By Randall Palmer

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OTTAWA (Reuters) – The federal goverment plans to eliminate a backlog of stale immigration applications by skilled workers, in a potentially controversial move designed to enable immigrants whose skills are in greater current demand to enter the country faster.
Some employers have complained backlogs have hobbled the immigration system and made it unable to respond nimbly to demand for foreign workers in higher growth sectors such as video-gaming and the oil patch.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Thursday Canada now plans to return almost all of the 300,000 foreign skilled worker applications that were filed before Feb. 27, 2008, along with their $130 million in fees. Some have been waiting for one decade or more.
Flaherty made the announcement in his annual budget, saying the reforms would make the system faster and more efficient.
"We will ensure it is designed above all to strengthen Canada's economy. As a result, we will be better able to fill gaps in our labour force," Flaherty told the House of Commons in hisbudget speech.
It is an irony national unemployment is running at more than seven per cent while certain industries face labour shortages, but such employers may be looking for people with certain skills not found among most of the unemployed.
But someone who applied in 2001 may not have the skills needed in 2012, and if she was 42 when she applied would now be 53 and have fewer working years.
Canada has traditionally welcomed high numbers of immigrants. The country lets in 250,000 people per year and because of its below-replacement birth rate it will eventually rely on immigrants for any growth in its labour force.
It has a total backlog of one million would-be immigrants, about 460,000 of whom are skilled workers. Also in the backlog are applications by family members of recent immigrants, as well as investors and entrepreneurs.
The government allows 75,000 skilled workers to immigrate each year. In 2008, Ottawa started fast-tracking new applications by skilled workers but it quickly had to put a cap on those in order to be able to work through those still in the queue.
As a result of the measures announced on Thursday, it will be able to raise the number of applications it fast-tracks, with a planned eventual turnaround time of six months.
It had already told those in the backlog that they were welcome to withdraw their applications and reapply under the new rules. But if their skills are now in less demand, their chances of acceptance will also be lower.
The budget also announced somewhat less-developed plans to revamp the rules under which investors can immigrate. Previously, they were required to invest large sums of money with Canadian governments. But the intention now is to require them to invest directly in the economy.

Canada (Photo credit: palindrome6996)

BREAKING NEWS

The Government of Canada announced on 29 March 2012 a plan to reduce the backlog of Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) applications by returning all applications and government fees submitted prior to 27 February 2008. This will amount to a total of almost 300,000 returned applications, as well as approximately $130 million in refunded government processing fees.

Approximately 160,000 FSW applications, submitted after 28 February 2008, will remain in queue for processing.

The Announcement

This statement has been issued as part of the larger Federal Budget for 2012, which was released on 29 March. The budget includes information for reducing national deficit and creating more fiscally efficient government infrastructure, an integral part of which is tied to immigration policy and processing times. As part of this plan, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), is expected to reduce its operating costs by $179 million over the next three years.

The budget mentions that “Canada risks losing the global talent competition for the world’s best and brightest as potential immigrants choose to take their skills to other countries with more responsive immigration systems rather than remain in the queue to have their applications process in Canada”.

With this in mind, the decision was reached to not only return the approximately 300,000 applications, but to focus on creating a system that would streamline processing and “reduce duplication and overlap” in the overall structure.

Government Rationale

The applications being returned are currently only from the FSW program. No additional plans have yet been announced to address backlogs in other immigration categories.

CIC hopes that reducing application numbers will allow it to streamline its programs in a way that will eliminate overhead costs currently incurred by dealing with the backlog. For instance, some visa offices devote significant amounts of time and money to processing pre-2008 applications. With these out of the way, visa officers will be free to devote time and energy to processing applications that have a higher likelihood of approval under current government standards.

The decision is also part of a larger effort by CIC to “transition to a faster and more flexible economic immigration system”. This new system will be aimed at more accurately addressing Canadian labour market needs as well as better serving those applicants still in line to be processed. Currently, Canada is facing severe labour shortages, specifically in Western provinces where skilled tradespeople are in great demand.

It is important to note that, despite widespread austerity measures being imposed on most government departments, CIC is one of only five that are being asked to reduce operating costs by less than six percent. In fact, proposed upgrades to the Canadian immigration system are likely to cost over $25 million in upcoming years.

Advice for Returned Applicants

The promise of new, streamlined immigration systems is no comfort for the thousands of individuals and their families who have now seen their hopes for Canadian immigration come to an end.

“This is such awful news for the people who have been waiting patiently in line,” says Attorney David Cohen, “Of course, they are free to submit a new application, but that will be of little solace at this time. I truly feel badly for them”.

Applicants who will see their files returned but are still keen to come to Canada are by no means excluded from re-submitting an application, either through the FSW program or one of the over 60 other available Canadian immigration programs. As the government more thoroughly outlines its plans for immigration in the future, prospective applicants should make sure to keep abreast of new developments that may be of benefit to themselves and their unique skill sets.