Immigration

We live in a time of rising global uncertainty. It is more important than ever that the Canadian immigration system can respond to arising global crises in an expedient and flexible manner. Alarmingly, this is not the case.

Even before major global refugee crises such as the Afghanistan, and Ukrainian crises, IRCC has been struggling with massive backlogs in all the immigration streams. Delayed immigration application is the most common request for assistance at my office, with some applications delayed for years! Behind the delayed applications are separated families, missed opportunities, and in some cases, immigration is a life-and-death situation for people who need to leave dangerous situations.

To start, IRCC should stop the practice of returning applications when there are minor mistakes and missing information and documents that can be easily provided by applicants. IRCC must also end oppressive immigration policies such as the inhumane cap on parent/grandparents’ sponsorship applications, closed work permits for migrant workers, and the unfair treatment of caregivers and domestic workers.

Lack of resources for IRCC is the major root cause of delayed applications. I will continue to advocate for adequate resources for IRCC to process applications in consistently reasonable timeframes and for immigration policies that are more just.

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Jenny Kwan, the Vancouver East MP, who also acts as the NDP Immigration Critic, said the government is actually scaling back the Federal Skilled Workers Program by almost 50 per cent by shifting resources and immigration levels from one stream to another.

“The immigration levels released today shows that the government is perpetuating the problems they created when they failed to adjust the levels to accommodate the new (temporary to permanent resident pathway) immigration measure,” she said.

IN THE NEWS: Hill Times - Public policies in place for Afghan refugees are being kept private

NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.), her party’s immigration critic, said she’s never seen an instance of the government not sharing information in terms of a policy that impacts the public. She understands that specific details about which groups the government might be working with or what their strategy is on the ground in Afghanistan needs to be kept private for security purposes.

“But if there is flexibility with the current situation then we need to know what is that flexibility and how would it apply? Because at this stage, we don’t know. We’re all shooting in the dark,” she said.

MEDIA STATEMENT - Jenny’s response to minister announcement on immigration procesing delays

Additionally, I am concerned that the Minister seems to be satisfied with the processing of family reunification applications. The backlog for outbound family reunification applications are significantly delayed, including the reunification of children of asylum seekers. For these refugee families, the current wait times in processing now reach upwards of two to three years for dependents of refugee, far from any processing service standards.

IN THE NEWS: CTV - Immigration procesing times to return to standard in 2022: minister

Jenny Kwan, NDP immigration critic, said while she is glad to hear the government is finally taking action to address the immigration backlog, these problems have existed for a very long time.

In an interview, she noted that Fraser excluded the need to address family reunification with respect to the backlogs.

The minister needs to create service standards for all industries and not only some, she said, adding that applicants in the caregiver stream do not receive timelines for processing their application.

IN THE NEWS: Hill Times - Confusion and chaos define Canada’s effort to resettle Afghan refugees

NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.), her party’s immigration critic, told The HillTimes that, despite having an awareness of what was to come in Afghanistan, the Canadian government did not adequately prepare.

“The situation has been chaotic right from the get-go,” she said.

IN THE NEWS: Toronto Star - Applicants to Canada’s skilled-worker immigration program will soon face 36-month wait times, documents reveal

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the skilled worker program is an important immigration stream for Canada and the current pause “will not only put people’s lives in limbo, but result in missed opportunities for Canada, risking that applicants may choose to emigrate to another country that recognizes their talent and experience.”

“Failing to address the backlogs will ultimately create more work for immigration as documents expire and the circumstances of applicants change. It will also fuel additional inquiries by applicants because they are concerned about a lack of progress in their applications. All of this serves only to further tie up the department’s resources.”

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NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.) , her party’s housing critic, said that in terms of immigration, “the people who may be coming, would be a range of different people.”
“Some of them are already here who are working hard already to support the Canadian economy in a variety of ways, some of them are renters, some of them are trying to get into the market, and some of them may have the capacity to own,” said Kwan.

“What we absolutely need to do is to ensure that we provide housing in the full spectrum, and if we don’t, all that is going to do is put upward pressure on the demand for affordable housing,” said the MP in an interview with The Hill Times last week.

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Frustrated at the delays, many applicants have taken to social media to voice their frustrations. One of the groups is the Canada Spousal Sponsorship Support Group, which has over 20,000 members.

NDP Immigration Critic Jenny Kwan has called upon the IRCC to prioritize family reunification and create a special temporary resident visa as part of the family reunification process.

IN THE NEWS: Globe & Mail - Critics still worried about immigration backlog after feds pledge $85M

The NDP had called for more resources to be dedicated to the backlog, but the government did not move quickly enough to put those funds in place, she said.

“We were already seeing the backlog delays last year, and as it stands right now the severity of the backlog would take at least three years to catch up to pre-pandemic levels,” Kwan said in an interview.

All immigration streams have been impacted by the delays at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Kwan said, and she’s concerned the money will only be used to process new applications.

IN THE NEWS: Toronto Star - Government’s massive visa backlog leaving lives in limbo

The current processing times for work permit visas at the High Commission of Canada to India is listed at 35 weeks for individuals and a year for spousal visas.
But that does not reflect reality, said Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan, the NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. She estimates that it will take at least three years to make up for the lost processing times as a result of the pandemic in 2020.

“I am hearing daily from applicants desperately trying to learn why approval for their application is still pending when it is well passed the standard processing, while in other cases people who have applied long after them are much further in the process,” Kwan said in a letter addressed to new Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Minister Sean Fraser.

“There is also a greater need for transparency in all aspects of immigration. Applicants are struggling to get information on their application as lack of resources at IRCC has resulted in IRCC greatly reducing access to inquiry services,” Kwan states. She also asks for detailed information on the current state of backlogs and anticipated timelines for getting back to regular processing times.