Question Period Note: Permanent Resident Processing

Permanent Resident Processing in 2022

PROPOSED RESPONSE:
• In 2021, Canada welcomed the highest number of permanent residents in a single year – some 405,000 – by processing a record number of applications, accounting to more than half a million.
• We have increased processing capacity and have processed over 250,000 permanent residence applications between January and May 2022.
• Some categories of applications are starting to see an improvement to the processing times, such as applications for Family class in-Canada clients.
• We’ve also announced measures to improve client experience and to modernize the immigration system.
• To support the processing and settlement of new permanent residents to Canada as part of Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan —including the government’s increased commitment to Afghan refugees— the government committed $2.1 billion over five years and $317.6 million ongoing in new funding.

• As our work continues, IRCC remains dedicated to providing meaningful, timely, and transparent information to our clients.
If pressed:
• To further support permanent resident applicants, we will be expanding the digital application portal to include more clients by Fall 2022.
• The fall 2021 Economic and Fiscal Update announced $85 million in 2022-23 for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and federal partner organizations to reduce inventories and return to standard service levels for Temporary Resident. For Permanent Residents, the funding will be used to build IRCC’s capacity to receive and manage applications, allowing for more efficient processing.
• For Citizenship, the one-time additional funding will be used to eliminate the pre-December 31 2021 ceremony ready inventory, totalling 60K applications.
• IRCC plans to direct this funding toward hiring additional staff and improving information technology capabilities to streamline processing across immigration and citizenship services.
If pressed on vulnerable people:
• The department is prioritizing processing for vulnerable people including Ukrainians and Afghan refugees as well as their family members.
• Although IRCC is focusing certain resources on processing applications across a wide range of immigration programs for vulnerable populations, there has been no pause in processing for our other immigration programs.

BACKGROUND:
Status of Operations
• Offices in Canada have resumed in-person services, with the majority of them by appointment, as was the case before the pandemic. IRCC is scheduling appointments for vulnerable clients, conducting interviews when they cannot be done virtually, and having clients come in to pick up their PR cards when they cannot be mailed.
• With the exception of Kyiv, which remains closed, all overseas IRCC offices and service providers are open.
• IRCC continues to work to reduce inventories and improve processing times for all lines of business following delays during the pandemic. However, effects of the pandemic are lingering in some overseas offices where cases that could not be processed during the pandemic remain in the inventory.
• As of May 31, 2022, 161 of 166 (97%) visa application centres (VACs) are open to the public offering biometrics collection, among other services. The vast majority of panel physicians’ clinics are now open to the public, with 574 out of 611 (94%) currently offering Immigration Medical Exams.
Mitigation Strategies
• IRCC increased digitization of applications through various means, such as in-house scanning, third-party digitization and the creation of the permanent residence portal to facilitate digital intake and virtual admissions. This allows for the distribution of files to remote workers in the integrated network for processing.
• To further address COVID-19-related challenges and expedite the process, IRCC developed a portal to allow permanent residence applicants in Canada to finalize their process and receive their permanent residency cards without any in-person interaction.
Prioritization of Vulnerable Populations
• On February 24, 2022, the Prime Minister of Canada announced special measures for persons directly affected by the situation in Ukraine, including:
o Urgent processing of travel documents for Canadians, permanent residents, and their immediate family members;
o Prioritizing the processing of citizenship grants for adoptions, and permanent and temporary residence applications; and,
o Prioritizing the renewal of work and study permits applications from Ukrainians currently in Canada.
• The Government of Canada also remains firm in its commitment to welcome at least 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada.
• IRCC is shifting resources to mitigate, as much as possible, the impact on permanent residence application processing and admissions overall, while continuing to process and land Ukrainian and Afghan nationals.
• Canada is also prioritizing the processing of applications from protected persons in Canada and their dependents overseas, as well as spousal, partner, and children category applications for Ukrainian and Afghan applicants.

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