September 1, 2022—New Waterford, Nova Scotia—Canada continues to be a destination of choice for people looking for a new place to work, study, and build their lives. That’s why Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is striving toward a modernized and digitalized immigration system to further expedite processing and give newcomers the experience they expect and deserve.
Today, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, visited an IRCC application processing centre in New Waterford, Nova Scotia, to announce new online services across our immigration system, helping to improve client experience and reduce the backlogs.
Reducing wait times
To help further reduce wait times, and building on the hiring of 1,250 new employees to tackle the backlogs and increase processing capacity, the Minister will exempt permanent and temporary residence applicants who are already in Canada and meet certain criteria from the immigration medical examination requirement. Simplifying this process in the coming weeks will impact approximately 180,000 clients by helping them save time and money on the medical examination process and reducing wait times on their applications.
To quickly process family reunification applications during the pandemic, IRCC began conducting telephone and video interviews with sponsors and applicants. Despite public health challenges, by pivoting quickly, the department was able to welcome more than 69,000 spouses, partners and children in 2021. By modernizing our services and adding support where needed, we have now returned to the pre-pandemic service standard of 12 months for all new spousal sponsorship applications.
Now, as restrictions are eased globally, IRCC has resumed in-person interviews at Canadian and international offices. To provide spousal sponsorship clients with increased flexibility, the department will continue to offer virtual interviews to clients where possible. We are also working at expanding the availability of virtual interviews at our overseas offices, including through a pilot project allowing spousal sponsorship and other clients to take part in virtual interviews at some visa application centres rather than having to travel to a visa office.
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Disclaimer: The information from the newsletter is directly derived from IRCC. The material and information contained on this website is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice. Although best efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information at the time of writing, we cannot guarantee the completeness or accuracy of all information. As information may change without notice, always refer to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s website for the most accurate and up-to-date information.
