Canadian Immigration News

Fast and Flexible Canadian Immigration System by Reducing Backlogs

The findings of a recent report on Canadian immigration backlogs by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration were welcomed by the Government.

According to Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney, backlogs were unfair to Canadian visa applicants, harmful to Canada's ability to attract the best and brightest from around the world, and held back economic and job growth. As a result, he thanked the Standing Committee members for their hard work in compiling their report.

The Committee agreed that the "Action Plan for Faster Immigration" and the "Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification" have made the Canadian Immigration System fast and flexible by:

• Reducing the pre-2008 Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) backlog by more than 50 percent by 2011 – two years earlier than expected – through the 2008 "Action Plan for Faster Immigration" and successive Ministerial Instructions limiting application intake, paving the way for a faster and more flexible economic immigration system;
• Managing intake of the Canadian Immigrant Investor Program applications starting in July 2011, which focuses on processing existing applications and reviewing the program's effectiveness;
• Significantly decreasing the backlog of applications for Canadian parents and grandparents visas since fall 2011, as a result of increased admission targets and a two-year pause on new applications under the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification. In addition, CIC introduced a new "Super Visa" allowing parents and grandparents to visit and stay in Canada for up to two years.

However, the Committee report also notes initiatives to better align application intake with admission levels because for too long Canada has accepted more applications than it can process and admit in a given year. The report also suggests exploring further options to deal with the problem of existing backlogs, particularly in the Canadian federal skilled worker, immigrant investor, and parent and grandparent classes.

"The economy and job growth remain the Government's number one priority," said Minister Kenney. "We continue to take the issue of immigration backlogs very seriously, and we will be doing even more in the future to transform our immigration system into one that is fast, fair, flexible, and serves the interests of Canada's long-term prosperity."

If you are interested in Immigration to Canada, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible to apply for a visa to Canada.