https://www.cicnews.com/2022/02/immigration-canadas-backlog-stands-at-1-8-million-people-but-there-are-signs-of-improvement-0221864.html#gs.p0yh4t
IRCC now processing an average of 800 FSWP applications per week, compared with previous average of 150 per week
IRCC is beginning to process
Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) applications at a higher rate.
In early December,
CIC News reported that IRCC was finalizing an average of 600 applications per month. This is notable because the FSWP has been Canada’s main skilled worker immigration program since 1967 and as of June 2021, Canada had lifted travel restrictions on all immigrants, giving IRCC an added incentive in theory to begin to process more FSWP applications.
The reason, however, IRCC was processing such a small number of FSWP applications per month last year was so it could focus on landing as many in-Canada applicants as possible in support of its goal to land
401,000 immigrants in 2021.
The newest data now shows that IRCC is beginning to prioritize more FSWP applications as the FSWP inventory has fallen by nearly 4,800 persons since December.
This means over the past six weeks, IRCC has been processing an average of 800 FSWP applications per week, compared with its average of just 150 per week throughout most of 2021.
What may also give FSWP applicants more hope is that IRCC processing tends to slow in December due to the winter holidays. This suggests IRCC should be in better position to continue processing a higher rate of FSWP applications throughout 2022.
The backlog of
Canadian Experience Class (CEC) applications is also down significantly which should not come as a surprise. It consisted of 48,225 persons in October and then fell to 24,675 persons in December. It now stands at about 15,100 persons which is a decline of over 9,500 persons since December.
This suggests that IRCC will erase the CEC inventory within the coming months. The low inventory of CEC applicants is a function of IRCC prioritizing their applications in 2021 to support its achievement of its
401,000 newcomer target. In addition, IRCC has temporarily paused Express Entry invitations to CEC candidates since September so it can reduce its inventory and improve its processing times for Express Entry applicants.
Minister Sean Fraser has repeatedly stressed the pause in Express Entry invitations to both CEC and FSWP candidates (which has existed since December 2020)
is temporary and that invitations to them will resume once IRCC is more comfortable with the size of its inventory.
It is worth noting the primary sources of inventory growth among economic class applicants since December have come through the
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Caregiver Program. The PNP inventory growth can be explained by both IRCC and the provinces and territories continuing to issue
invitations to PNP candidates throughout the pandemic to support the economic needs of Canada’s regions. Express Entry invitations to PNP candidates continue to happen on a
bi-weekly basis, usually on
Wednesday, while the provinces continue to hold PNP draws in regular intervals, ranging from each week, to several times a month, to once every few months, depending on the province.
The growth in the
Caregiver Program inventory can be explained by the reopening of two IRCC Caregiver pilot streams in January. The two streams accept up to 2,750 applications each and given their popularity, tend to fill up shortly after IRCC reopens the streams at the start of each year.
