e-3019 (Citizenship and immigration)

The pandemic has significantly impacted Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada’s processing capacity and the processing times for many permanent residence applicants have lengthened.

Quebec is the only province that has the authority to set its own immigration target levels, within the parameters of the Canada-Quebec Accord (i.e., in categories for which it has selection authority). When establishing the total number of immigrants to the country as a whole, the federal government takes Quebec’s advice into consideration on the number of immigrants that it wishes to receive in all categories (including in categories under federal authority). Quebec’s immigration plan is established annually and incorporated in the federal immigration levels plan.

The processing of permanent residence applications is dependent on admissions space. IRCC finalizes the number of applications for permanent residence based on the parameters set by Quebec in its immigration plan. In situations where there are more Certificats de Sélection du Québec (CSQ) issued than available spaces, inventories develop and processing times grow. IRCC will continue to finalize Quebec-destined permanent resident applications as expeditiously as possible, within the parameters imposed by Quebec immigration levels.

The Department is committed to advancing Quebec Skilled Worker (QSW) files through the intake process in order to issue acknowledgement of receipt (AOR) letters. Modified AOR letters are sent to clients that have not yet reached this stage to ensure that clients have at least a file number as an indication from IRCC that their file has been received. Using the first in - first out principal, as one file is completed and AOR is sent, a different file will be received into the inventory with a modified AOR sent. This allows IRCC to maintain a balanced inventory of files, ensuring the proper number of files are moving in and out of each stage. IRCC has made significant changes to the intake process to reduce the number of rejections based on incompleteness for these files. As opposed to rejecting incomplete applications, applicants are now contacted to complete their files. The applications will then be put back in the processing system, without effect to the CSQ expiry date. However, current IRCC operational priorities and capacity limits due to COVID are further impacting the ability to advance these files in the short term, as we concentrate on in-Canada applicants and inventories that can be finalized towards the federal and Quebec provincial admissions target.  The Department is in constant discussion with the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration and internal stakeholders to identify solutions for those waiting at the pre-intake stage of the process, especially for QSW, which can be implemented in the near future. 

The option of a bridging open work permit (BOWP) is provided to certain federal economic class applicants currently in Canada to bridge the gap between the expiry of their current work permit and the final decision on their application for permanent residence. Under the bridging provisions, skilled worker permanent residence applicants who are in Quebec and have a Quebec Selection Certificate are eligible for an employer-specific work permit without having to obtain a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) from Employment and Social Development Canada. However, as these work permits are employer-specific, the applicant needs to obtain an offer of employment to be eligible to apply and does not benefit from the flexibility that an open work permit provides.