Question Period Note: Immigration and Citizenship Processing

IRCC Immigration and Citizenship application processing

• IRCC continues to strengthen Canada’s immigration system, welcome new citizens, and respond to multiple international crises and increasing levels of application intake.

• IRCC also continues to improve client service and reduce wait times in many categories by streamlining processes and leveraging technology to meet demand.

• IRCC has processed 2.53 million applications for permanent residence (PR), temporary residence (TR) (excluding electronic travel authorizations (eTAs)) and citizenship between January 1 and April 30, 2024, which is 19% higher than output over the same time period in 2023 (2.13M).

• As of April 30, 2024, 60% of all applications (PR, TR and Citizenship, excluding eTAs) in IRCC inventories are within service standards. This is consistent with last month, and a 3% improvement since the beginning of the year. Many lines of business are now back or close to being back to service standards.

If pressed:

• As of April 30, 2024, Canada has already welcomed 164,200 new permanent residents, representing 34% achievement of the admissions target of 485,000.
• From January 1 to April 30, 2024, IRCC processed 2.2 million temporary resident applications (excluding eTAs), representing an increase of 19% compared to the same time period in 2023.

• Canada welcomed nearly 132,000 new Canadian citizens from January 1 to April 30, 2024, a 31% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

• Canada also continues to meet its ongoing humanitarian commitments, including those related to asylum, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza.

Status of Operations

• IRCC continues to work to reduce inventories to a healthy level and improve processing times for all lines of business while balancing its response to both ongoing international crises and increasing levels of application intake.

• IRCC experienced record intake and processing in 2023, and the Department continues to receive and process a high volume of applications in 2024.

• The Government of Canada is working to stabilize the number of temporary residents entering the country, while upholding our humanitarian commitments and supporting the priorities of our labour markets. In January, 2024 the government announced an intake cap on international student permit applications for a period of two years to stabilize inventories in this category. Additionally, this fall, IRCC’s annual levels planning will be expanding to include both temporary resident arrivals and permanent resident arrivals.

• Some categories of applications continue to be processed within service standards while others are seeing an overall improvement to processing times, such as applications for certain Family Class clients including Spousal and Common-Law (excluding Quebec), Quebec Skilled Workers, Provincial Nominee Program – Express Entry and Federal Skilled Workers. However, some improvements have been incremental as inventories of older cases are processed and various innovations and digital improvements have been gradually introduced; all while respecting targets set by Cabinet for immigration levels and other initiatives.

• It should be noted that processing times are historical, meaning that for Permanent Resident and Citizenship applications, they are measured based on how long it took to process 80% of applications in the past. For Temporary Resident applications, processing times refer to the time in which 80% of applications were finalized by IRCC and include applications that were finalized in the last 8 week period (excluding eTA). IRCC does not begin to calculate processing times until we receive a complete application with all necessary supporting documents.

• Through innovations and digital modernization, IRCC is reducing its reliance on hiring additional staff across the organization, particularly in application processing.

• The introduction of automation (e.g. advanced analytics models, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to support digital intake of applications, call-centre enhancements and improved client self-serve tools) has allowed IRCC to keep up with increased intake.

• Over the longer term, the Government’s investment in IRCC’s Digital Platform Modernization (DPM) is expected to result in more comprehensive and sustained service and operational improvements, founded on new digital platforms that will bring more flexibility as well as system stability.

Immigration and Citizenship Processing

Permanent Residents (PR)

• IRCC has processed almost 193,000 PR applications year-to-date, which is 10% higher than the overall output during the same time period in 2023. There have been 164,200 new permanent residents admitted to Canada as of April 30, 2024 and the Department is on track to reach its 2024 annual immigration levels plan target of 485,000 new permanent residents.

• As of April 30, 2024, there are 749,900 applications in the PR processing inventory, up slightly from 746,000 at the end of March 2024. Despite this increase, 60% of inventory is within service standards as of April 30, 2024, up from 56% as of December 31, 2023.

• The increase in processing inventory is mainly due to a high intake of Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) applications as a result of recent Express Entry rounds of invitations (including Francophone specific invitations). In addition, there has been a high volume of application intake for public policy programs such as Sudan and Ukraine, however there has also been an uptick in the application processing pace in order to achieve 2024 processing targets.

Express Entry under Provincial Nominee Program:
• Processing times are within services standard at 5 months as of April 30, 2024, down from 8 months as of December 31, 2023.
Spouses, Partners and Children (Overseas and Domestic - Destined to Rest of Canada (excl. Quebec):
• The inventory has increased from 65,100 as of December 31, 2023 to 72,700 as of April 30, 2024. However, processing times are currently 11 months, which is within the 12-month service standard.

Federal High Skilled (FHS):

• As of April 30, 2024, 84% of the inventory is within the service standards, with a processing time of 5 months (service standard is 6 months).

Temporary Residents (TR)

Temporary Resident Visas (TRVs):

• TRV intake from January 1 to April 30, 2024 (including CUAET and extensions, excluding eTAs) was over 1,434,000, representing an increase of 45% over the same time period in 2023. Despite a significant increase in intake, the Department’s processing has kept pace, having processed 45% more applications (excluding eTAs) between January and April 2024 (1,458,200 total) compared to the same four months in 2023 (1,005,000 total).

• Due to the continued unpreceded level of intake volumes, processing times for all TRVs (including CUAET and extensions, excluding eTAs) were at 106 days as of April 30, 2024, however, most new clients who apply now can expect 70-80 day processing times.

Study Permits:

• Between January 1 and April 30, 2024, IRCC processed almost 296,000 study permit applications (including extensions), with 69% of inventory within the 60 day service standard. As of the end of April, 88% of the study permit extensions inventory was within the 120 day service standard.

• In January, 2024, the Government announced an intake cap on international student permit applications to stabilize new growth for a period of two years. For 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023.

Work Permits:
• As of April 30, 2024, 53% of applications in the inventory (non-CUAET) were within the service standards, down from 56% as of December 31, 2023. However, most new clients who apply now can expect 65-75 days processing times.
Citizenship

• IRCC processed 138,300 Citizenship grant applications between January 1 and April 30, 2024, marking an increase of 34% from the same time period in 2023. As of April 30, 82% of grant application inventory was within the 12-month service standard.

Humanitarian Commitments

• Canada achieved its ambitious commitment to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees in October 2023, and as of April 30, 2024, almost 51,000 Afghans have arrived in Canada.

• As of April 30, 2024, approximately 300,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET).

• In response to the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Government of Canada has assisted over 2,500 Canadians, Permanent Residents, and their eligible family members in departing Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza (via Rafah) since October 1, 2023.

• In response to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, Canada started accepting applications for a family-based humanitarian pathway of Sudanese foreign nationals who are directly affected by the conflict in Sudan and who have family in Canada.
o As of April 30, people admitted to Canada from Sudan included 3,688 admissions as Permanent Residents and 1,384 as Temporary Residents.

• As of April 30, 2024 there have been over 7,300 Temporary Resident incremental arrivals and PR admissions since April 1, 2023 towards the Government of Canada’s commitment to welcome up to 15,000 foreign nationals from the Americas (Colombia, Haiti, and Venezuela).
o Over 6,900 TR arrivals since April 1, 2023
o Over 400 PR admissions since April 1, 2023, with an additional 6,200 applicants having received a positive final decision and over 11,700 applicants having passed the eligibility portion of the process.

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