Canada’s Temporary resident application backlogs have been significantly reduced while the permanent resident backlogs have slightly increased.

In accordance with the newly updated data received by CIC news from the IRCC Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the visa backlogs within Canada have dropped to just slightly above 2.4 million.

Following July 2021 the inventory across all lines of business has progressed as follows:

• November 3, 2022: 2,411,388 persons

• September 30, 2022: 2,600,000 persons (figure rounded by IRCC)

• August 31, 2022: 2,583,827 persons

• July 15-17, 2022: 2,679,031 persons

• June 1-6, 2022: 2,387,884 persons

• April 30-May 2, 2022: 2,130,385 persons

• April 11-12, 2022: 2,031,589 persons

• March 15 and 17, 2022: 1,844,424 persons

• February 1, 2022: 1,815,628 persons

• December 15, 2021: 1,813,144 persons

• October 27, 2021: 1,792,404 persons

• July 6, 2021: 1,447,474 persons

Current status of Inventories

On October 3 the citizenship inventory had 351,964 applicants which have been reduced to 331,401 applicants till October 31.

On October 3 the permanent residence inventory had 505,562 applicants which increased to 506,421 people by November 3.

The temporary residence inventory applicants also decreased from 1,651,649 people on October 3 to 1,537,566 people as of November 3.

Therefore, only two out of the three major categories experienced a reduction in visa backlogs and with the most significant reduction being experienced by the temporary resident inventory.

Express Entry and PNP inventory

By November 3rd there were a total of 39,589 applicants in the Express Entry programs, waiting in the queue.  The IRCC had resumed issuing ITAs to candidates from Express Entry since July however due to the IRCC struggling to meet service standards of six months of processing time for the Express Entry applications, the draws for the (PNP) Provincial Nominee Program were limited between 21st September 2021 to 6th July 2022. This issue was later resolved by pausing the invitations to (the FSWP) Federal Skilled Worker Program and (the CEC) Canadian Experience Class which reduced the inventory and allowed the department to return its service standards to within six months processing time for those who received a permanent residence invitation since July 6.

The PNP inventory has a total of 62,073 applications from both base and enhanced categories combined.

Family class inventory

Regarding all the family class programs inventory, it previously had 125,488 applications on October 3rd which have now been increased to 128,112. Among these programs the spouse and partnership programs which have the largest inventory from all lines of business have experienced the smallest increase since October 3rd and currently stand at 61,118 applicants. On the other hand, the (PGP)  inventory has increased from 53,530 applicants in October to 55,653 applicants in present.

Attempts of IRCC to deal with visa backlogs

The IRCC has long since acknowledged the visa backlog as a major issue and claims to have taken steps to improve the application processing speed

By the end of March 2023 the IRCC plans to reduce the visa backlog by more than 50% and to achieve this goal, the IRCC has started to transition towards a 100% digital process for applications regarding most permanent resident programs since 23d September and those who are unable to apply online also have certain accommodations made for them.

The citizenship applications are also included in this transition and the application process has already been made 100% digital for all applicants above the age of 18 soon the IRCC also aims to make all applications for citizenship digital as well including those for minors under the age of 18.

IRCC also plans to increase processing capacity for visa applications by investing $85 million into hiring 1,250 new staff by the end of autumn.

How can we help you?

We as Immigration Consultants are always here to guide our worthy clients regarding their Immigration and travel queries. We as Canadian immigration consultants will update you with the latest rules and regulations. So stay connected with us.

 Our expert Immigration consultants will help you out with Consultancy services, Global citizenship, Business Immigration, Skilled Immigration, Study visa, Visit visas& Scholarships. Stay in touch with us to get the latest updates about the immigration process.

Contact us at 051-8314775 or +923338888470 for better consultation.