Maple News reports that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has released an official roadmap detailing how it plans to resolve the backlog of permanent residence applications, following recommendations from Canada’s Auditor General.
The plan, disclosed through an Access to Information request, outlines how IRCC will tackle application delays across various immigration streams, including refugee resettlement, family sponsorship, and economic class programs. The move comes after a critical audit published by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) in October 2023, which found that processing delays surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly affecting vulnerable groups like refugees.
The OAG serves as an accountability office, ensuring federal departments effectively manage public resources. Its report pointed to systemic delays that grew throughout 2022 as application inventories outpaced processing capacity. It urged IRCC to take immediate corrective steps to improve efficiency and transparency.
Among the Auditor General’s key recommendations was a call for IRCC to give applicants realistic estimates about processing times. In response, the department says it will re-evaluate and revise its service standards by considering the age and volume of pending applications. The standard processing time varies by program: six months for Express Entry and up to 12 months for most family sponsorships, for example.
IRCC confirmed it will implement new service standards for programs that previously lacked them, such as certain economic class and resettled refugee streams. Updated benchmarks for economic immigrants and family class applicants are expected by March 31, 2024. The department aims to have full new service standards in place across all programs by December 31, 2024.
The overarching goal is to process 80% of all applications within these updated timeframes, ensuring consistency and predictability for future applicants. This modernization effort is part of IRCC’s broader push toward enhancing client service and reducing longstanding delays that have frustrated applicants for years.
As Maple News continues to monitor IRCC’s progress on its ambitious plan, future updates will reveal how well these changes address public concerns and improve Canada’s immigration processing system.