IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2023: Client Service and Processing Times

Issue

• While production for the vast majority of lines of business has increased year-over-year, processing inventories for many lines of business have also grown.
• As the department recovers from the compounding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and responding to various international humanitarian crises (e.g., Afghanistan and Ukraine) on its application inventories, it has seen improvements in processing times over the last 12 months for several lines of business, and only a select few now exceed publicly available service standards.
• Extended processing times can negatively impact client service and the client experience overall, particularly if they are not globally competitive or they are longer than what clients should reasonably expect.
• Publishing processing times helps to manage client expectations, and reduce client enquiries. Clients use IRCC’s Processing Times Tool as a guide to understand how long they are likely to wait for a decision; it is one of the most visited pages in our website.
• Our departmental Client Experience Survey shows that client satisfaction increases when processing times are transparent, accurate, clear and easy to understand. However, when the content is not clear, it leads to confusion and increased client anxiety which can lead to additional client enquiries, ATIP requests, litigation, and individuals reapplying needlessly. This means that more departmental resources need to be diverted from processing files to managing requests for information and application status updates.

State of Play

• As of June 30, we have processed a total of 3.6 million applications in 2023. This is an increase of 67% compared to the 2.2 million processed during the same time period last year.
• Processing times are calculated by using the data of how long it took IRCC to process 80% of applications in the past 6 months for permanent residence programs, and 8 or 16 weeks for temporary residence programs.
• Processing times remain one of the top issues of concern for clients. Of respondents to the 2022 Client Experience Survey, 37% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement “[I] received a decision on [my] application in a reasonable amount of time,” and 59% of respondents indicated “processing times” as a top three area in need of improvement.
• Client concerns related to processing delays have generated significant media and social media attention. The Department’s Communications Branch has responded to over 6,500 tweets over the past six months related to processing times and delays, making it the most frequently asked topic, with over 20% of overall questions to IRCC. In 2022 alone, the online Processing Times Tool had 18.5 million visits with 8.8 million unique visitors.
• Processing times can be heavily impacted by several factors, including backlogs, if they account for a significant portion (>20%) of the finalized applications.
• At approximately 919,000 applications (including extensions), IRCC set a new record in study permit processing in 2022. IRCC continues to process study permit applications at record rates, with approximately 538,000 study permits processed (including extensions), between January and June 2023—up from about 378,000 during the same period in 2022.
• Work permit processing also continues to increase in terms of volume and overall output. We processed approximately 815,000 work permits (including extensions) between January and June 2023—a significant increase from the nearly 440,000 processed during the same period in 2022.
• Overall, about 68% of all temporary residence applications were within service standards at the end of June 2023, compared to 67% from the previous month.
• IRCC updates processing time information on a weekly basis, which is reflected in the online Processing Times Tool.

Key Messages

• IRCC has increased its production for the vast majority of lines of business. However, processing inventories for many lines of business have also grown.
• IRCC has made significant investments in processing and backlogs are being addressed and cleared, which will ultimately reduce overall processing times. IRCC’s most recent update, published in June, shows that 65% of applications in our inventories are within service standards, up from 60% in April. We continue to make progress towards our goal of reducing overall backlogs and processing 80% of new applications within service standards.
• Publishing transparent, up-to-date, and accurate processing times provides clients the information they need to plan for coming to Canada. IRCC will continue to provide updates on its efforts to reduce backlogs, as well as the measures taken to improve client experience, reunite families and address labour shortages in Canada.

Next Steps

• Ongoing: IRCC continues to take action to reduce the backlog of applications within the inventories, which will have a positive impact on processing times.
  • Permanent residence and citizenship applications are being processed at a historic rate. Canada has welcomed approximately 263,000 permanent residents, as of June 30, 2023. This positions IRCC well to meet its target to welcome 465,000 permanent residents this year.
  • The Department now processes most citizenship applications within service standards, allowing more people to take the final steps on their immigration journey (i.e., oath), more quickly.
  • The Department continues to expand access to the Application Status Tracker to more clients in order for them to self-serve a clear and understandable status update on their application.
• Medium Term: Iterative improvements to the processing times tool, including adding additional lines of business and implementing user-interface upgrades to provide information in a more meaningful and client-centric way, always tested with clients.
• Long Term: Leverage the Digital Platform Modernization (DPM) Programme to enable [Redacted] processing times within client’s online account.

Background

• The Policy on Service and Digital requires departments to make available real-time processing times information (performance information) on the Department’s website.
• As of this winter, the Application Status Tracker has been updated to allow clients to find information about their applications for the sponsorship of a spouse, partner or child, for Express Entry, study permits, work permits, visitor visas and for citizenship. IRCC will begin simplifying the way clients access their status information in their single window online account, starting with a subset of clients this fall and expanding throughout 2024 and will continue to promote these online service improvements to make sure clients are aware of their ability to self-serve.
• The department continues to allow temporary foreign nationals to stay and work in Canada. On April 6, 2023, Post Graduate Work Permit holders were invited to apply for the extension of their permits.
• A new federal pathway for the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot is expected to open in summer 2023, which will allow skilled refugees and other displaced individuals to be hired by Canadian employers.
• Starting January 30, 2023, a two-year measure broadened the eligibility to work in Canada to spouses and working-age children of temporary foreign workers (TFWs). Work continues to further expand this initiative and include other TFW cohorts.
• Work is in progress to expand the Citizenship Grant online application to minors who have a Canadian parent or a parent who is applying for citizenship at the same time.
• IRCC has started to roll out a new passport issuance platform, which leverages automation at Employment and Social Development Canada.