Immigration Backlogs in Canada

Canada and the Immigration Backlogs

Jason Kenney, the Immigration Minister explains, “About 1,000,000 people are in queue to Immigrate here.”

He says many have been waiting for several years to get a chance for a new life. Canada can only accept a given number of people, beyond which the backlog keeps growing.

Kenney compares the situation with a flight for which the tickets have been oversold due to which many passengers get stranded.

Kenney opines that “capping on the number of applicants is necessary to prevent soaring backlogs.”

Kenney blames the previous Liberal Government for removing caps on the number of applications and also for obligating all of them to process, irrespective of the number which can actually be accommodated.

Kenny says, “Irresponsible policy decision threw the whole system out of alignment.”

According to a report about two billion people in Mexico, India and China are waiting to come to Canada.

"Immigration levels have been raised by 14% from 222,500 under the Liberals to 254,000 under the Conservatives. People say that the number should be raised to 400,000 to keep pace with the current number of applications."

Kenney asks the critics to throw a solution about the on-going problem. He presents Canada as the most liberal country in terms of Immigration.

Legislation in Bill C-38 is there to ensure a growing backlog of applications.  

900 of these applicants had lodged a case to find justice for them. A Federal Court has directed the Conservative government to process the backlog applications in a timely way.

Jinny Sims, NDP Immigration critic accused Kenney of “hitting the delete button” on the old applications and not giving a chance to people following rules.

Sims blames the Immigration Minister of having “no plan”. He also fears that Canadians will have to pay the price due to his policies.

As a counter statement Kenney said, “Staring over is the only way to ensure Canada’s immigration System.”

Federal Court Justice Donald Rennie in his judgement said, “While the Minister has the power to determine the ineligible applicants, he has a responsibility to ensure proper handling of the eligible ones.”

Sims expresses her happiness over the decision as it requires the government to process the applications that are currently in the system.

Sims also appeals the Government to treat people “fairly” as Canada is known for its fairness to the immigrants.