IRCC is hiring more employees to reduce wait times and return to pre-pandemic service standards

Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, has recently announced that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is hiring up to 1,250 new employees this fall. This measure is aimed at reducing application backlogs, specifically concentrating on addressing labour shortages, improving client experience, and reuniting families.

Along with the provided support through the $85 million from the Economic and Fiscal Update 2021, those new employees have already facilitated the reduction of the processing time, and returned to the pre-pandemic service standard, including the service standard of six months for Express Entry programs, 12 months for family reunification through spousal sponsorship, and permanent resident cards.

Canada has one of the highest immigration rates in the world and it keeps breaking its own records. In 2021, Canada welcomed over 405,000 new permanent residents, 199,000 work permits, and finalized almost 560,000 study permit applications. This year, IRCC issued over 349,000 new work permits from January 1 to July 31, 2022. To compare, only 112,000 work permits were issued during the same period in 2021. It proves the unprecedented interest in Canada from applicants all over the world.

Further improvements to Canada’s immigration system will aim to attract the best talent from around the world to help address labor shortages in sectors of tourism, healthcare, agriculture, transportation, and the skilled trades.

IRCC also announced that it will publish monthly data on its official website, providing information on additional steps being taken to improve the system.