Dear Mr Brown,

I am inquiring about the processing time at the embassy for visas and permits. Everything seems to be taking so long. It is hard to make plans. I know that things slowed down during the pandemic, but now that the pandemic is essentially over, shouldn’t things get back to normal?

— AG

Dear AG:

The backlog for immigration applications for Canada has reportedly increased to 2.4 million. This includes all categories of temporary and permanent residence, as well as citizenship applications.

In addition, there has been recent focus and prioritisation of refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine.

During COVID-19, Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) staff were not deemed to be essential workers, so the backlog of applications grew exponentially.

The reported position of the IRCC is that application inventories grew during the pandemic while health and travel restrictions were in effect, and it will take some time to fully recover. Canada has seen an upward trend in backlogs since the pandemic started, as you alluded to. After the pandemic hit, processing centres were operating with very limited capacity, and that partly contributed to the increasing backlog. Long processing times and a lack of communication and transparency during the pandemic has been the experience.

Task Force

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that a new task force has been created to address unprecedented delays in government services, such as passports, airports, and immigration application processing. The task force will seek to identify major gaps in these services and will also be reviewing service delivery and making recommendations for how these factors can improve.

In response to your question, I am highlighting that the delays are well documented and acknowledged by the prime minister of Canada, who has taken steps to address the matter. I am sure that normal processing times will return to normal in the medium term.

Please visit JAMAICA2CANADA.COM for additional information on Canadian permanent residence programmes, including express entry, the study & work programme, visas or appeals, etc.

Antonn Brown, BA, (Hons), LLB, MSc, RCIC, is an immigration counsel and an accredited Canadian education agent of JAMAICA2CANADA.COM—a Canadian immigration and education firm in Kingston. Send questions/comments to documents.jamaica2canada@gmail.com