FYI
CANADIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS
More Ministerial Instructions on Canadian Immigration and Visas Expected
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
According to a new evaluation, it's continually necessary for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to manage the intake and processing of Canadian immigration applications in a timely and efficient manner, and ministerial instructions (MI) are an appropriate tool to use.
"The evaluation confirms that it was right and necessary to take measures to manage the sheer volume of applications we receive," stated Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.
When changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act were introduced in 2008 through Bill C-50 (the Budget Implementation Act) to tackle the backlog of Canadian federal skilled worker (FSW) applications, more than 640,000 people were waiting to be processed in the FSW category.
With an aim to increase labour market responsiveness and overall efficiency, the Minister was authorized under Bill C-50 to issue special instructions to Canadian immigration officers to cap the number of applications processed, accelerate some applications or groups of applications, and return some applications without processing them to a final decision.
The evaluation emphasizes that MIs have helped to reduce the overall FSW backlog. Currently, the total number of people looking forward to a decision in the FSW program is under 470,000. In addition, processing times for newest FSW applicants have been shortened considerably from five years in 2008 to 6-12 months.
"Our government's priority is jobs and economic growth. We are committed to the creation of a fast, nimble and flexible immigration system that can help our economy grow," indicated Minister Kenney.