Canada’s visa nightmare traps 2.7 million people

By Mata Press Service

About 2.7 million people worldwide are waiting to resettle in Canada as the country struggles with an historic immigration backlog which is severely impacting businesses looking for foreign workers.

According to numbers obtained from  Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) by CIC News, the backlog encompasses every application filed, from citizenship to visas to requests for permanent residency. The backlog of citizenship applications alone stands at 444,792, while most of the list (1.7 million) is applications for temporary residence.

Not only is it the worst immigration backlog of all time, but it is growing exponentially with each passing week. This time last year, the backlog was just 1.5 million names, according to CIC News. In just the last month, the list has grown by 300,000 — an increase of roughly 1,000 new applicants per day.

Most of the visa applicants – about 700,000 – are from India.

If the backlog continues to grow at the current rate, it will only be another four months until the number of applicants awaiting processing by the IRCC is equivalent to 10 percent of the Canadian population of 38 million, said the National Post.

The backlog is also clogging the country’s judicial system which is seeing more and more visa applicants seeking the Federal Court’s help to determine the status of their applications to become new Canadians. That number has increased by almost seven times over the past three years.

In the immigration context, a mandamus application is a judicial remedy compelling the performance of a public legal duty by IRCC that is owed to an applicant.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this month announced the formation of a task force to tackle the growing immigration application backlog. The task force’s goal is to reduce wait times, clear backlogs, and improve the overall quality of services provided to Canadians. As labour shortages continue to lead to air travel delays around the world, the task force will also monitor the situation at Canadian airports.

As the backlog grows,  Canada aims to attract about 1.3 million new immigrants over the next three years to help fill critical labour shortages and fuel post-pandemic growth.

The 2022–2024 Immigration Levels Plan aims to continue welcoming immigrants at a rate of about one percent of Canada’s population, including 431,645 permanent residents in 2022 (an increase of about 21,000 people from its original plan), 447,055 in 2023, and 451,000 in 2024.

In a recent report by the Business Council of Canada, Canadian employers cited “processing delays” as the top barrier to recruiting international talent.

Processing delays are the top barrier experienced by employers when recruiting international talent, stated the report, which was based on a survey of 80 companies that employ nearly 1,650,000 Canadians in more than 20 industries, generating revenues of approximately $1.2 trillion in 2020.

Key takeaways from the report, including

• Four out of five respondents are experiencing a labour shortage.

• Two-thirds of respondents use the immigration system to recruit new workers.

• Fewer than a quarter of respondents say the immigration system currently serves their needs well or very well.

• Half of the respondents think the government should increase immigration levels.

• Two-thirds of respondents indicate that processing delays are the top barrier to recruiting newcomers.

“Frustrated by application processing delays, complex rules, and the cost of navigating the system, fewer than a quarter (of those surveyed) say the immigration system currently serves their business needs well,” said Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada

“These challenges are made more pressing by the accelerating race for international talent. Canadian employers overwhelmingly agree that global competition for skilled workers is likely to intensify as other countries step up their efforts to attract the best and brightest,” said Hyder.