Canada's Minister of Immigration issued a statement
He explained the reasons for the delays in processing applications and what actions are planned to take.
Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser spoke in Vancouver about measures the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is taking to reduce the backlog of applications, improve customer service and copwe withvekmnb labour shortages.
He announced that the ministry would hire an additional 1,250 people within 3 months. This will speed up processing and reduce waiting lists. The IRCC says the new employees will allow new applications to be processed at pre-pandemic levels, including the six-month service standard for Express Entry programs.
The minister said the problems have been intensified by humanitarian crises and Canada's involvement in them, as well as the inevitable obsolescence of technology, which has had to be updated. Statistics showed that at the end of July, about 54% of applications in the system were there longer than the standard of service. The ministry says it now aims to process 80 percent of new requests in accordance with established time standards.
The IRCC reportedly plans to publish monthly performance reports on its website.
Immigration plans for 2022 included a goal of 431,000 people. So far, 275,000 new permanent residents have reportedly arrived between January 1 and July 31. During the same period, 349,000 new work permits were issued, including 220,000 Open Work Permits (OWPs), which allow you to work anywhere in Canada.
