Fraser announces new measures to modernise Canada’s immigration system.
For Canadian newcomers, exemptions from medical exams, online immigration applications, and more application status trackers are on the horizon.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser launched new online services across Canada’s immigration system on September 1, with the goal of improving client experience and reducing backlogs.
The pandemic highlighted the importance of modernizing the immigration system. Fraser provided the most recent updates on how digitization is affecting operations at Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada from the IRCC processing center in New Waterford, Nova Scotia (IRCC).
Here are the latest news for newcomers and future citizens.
Certain Canadian applicants are exempt from medical examinations.
Fraser is exempting permanent and temporary residence applicants who are already in Canada from the immigration medical exam requirement in an effort to reduce wait times. This metric only applies to people who meet certain requirements. The criteria were not specified in the media release, nor was it stated when the measure would go into effect. According to IRCC, it will affect approximately 180,000 newcomers.
Canada had previously waived the requirement for a medical exam between June 2021 and March 2022.
According to the release, the measure is intended to reduce wait times even further and to build on the hiring of 1,250 new employees to help increase processing capacity.
Immigration applications are becoming entirely digital. The 23rd of September
On September 23, IRCC will begin the transition to 100% digital applications for most permanent residence programmes. People who require accommodations will have access to alternative formats.
This past January, the immigration department committed to digitising immigration applications. IRCC previously told CIC News in an email it expected the online application portal to be fully implemented in the spring or summer of 2022.
More applications will have application status trackers
Seven more permanent and temporary residence programmes will have application status trackers, similar to the one launched in February for spousal, partner, and dependent child sponsorship applicants, by spring 2023. The citizenship application status tracker, which was launched for clients in May 2021, will be expanded this month to include access to representatives.
IRCC is also working to improve its online processing times tool to provide more accurate data. Beginning in the fall, IRCC will publish forecasts of how long it will take to process an application.
Canadian citizenship is being modernized
The IRCC will launch a tool in August 2021 that will allow certain citizenship applications to be submitted online. The tool is open for groups of adults 18 and up to apply together. By the end of the year, IRCC plans to expand this tool to include online applications for minors under the age of 18.
This year, Canada has admitted more than 217,000 new citizens, exceeding its citizenship goals for 2021-2022. From April 1 to July 31, this fiscal year, Canada has welcomed more than 116,000 new citizens, compared to 35,000 in the same period in 2021.
In 2022, there have been over 300,000 new permanent residents.
IRCC set a new record in 2021 by admitting more than 405,000 new permanent residents to Canada. Our goal for 2022 is to welcome 431,000 permanent residents, and we are well on our way. We had welcomed over 300,000 permanent residents as of August 22, surpassing the milestone earlier than in any previous year.