In 2020, when the outbreak shook the entire world, Canada was one of the countries that suffered, especially in terms of immigration. While things are stabilizing as compared to last year, the country has amended major policies and standards to get accustomed to the pandemic era.
The federal immigration department had a lot on its plate during the beginning of 2021. Apart from the increasing backlog, the department had to deal with Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) possessors living outside the country, increasing COVID concerns and its mutating variants, low vaccine availability, travel ban; however, the government still imposed a goal of onboarding 401000 newcomers in 12 months.
The department cleverly started the transition of eligible applicants who were already residing in maple country as that would be comparatively easier than welcoming new immigrants from overseas. It took a while for stakeholders to get the hang of the new change, but they couldn’t do much because of a lack of transparency from the department. In contrast to sending invites to Express Entry applicants in 2020, the department started sending invites to Canadian Experience Class (CEC) applicants at the beginning of 2021. The reason is, around 90% of the applicants under CEC were already residing in maple country.
The immigration department’s strategy of achieving the target set by the government became more apparent in Feb’21. The department conducted a phenomenal draw inviting over 27,000 applicants in a single draw. This happened on 13th Feb’21, and the invites were sent to the Express Entry applicants. The action compelled them to release a statement justifying the situation. However, the statement indicated that the department would look to onboard overseas people once the situation is stabilized/improved.
In May, the department launched temporary streams to increase the onboarding count. They launched such six streams that allowed around 90,000 applicants to request a Canada PR. It was specifically for international students and essential employees.
Till the time June came, the department was averaging at 35,000 PR allocation, which recently increased to around 45,000 per month.
The department announced in the last week that it was able to break records this year by onboarding a number of applicants, which the country had never done in a 12 months window.
While the strategy worked and helped the department as well as the applicants to get the PR status, however, it happened at a cost.
The backlog of the immigration department has increased to 1.8 million. They explain that it is a part of a strategy that is allowing to transit more applicants who are living in the country. The majority of COPR possessors, international students, visa applicants (for work, study, or visit) have to wait for longer than usual because the department is occupied with achieving its goal.
Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) applicants had the largest share in getting the invite before the outbreak; however, now they are supposed to wait until their turn comes up. Also, the strategy has not been very useful in terms of increasing the population and meeting the labor market needs. That has evoked the situation where the country is at its peak in job vacancies.
The department has to function while maintaining the regulations imposed by the authorities, such as lockdown, travel ban, etc. For instance, the country banned travelers from India, which is one of the major origins of immigration.
Despite challenging times, the immigration department has tried its best to function. For example, it allowed Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) owners to seek an open work permit along with an extension. That helped people who needed more work experience while staying in the maple country. Another example is of asking individuals to submit an application for the Parents and Grandparents Program.
These policies are instated by the ruling government. Since the election of the Liberal Party of Canada, the country has witnessed a huge growth in immigration, where numbers have increased from 260 thousand in a year to over 400,000.
At the beginning of the month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Sean Fraser, the Immigration Minister, to continue overseeing the increased immigration count, reducing application processing duration, and bringing families together; he also emphasized supporting 40,000 Afghan refugees.
2021 is about to complete, and it remains the same as it started. It is increasing COVID cases with uncertainty on a global level. However, the country seems to be prepared as they understand and treat immigration as a critical matter since it directly impacts the economy and social standing.
Though the uncertain challenges may become an obstacle for the immigration department, the numbers remain unimpeached and are likely to increase as the worst gets behind us. That means we will be able to see the onboarding of more PRs, temp workers, foreign students, and tourists in Canada.
