the urgency of their workforce needs.

Program Benefits Exist but Only When Processing Moves

The EMPP’s design remains strong. It provides:

• A permanent residency pathway
• Family reunification for spouses and children
• Access to Canadian healthcare
• Long-term employment stability
• Opportunities for employers in critical fields

The issue is not the program itself, it is the timeline.

A pathway built for months cannot function effectively when stretched into years.

Changing Immigration Attitudes May Affect Future Fixes

Public opinion has also shifted. Polling from the Environics Institute now shows 56% of Canadians feel the country accepts too many immigrants. With the federal government aiming for “more sustainable levels,” many fear processing times may worsen before they improve.

This tension between labour shortages and public sentiment creates a challenging environment for reforms that the EMPP urgently needs. In an environment where Canada’s refugee employment program struggles with extended processing delays, both employers and refugees are left waiting for relief. The EMPP has enormous potential to fill essential jobs and offer safer futures, but slow processing threatens its purpose. For the program to succeed long-term, timelines must return to months not years, so skilled workers and Canadian industries can move forward together.