FYI
I saw this post on a Facebook group:
Study Permit Processing Update
We are pleased to provide an update on our engagement with the department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on the issue of study permit processing
Long delays in the processing of study permits and the impact on the Fall semester were topics of conversation during recent meetings with the senior departmental officials at IRCC. To ensure best possible outcomes for students and institutions, CICan has been recommending that study permit applications be processed based on the program start date rather than on a first come first serve basis.
During our discussions, IRCC provided the following updates, which reflect the status of application as of July 11th:
The current inventory of study permits stands at roughly 180,000 applications with around 47% originating from India.
Of the 180,000 study permit applications in the inventory, around 6% indicate a program start date after September 1st.
This calendar year IRCC has hired 250 additional processing officers with plans to hire more – overtime is being offered to help work through the inventory.
In the first six months of 2022 IRCC processed 292,000 study permits, compared to 248,000 in the same period in 2021 – an increase of about 18%.
IRCC continues to see a significant volume of new applications (around 87,000 in June, most of which are for programs that start in the fall).
IRCC processed close to 70,000 study permit applications in June, a new monthly record, and expects to process as many in July.
Processing times are beginning to decrease, but currently remain at around 12 weeks.
Similar to the processing guarantee issued last summer, IRCC is confident that all study permit applications submitted by the end of May (i.e. within posted processing times of 12 weeks) will be processed in time for students to arrive in Canada and start their studies in the fall.
For the fall intake, IRCC is now prioritizing for processing study permit applications based on the indicated start date of the program.
We will continue to engage with senior departmental officials to check on progress and provide updates to both our International Advisory Committee (IAC) and the broader membership.