New Study to Reveal the Impact of Coronavirus on Canadian Immigrants

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted immigration dreadfully in Canada. While it seems that the worst is behind us for now, it is better to remain cautious and prepared at every turn.

Family members have been forced to spend months away from each other. New permanent residents who got their approval after the lockdown have been kept from traveling to Canada and starting their new life. International students are having a hard time adjusting to this new mode of education. The problems are many.

New Study for Canadian government

The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration has decided to conduct a study in light of the current circumstances. The study is going to study the effects of the pandemic on Canadian immigration. Affected people will be able to put forward their narratives as witnesses in the House of Commons. After the completion of the study, all the findings will be conveyed to the House so that they can take steps accordingly.

While the government can draw up a response to the findings of the study in 120 days, it is important to remember that it is not compulsory for them to do so. This study is mainly aimed at gathering data, not sparking policy changes.

Focus of the study

The study will examine how the lottery system has worked out when it comes to family reunification, among other things. IRCC recently opted for a lottery-based approach to pick candidates for the Parents and Grandparents Program. It will compare how this new approach fared in comparison to previous methods. Moreover, the study will also focus on the processing periods for different family reunification streams and their application backlogs. TRV processing delays and difficulties in securing authorization to travel for international students will also be addressed.