Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - March 2008
The government is expected to table new legislation this week designed to reduce the massive backlog of immigration applications. The new policy is expected to reduce the number of applications accepted for processing each year.
However, the government claims that this will not equal a reduction in the amount of applications that are approved, and that an aggressive immigration policy remains one of their top priorities.
Diane Finley, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, has been quoted on this subject, stating that “Immigration will play an increasingly important role in our long-term growth and prosperity and we will continue to look for innovative ways to bring in talent from around the world.”
On average, over 250,000 immigrant applications are approved each year. The average processing time for an application is approximately four years. Some applications take over six years to process. With this new initiative, the government aims to bring the average down to approximately one year.
However, some critics are skeptical, including Maurizio Bevilacqua from the opposition party. Bevilacqua is the Liberal immigration critic and he says that changing Canada’s open policy on application processing (the government currently processes every application it receives) shows the Conservatives’ lack of comprehension with regards to the importance of immigration.
“The lack of resources devoted to this issue shows they [the Conservative government] are not serious about immigration,” said Bevilcqua in an interview with the press last week.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives assert that they have implemented several new policies that reflect their concern over the issue, including the increase in temporary visas being issued to students and workers, as well as the establishment of foreign credential recognition programs in China and India, which allow for foreign-trained professionals to enter their profession more easily once in Canada.
Source: The National Post
