Navigating the visa application process has become increasingly difficult for Canadian educators, foreign students, and partners alike.
Canadian immigration officials are increasing staff and working to reduce processing times. However, the significant backlog has caused some students to delay their program start dates this year.
In a related matter, the Canadian government has extended its COVID-era policy that permits students to complete up to 100 percent of their studies online and still obtain a Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP).
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, this policy will remain unchanged until August 31, 2023.
Consequently, students studying online or who have submitted a study permit application before that date will still be eligible for a PGWP.
#IRCC, #PGWP, #study_permit, #immigration_backlog, #COVID_19
https://monitor.icef.com/2022/09/continuing-visa-delays-putting-canadas-competitiveness-at-risk/
September 9, 2022
A recent Canadian government audit of its pilot immigration programs found that the lack of a clear, defined set of guiding principles hindered officials' abilities to develop, manage and evaluate the programs' progress.
The authors also noted that this lack of guidance for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials also limited their ability to create a formal risk management process.
IRCC utilized the evaluation function to constantly assess and report on the early performance results of pilot programs.
This allowed for quick decision-making about changes to a program or to evaluate if it needed to be transitioned into a permanent one.
However, there were difficulties in analyzing economic development and retention since the data was not readily available until years after the experiments concluded.
#IRCC, #Audit, #RNIP, #Pilot_Programs
September 8, 2022
As of August 22, 2022, Canada welcomed more than 300,000 permanent residents, surpassing the record earlier than in any previous year.
Over 217,000 new Canadians were granted Canadian citizenship in 2021–2022, which is more than the country's targets.
\So far, this fiscal year (from April 1 to July 31), Canada has welcomed over 116,000 new citizens, compared to 35,000 during the same period last year.
On April 1, 2020, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) started offering virtual citizenship ceremonies and by July 31, 2022, close to 394,000 people had taken the Oath of Citizenship in nearly 15,000 events using a digital platform.
#IRCC, #PR, #citizenship, #statistics, #permanent_residency, #Oath_of_Citizenship
September 6, 2022
On August 29, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser updated Canadians and newcomers on the government's current status in addressing the backlog and improving the immigration system.
The Minister said that the Government of Canada plans to hire 1,250 new employees by the end of the fall and provide citizenship and some permanent residence applicants with application status trackers to have timely information on their files in the coming year, which will be expanded to more clients.
IRCC is also working on making Canada’s system more efficient and easier to use in the long term.
#IRCC, #Fraser, #immigration_backlog, #backlog, #immigration_services
https://theworldnews.net/jm-news/ircc-minister-sean-fraser-provides-update-on-immigration-backlogs
September 2, 2022
