Welcome to the Guberman // Appleby Immigration Update. We hope you find the information provided relevant to your immigration needs. Our objective is to highlight recent updates in immigration that are of interest to our readers. If you have questions about how these changes impact you, we invite you to contact our Canadian immigration lawyers for tailored guidance.
Today’s topic:
- IRCC Immigration Backlog
In October IRCC revised its processing times for various immigration programs leading to exceptionally long wait times for applicants, further exacerbating an already imposing backlog.
Processing time for many permanent residence programs have been extended to lengths that are extreme and illogical. For example, the Start-up-visa program which is one of the only pathways for entrepreneurs to come to Canada to start up a business currently has a wait time of 420 months (or 35 years). New applicants will need to wait until over 41,000 other applicants have their cases processed before their applications will be reviewed.
Another concerning example is the Self-Employed Persons category. This program allows self-employed individuals with experience in world class cultural activities or athletics to apply for permanent residence. Even though the program was paused throughout 2024-2026 to allow the government time to work through the backlog of applications, the government has now slowed their processing of these existing applications to a crawl. Applicants who applied as far back as 2022 (and have already waited for nearly 4 years) are now advised that they will face wait times of longer than 10 years for a decision. This is a patently ridiculous processing time that is fundamentally inconsistent with the goals of these programs. These processing times are also inconsistent with the reality that people cannot put their lives on hold for over a decade while governments wait to assess documents that will be stale dated by the time they are reviewed.
Yet perhaps the most disappointing processing time can be found under the Humanitarian and Compassionate Stream. This stream functions as a catch all for individuals facing significant hardship such as a risk of being separated from their children. While this program has long had lengthy processing times and strict evaluation criteria, the recently posted processing times have reached ridiculous lengths. Specifically, the Immigration Minister’s May 2025 Transition Binder states that applicants will face wait times from 12 to 600 months – equivalent to 50 years! It is hard not to ask who this program serves, if applicants are more likely to pass away from old age, then receive a decision on their applications.
Many have speculated that these incredibly long processing times may be related to the government’s Bill C-12 or the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act. The act provides the federal government with the power to unilaterally cancel, suspend, and return applications. This provides the government a simple solution to these excessive wait times, simply suspend or return the majority of applications and hope that a significant percentage of applicants give up and don’t reapply.
Of course, this government strategy would be incredibly unethical. It would not consider the massive amount of effort, time, and money that applicants put into these applications, nor would it consider that many people have been planning their lives around these in-progress applications for years already. Furthermore, it is fundamentally unfair for people who have only followed the rules set by the government to suddenly be refused on mass because the government has not been able to set a consistent immigration strategy and has instead opted to act reactively based on public sentiment. Many of these returned applications will also no doubt result in a substantial amount of litigation against the government which will only further drain applicants and the public’s funds and resources.
While wait times for permanent pathways have become irrational, processing times for temporary residence, including studying, working, and visiting, have also become far too long resulting in significant consequences for applicants, employers and the system’s integrity. Specifically, applicants within Canada who wish to extend their study permits now face wait times of 160 days and applicants applying for a new work permit or an extension to a work permit in Canada are facing processing times of over 220 days. This has led to workers needing to exercise considerable caution and prepare their applications for extensions far in advance.
Further the considerable delay in work permit applications has led to a problematic new strategy among those in Canada who face expiring work permits with no clear path for an extension. These individuals simply file applications that have little to no merit right before their work permit expires, yet because of the extensive processing times IRCC has created, these individuals can get an additional 6-8 months of status. This is because applicants whose status is expiring benefit from something called maintained status that allows them to keep their current status so long as they apply for an extension of their current work or study permit before it expires. The result of having an uncountable number of meritless applications in the system is that processing times will only be further exacerbated and IRCC will be forced to waste their already meager resources on applications that have no chance of success.
Guberman//Appleby Immigration Lawyers will continue to advocate for our clients in the face of these challenging policy decisions and continue to push for an immigration system that is fair, consistent, and efficient for all applicants.
To learn how recent policy changes are affecting eligibility for economic immigration pathways, check out our blog update on IRCC’s removal of job offer points from Express Entry, which outlines how the playing field is shifting in favour of human capital over employment ties.
// CONTACT US
We welcome you to contact us directly to discuss the above. Please contact one of our Toronto immigration lawyers, by reaching out to our general line 416 548 7100 or via email info@gaimmlaw.com. Our immigration lawyers are always available to discuss any of your specific Canadian or US immigration queries either virtually or in person. We look forward to hearing from you.
