Canada’s Immigration New Backlog Data Rests at 2.6 Million People

IRCC announced updated data on its website which shows Canada’s Immigration backlog remains at 2.6 million people. In view, IRCC suggests the breakdown of applications into permanent residence, temporary residence, and citizenship applications.

Until now, IRCC has handled 1.11 million applications within service standards. However, there are still 1.49 million applications not within the sphere of service standards.

What is the Service standard in Canada?

It is an internal measuring system that IRCC uses to handle the applications for every business category. In addition, IRCC uses the service standard for every program.

Moreover, there was an announcement by IRCC to offer regular updates on processing times on its website. This will ensure the applicants avail more transparency.

Service Standard for Programs

• The service standard for permanent residence through Express Entry Program is of 6 months.
• For Spousal and Child Family Class Sponsorship, IRCC informs the standard policy of 12 months.
• Also, the temporary residence application ranges between 60-120 days.
• Whereas, Citizenship applications have a service standard of 12 months, in addition to four months.

The backlog declines for two business streams

There has been an increase in applications for permanent residence. The citizenship and temporary residence applications have both seen a decline.

The application inventory numbers are as follows:

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• The citizenship inventory remains at 352,000 applicants, compared to 371,620 on August 31.
• The permanent residence inventory stands at 614,600 applicants as of September 30, compared to 513,923 as of August 31.
• The temporary residence inventory rests at 1,644,100 people, compared to 1,698,284 applicants as of August 31.

When will the backlogs decrease?

IRCC informs that the applications under the high-skilled category for permanent residence and under the PNP category are expected to see a backlog of 20% by December 2022.

In addition, for the PR applications under the Family, Children, and Spouse categories, we will have a backlog of 19%. Moreover, Citizenship applications are expected to have a 25% backlog by December 2022.

Note: Temporary Residence permits have different projections depending on the type of visa.

What are the IRCC’s steps to improve the backlog?

IRCC recognized the backlog and decided to take measures to speed up the application processing activity. Along with this, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced several upgrades to the system.

• Insisting on taking a step towards 100% digital applications for the PR programs on September 23.
• The IRCC is also planning to make citizenship applications digital for everyone by the end of the year.
• The department is also hiring 1,250 new staff to increase the processing timelines.