Canada fails to process immigration applications
The queue of waiting candidates is only growing.
The queue of applicants waiting to process their immigration applications exceeded 2 million for all immigration categories. The number of applications for temporary and permanent residence in Canada has increased. The backlog has been growing for a long time, despite the Department of Immigration's attempts to return to normal processing times. In July 2021, there were 1,447,474 people on the waiting list, and 2,031,589 in April 2022.
Temporary residence in Canada
As of April 2022, more than 1.1 million applications are on the waiting list from applicants for temporary residence in Canada. These are those who have applied for work or study permits. The picture is as follows:
| Request type | Number of applications in the queue as of April 11, 2022 |
| Study permit | 122 145 |
| Renewal of a study permit | 34 242 |
| Temporary resident visa | 558 498 |
| Visitor visa extension | 73 450 |
| Work permit | 172 796 |
| Extension of work permit | 141 244 |
| Total | 1 102 375 |
According to Immigration and Citizenship Canada, the number of applications in this category has increased significantly since the launch of the Canada-Ukraine Emergency Entry Permit (CUAET).
The CUAET program allows Ukrainians fleeing the war to live and work in Canada for 3 years. Applications are accepted in unlimited numbers. As of April 29, 180,903 Ukrainian citizens have requested permission to enter.
Permanent residency in Canada
Among people applying for immigration to Canada, or permanent residency, the increase is small. Since March 2022, the waiting list has increased by about 20,000 applications. Meanwhile, the number of applications for immigration through the federal Express Entry system has declined in this category. Earlier, Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser said selections in the system will resume in July 2022 after a long hiatus. The programs that run through Express Entry have the most applications from qualified people, a category for which there have been no selections since late 2020.
The total number of applications for permanent residence in Canada is about 530,000, distributed as follows:
| Category and program of immigration | Number of applications in the queue as of April 11, 2022 |
| Economic immigration | 236 443 |
| — Canadian Experience Class | 8 363 |
| — Federal Skilled Worker Program | 36 281 |
| — Federal Skilled Trades Program | 537 |
| — Caregivers Programs | 20 988 |
| — Business immigration | 5 156 |
| — Temporary immigration programs | 5 625 |
| — Provincial and territorial programs | 70 975 |
| — Business immigration to Quebec | 13 295 |
| — Quebec program for skilled workers | 34 320 |
| — Programs for temporary foreign workers | 40 903 |
| Family sponsorship | 107 094 |
| — Immigration for compassionate relatives | 3 308 |
| — Parents and grandparents | 37 338 |
| — Spouses, partners, and children | 66 448 |
| Humanitarian immigration | 27 672 |
| Immigration by work or study permit | 20 |
| Persons in Need of Protection and Refugees | 158 402 |
| Total | 529 631 |
Reducing the queue
Immigration and Citizenship Canada has allocated $85 million CAD to speed up the processing of immigration applications and is hiring additional staff and digitizing the processing. Despite this, many applicants are still encountering difficulties and delays. The department has set a goal of returning to normal processing times by the end of this year.
