CIMM – Temporary Public Policy to Facilitate the Processing of Temporary Resident Visa Applications in the Inventory – December 05, 2023

Key Facts And Figures

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) recognizes that many people around the world have experienced delays with obtaining a temporary resident visa (TRV) to come to Canada due to an unprecedented volume of applications in our processing inventory, which is an important issue we’re committed to resolve.
• IRCC has been working to reduce this inventory while continuing to process new applications, and is pursuing a number of innovative policy and operational solutions to address the inventory in an effort to ensure Canada remains a destination of choice for tourists, business visitors and those wishing to visit family.
• One initiative that IRCC has put in place to reduce the inventory is the creation of two new temporary public policies (TPP) to expedite and streamline the processing of the majority of visitor visa and parent and grandparent super visa applications in our inventory from before January 16, 2023.
• The Canada Border Services Agency (CSBA) has seen an increase of asylum claims at Ports of Entry in Canada – most significantly at the Montréal Pierre Elliot Trudeau and Toronto Lester B. Pearson airports.

Key Messages

• IRCC is committed to reducing processing times and tackling the accumulated inventory in our system.
• IRCC has been working to put forward innovative policy and operational solutions to streamline processing in order to guarantee that Canada remains a destination of choice for tourists, business visitors, and people hoping to visit their families.
• The objective of these initiatives is to simplify visa processing to ensure reliable and efficient service delivery, all while maintaining the safety and security of all Canadians.
• One inventory reduction initiative that IRCC put in place was the creation of two new special measures, also known as temporary public policies, to streamline processing of the majority of visitor visas and super visas for parents and grandparents in our inventory prior to January 16, 2023.
• These are temporary public policies, valid until December 31, 2023, but may be revoked at any time.
• All admissible applications were and continue to be screened against health and safety requirements. There are measures in place along the travel continuum to Canada, including examination at ports of entry, to further mitigate against admissibility risks. Airlines also have the ability to deny boarding to individuals, and can refer passengers to CBSA or to the nearest IRCC office at a Canadian mission abroad for assistance in determining whether a passenger has been properly documented for travel to Canada.
• A visa can be cancelled if a holder becomes inadmissible to Canada.
• Important progress was made in terms of reuniting families faster emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, and supporting economy recovery through business travel and tourism.
• IRCC is aware of the increase in asylum seekers initiating claims both at airports and inland who benefited and were processed under these special measures.
• IRCC is continuing to monitor the impact and outcomes of these special measures.

Supplementary Information

• IRCC is continuing to track outcomes from the temporary public policies.
• In the current reality of increasing global migration, Canada, like many other countries, is experiencing a rise in the number of people claiming asylum.
• The number of arrivals between ports of entry (i.e., irregular arrivals) has significantly declined since we expanded the application of the Safe Third Country Agreement in March 2023.
• However, claims made in other modes, particularly those making a claim upon entry at Air Ports of Entry, which began rising in 2022 when travel restrictions were lifted, have risen since the Spring of 2023.There is an increase of asylum claimants at ports of entry and at inland offices.
• Asylum volumes are difficult to predict and driven by a number of factors, including persecution, instability and war.

If Pressed

Q1. Why did IRCC decide to pursue these particular measures to reduce the inventory? Weren’t there other suitable measures available?

• IRCC is constantly looking for new ways to improve our services and meet our social and economic objectives as a country, so that Canada remains competitive as a destination for talent and economic growth.
• When making decisions on policies or measures to implement, IRCC carefully assesses the benefits and risks of all available options as well as the risk of inaction. Maintaining public trust by providing efficient and dependable service while protecting the integrity of our immigration system and the safety and security of Canadians is at the core of our decision making.
• The accumulated temporary resident visa (TRV) inventory was hindering IRCC’s ability to process visas in a timely manner, which is impacting Canada’s attractiveness to business travellers and visitors, and has kept families and loved ones separated. Streamlining the processing of older TRV applications is helping IRCC free up resources and allowing us to return to competitive processing times, meaning applicants will receive decisions on their visitor visa applications faster.
• In addition to these efforts, IRCC has been exploring a variety of other complimentary initiatives to reduce the temporary resident visa (TRV) inventory and improve processing times. Hundreds of thousands of TRV applications in IRCC’s inventory from both before and after January 16, 2023, have been processed through other rapid decision-making initiatives, such as the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), and underwent streamlined processing with assistance of advanced analytics.

Q2. What was the reason behind the accumulated temporary resident visa inventory?

