amitshipra said:
Very True. Another battle will start post Royal Assent. C-24 took 9 days till Royal assent but 1 year for implementation (which CIC will decide). Assuming it goes in June (Royal assent - which is a long shot), you are still looking for more than a year before it actually kicks off. And with accumulated backlog its going to generate, God knows how much time will take after that....
I am not trying to be all depressed BUT setting expectations straight. Liberals had made C-6 passage the 'real' (which it shouldn't) fight but for people looking for quicker citizenship - Implementation would be real fight.
It is true that the actual implementation of the 3/5 rule will not occur for some time after the Bill receives Royal Assent. But there will be no battle or contest about when. That will be an entirely administrative decision based on when IRCC is prepared to implement the changes (including, for example, revising the presence calculator, preparing new application forms and instructions, revising internal practice instructions, and so on, along with some discretionary but nonetheless logistics oriented judgments about the best date to make the change). The Bill C-24 changes were far more complicated, including shifting the whole framework from a residency requirement to a physical presence requirement. Moreover, in important respects the Bill C-6 changes
simplify the requirements, which should make the transition relatively easier.
In any event, it may take a full year beyond the date of Royal Assent, but it is not likely to take that long let alone longer. And again, there will be no battle involved, just the Minister of IRCC letting the PM know when it is ready and then the PM together with some members of the cabinet deciding what date to advise the Governor in Council to order the changes to take effect.
As for apprehensions about a new backlog:
Sure, the date the changes take effect there will be more than a hundred thousand, perhaps a couple hundred thousand PRs who, as of that date, are suddenly eligible. So there is bound to be a big surge in applications made. And that, in turn, is likely to result in a longer processing time . . .
temporarily . . . but it is impossible to forecast the actual scope of this, and a lot depends on the extent to which IRCC is prepared for the increased number of applications.
In the meantime, within a year of the changes taking effect, the number of new applications being made will begin to dramatically decline toward long term norms. The long term impact on processing times should be minimal.