The Canadian government has proposed a $85 million restoration plan to return to normal processing standards for various immigration programs by the end of the year. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has introduced Canada’s proposals to get the immigration system back on track.

In 2021, IRCC made decisions on over 500,000 permanent resident applications. According to Fraser, Canada intends to make 147,000 final decisions for permanent residents in the first quarter of 2022—which is twice as many as during the same period last year.

How IRCC is reducing processing times
To respond to pandemic-related difficulties, IRCC has hired around 500 new processing staff, digitized applications, and redistributed work among IRCC offices across the world.

IRCC has already brought several paper-based immigration programmes online. The new online application portal is expected to be fully operational by the spring or summer of 2022.

A portal has also been established by IRCC to allow permanent residence applicants in Canada to finish their application and receive their permanent residency cards without having to visit the IRCC office. From June 2021 through December 2021, over 225,000 permanent residents utilized this portal.

New survey shows interest in Canada remains high
Meanwhile, a new poll of over 13,000 prospective immigrants conducted by World Education Services (WES) Canada shows that interest in immigrating to Canada is still high.

According to the study, nearly 50% of respondents said that the pandemic would have little or no impact on their immigration planning. Over 93% of respondents stated that the pandemic would have “no effect” or would make them “more interested.”

As per the survey, 58 percent of respondents said they are more interested in immigrating to Canada because of the government’s and healthcare system’s capacity to manage the epidemic and care for COVID-19 patients.

Canada will finalize the immigration level for 2022 soon
By February 14, the Canadian government will announce its new Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024. This plan will outline the number of people Canada expects to accept in 2022 and the categories they will be placed under.

In 2021, IRCC met its goal of admitting 401,000 newcomers. In 2022, the objective is expected to be 411,000 new permanent residents. Canada will target to admit an additional 421,000 immigrants in 2023.

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