Posted August 24, 2022 at 1:22 pm
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-ONE Larger font Increase the font size of the article A+ Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says his department is embarking on a hiring spree to bring in 1,250 new officers by the end of autumn to tackle huge backlogs of applications. As of the end of July, just over half of the 2.4 million pending immigration applications took longer to process than the government’s service standards set. In January, Fraser promised to eliminate immigration delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of the year, but that was before Canada launched a major response to the refugee crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 4:28 New Canadian Center opening the way for immigrant and refugee students this fall Fraser says the most recent delays have been caused by the government’s response to the humanitarian crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine and technology updates to the government’s aging systems, resulting in longer waits for people who want to come to Canada. Trending Stories
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Story continues below ad In June, the prime minister announced that ministers would form a task force to tackle growing backlogs for immigration applications and other government services and committed $85 million to overcome backlogs at the end of last year. Fraser says the new hires have so far allowed the government to roll back waits for new applicants to the express permanent residency program. © 2022 The Canadian Press