• Many applicants have been experiencing delays with obtaining a temporary resident visa (TRV) to come to Canada due to an unprecedented volume of applications in our processing inventory. IRCC is primarily experiencing this issue because:
  
  • the Department could not process/ finalize TRV applications during COVID-19 as the borders were closed and except in extraordinary reasons, visitors were not allowed in the country. Consequently, while the intake of TRV applications continued throughout the pandemic, we were unable to finalize applications for an 18-month period due to international travel restrictions and border closures and inventory built up;
  • resources were diverted to other priority lines of business, such as responses to humanitarian crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine; and
  • we experienced a surge of new applications after the pandemic travel restrictions eased, and people around the world continue to apply to visit, study and work in Canada in record numbers.
• While many of these initial disruptions have been resolved, IRCC continues to face the long-term impacts of these events on our processing inventories.

Q3.It has been reported that the implementation of these temporary public policies has resulted in an increase of asylum claims at Canada’s airports. Can you confirm these reports? If so, what is IRCC doing to manage the situation?

• The world is facing the worst global refugee crisis in recent history, and Canada is not immune from the effects of this. Canada, like many other countries, has experienced an influx in asylum claims, as the number of displaced persons worldwide continues to grow.
• IRCC is aware of the increase of asylum claims at certain Canadian airports and is aware that a portion of these claims were made by travellers who were issued a TRV under the temporary public policies. IRCC will continue to monitor any trends as a result of this policy and will consider any additional measures that may be required. All applications processed under the temporary public policies were screened against health and safety requirements. Existing immigration measures in place along the travel continuum to Canada, including examination at ports of entry, further mitigate against other admissibility risks.
• Because these measures expire on December 31, 2023, and are only for a pre-determined number of applications that have already been submitted, the Department recognized that there may be a temporary, short-term increase of asylum claims resulting from the TPPs. IRCC weighed this risk against the priority of improving processing times for TRV applicants, and the long-term, invaluable benefits this will provide to our economy, travel and tourism, and Canadian families.

Q4. Some claim that these policies undermine the integrity of Canada’s immigration system. Does IRCC find this rise in asylum claims acceptable? What are you doing to ensure that immigration standards and security are upheld?

• To eliminate this inventory and get back to acceptable TRV processing times, decisive action was necessary to ensure that Canada remains a globally competitive destination for business and tourism and families. While IRCC understands that this decision may result in a temporary increase in overstays or asylum claims, we believe that eliminating this long-standing inventory and returning to acceptable processing times outweighs the short-term risk.
• Although these measures will facilitate the issuance of visas in the inventory, other steps will still be required before visas are issued. No changes have been made to the security screening process. Existing immigration measures in place along the travel continuum to Canada, including examination at ports of entry, further mitigate against other admissibility risks.
• These measures are time limited (valid until December 31, 2023), may be revoked at any time, and they only apply to applications submitted before January 16, 2023. All eligible applications will continue to be assessed and screened based on security and health requirements. IRCC mitigated a sizeable risk by excluding higher-risk applications from these fast-tracking measures, such as those of people who have had their last temporary or permanent resident application refused within the past four years. These applications will continue to be assessed by standard visa requirements.

Q5. Why is there a sudden increase in asylum claims? Is it just related to government decisions?

• In 2022, nearly 2.9M individual asylum applications were registered in 162 countries. This is the highest number of individual applications ever recorded and represents a 68% increase from 2021 and nearly 30% more than 2019 prior to the pandemic.
• Despite our geography, Canada is not immune to the rising asylum volumes worldwide. Our current increases are in line with the high global volumes of displaced persons at over 108M which includes 5.4M asylum seekers. Canada and the US experienced a threefold increase since the re-opening of borders in 2021.
• According to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, DC, we are seeing the highest levels of migration around the world since World War II, and people are moving at a faster rate. While government immigration policies may impact domestic outcomes, they don’t change the reasons that people decide to leave their own countries, which include displacement from instability or war, persecution, repressive laws, economic strife, and climate change.
• There are a number of pull factors for asylum claimants to Canada. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) placemat for Canada, prior to the pandemic, cited pull factors which include having family or community ties and perceived better support and chances for a successful claim in Canada. These factors have only increased after the pandemic. Another factor is the relative safety of Western countries, which many migrants are willing to endure dangerous journeys to reach.
• With the exception of the period when Canadian borders were closed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, asylum claim volumes have been persistently increasing since 2016. Canada received over 92,000 claims in 2022, and over 113,000 claims from January to October 2023.

Q6: Why can asylum volumes not be capped?

• Due to Canada’s international obligations and legal framework, asylum intake cannot be capped and unexpected volumes are a part of the asylum system. Canada’s international obligations to provide protection to individuals who make a refugee claim after they arrive in Canada are based on its adherence to the UN Convention on Refugees and the Convention Against Torture.(Note: This is distinct from persons resettled as refugees from abroad who come to Canada with permanent resident visas where caps can be put in place under IRPA.)

Annex A:

Source: UNHCR Global Trends Report 2020 (https://www.unhcr.org/global-trends-report-2022)