The backlog of Canadian immigration applications has reached 2.1M, which proved the Canadian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration to initiate research the last month to find out the reasons.
The study conducted by the committee aimed to propose a conclusion on the immigration system of Canada. The study also contained suggestions for improving the immigration system and processing time of applications.
The pending pile of applications contains applications from a majority of categories like temporary residency, Canadian permanent residency, and Canadian Citizenship. All the pending applications count to be around 2.1M.
This issue of the massive backlog is occurring as a hindrance in the economy of Canada, enlarging the distance between families, and becoming the reason for not being able to assist people in need.
One of the reasons which lead to a massive increase in the Canadian immigration backlog is COVID-19. The personnel had to work remotely during the pandemic which reduced their work efficiency.
The pandemic was not the only factor that contributed to this massive backlog which cannot even be justified by the IRCC.
Nevertheless, the immigration system of Canada may show improvements by following the 6 steps mentioned below.
Considering applications seriously
The most fundamental thing the Government of Canada can consider is by treating applications from all categories with respect.
The more pending applications under the IRCC, the more lives of respective applicants and their families will remain affected.
The need of the hour after considering the current situation is to process the applications with a human-centric approach
The IRCC is unable to offer a valid justification for not being able to grant final decisions to its clients for as long as two years.
Such actions reflect the incompetency of the IRCC in providing high-quality customer services to its clients.
The IRCC seems to breach the legal obligation of processing the immigration applications.
Any enterprise excels only when they put their customers as their priority, and so should the IRCC. The immigration department of Canada should take steps in accordance with immigration applicants.
Accepting applications according to capacity
The IRCC look incompetent in aligning the number of applications they accept with their actual capacity to process them.
This step is performed for intaking the applications of immigration categories like Parents and Grandparents Program, Provincial Nominee program, etc.
The provincial and federal government of Canada limits the undertaking of applications for various programs according to their potential to process them.
This framework may not be perfect for some immigration programs like the Provincial Nominee Program but will certainly not cost with a massive backlog of immigration applications.
The IRCC needs to be held responsible for having more than 2.1M pending applications.
The IRCC shouldn’t have accepted more applications knowing they already have a huge pile of immigration to process under the specific given time.
For example- The introduction of the Express Entry was to streamline the applications which could be processed by the IRCC.
But the actual situation seems to be exactly the opposite, as the IRCC kept on releasing applications until it realized to stop them in 2021. We wouldn’t have reached this scenario if the IRCC had put a halt on the application back in 2020.
The IRCC made the situation more complicated by releasing a large number of applications for Express Entry and further issuing invitations for more than ninety thousand applicants of TR2PR.
Taking the Immigration Levels Plan into consideration, the IRCC will require at least 24 months to bring the situation under control.
Learning from the mistakes made in the past, the IRCC should learn the lesson of accepting the number of applications that it can successfully process.
Switching to online mode
The third suggestion will make Canadian immigration a lot easier.
The country’s immigration system needs a technological transformation as paper-based methods slow down the whole procedure.
Moreover, the officials of the Canadian immigration system weren’t efficient in working remotely and sending files to other required departments.
The IRCC should follow a way that could help both the group of applicants who fill applications online or offline.
The Government should set accommodation facilities for applications who are physically disabled, elder, and willing to submit paper-based applications.
The current technological era can prove to become an asset for the Canadian immigration system if directed properly.
The IRCC should focus more on encouraging immigration procedures through online mode.
Transparency
The IRCC must adopt a transparent approach toward their clients.
The IRCC astray its clients for a very long time by not fulfilling its duties and further not informing them about its policies and operations.
For example- The IRCC didn’t inform the applicants of Federal Skilled Worker Program about when they will be invited by the Express Entry.
The situation was witnessed by the applicants of the Canadian Experience Class.
The IRCC should regularly update its applicants regarding the policies and stages of their work on a monthly basis.
So, all the applicants will remain updated regarding the work operations of the IRCC.
A regular update from the IRCC will not relieve applicants, but also the Canadian employers, and post-secondary institutes in Canada in streamlining their future prospects.
Analysis
A separate study should be conducted to draw an in-depth analysis of what went wrong in the Canadian immigration system.
The study should focus on the positive steps and the negative steps taken by the IRCC.
Whereas the pandemic cannot be labeled as the only reason for the massive backlog issue within these two years.
After the derivation of mistakes and lessons from the study, it can then help in forming a new strategy for upcoming years
A majority of applicants have faced inconvenience during the pandemic which has created a bad reputation for the immigration system of Canada on a big level
Inculcating the practice of accountability is the only way to render the trust of the public.
The Government of Canada needs to show its people by accepting its mistake and assuring them of better future prospects.
The Canadian Government can only rectify its mistake by apologizing to its people.
Building a committee
The Government of Canada needs to build a separate committee by joining hands with immigration experts from different industries like post-secondary institutes, law, research, etc.
Formulation of the National Advisory Council on Immigration can be the most advantageous to the whole community of the Canadian immigration system.
This will help in designing the system with the best experts.
The Government of Canada does have different expert councils for its different departments and forming a separate department for Canadian immigration can become a big asset.
Conclusion
The Canadian immigration system should proceed with an optimistic approach.
As the country is so much dependent on immigration for the smooth flow of the economy,
The Government of Canada should allocate its funds for technological advancements, hire more workforce for processing applications, and interact with the public to know about their preferences. Initiating taking suggestions from people from different departments like institutes, employers, etc. If the IRCC religiously follows all such steps, the situation will certainly be under control.
