‘More than enough’ staff to process economic immigration applications on time: PBO – National | 24CA News
The federal authorities has “more than enough” workers to course of purposes for financial immigrants on time, the parliamentary funds officer says in a brand new report.
Yves Giroux says his workplace analyzed the price of processing purposes for financial immigrants by way of the specific entry system for 5 fiscal years.
For the 2022-23 fiscal yr, the report stated Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has 65 per cent extra workers than wanted to course of purposes on time.
“That excess number of employees will go down gradually over time, but should still be more than sufficient to meet the service standards that the department has set for itself,” Giroux stated in an interview on Tuesday.
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By 2026-27, the division could have 4 per cent extra workers than it must course of a lot of these purposes.
The federal authorities’s aim is to course of 80 per cent of these purposes inside six months.
Last yr, Canada was grappling with important immigration backlogs that fashioned throughout the pandemic. The federal authorities introduced a hiring blitz to handle the backlogs because it confronted mounting political stress over delays.
“We wanted to have a look in the context of these backlogs as to whether or not the issue was one of resourcing from an HR perspective,” Giroux stated.
The PBO additionally requested the division to share details about sources that may have been wanted to fulfill processing objectives in earlier years.
But Giroux stated the division refused, saying the data is protected by cupboard confidences.
The authorities can redact info that was put in entrance of the cupboard, permitting ministers a stage of confidentiality over coverage selections.
Giroux referred to as the division’s refusal “frustrating.”
“(Just) because you put something in a memorandum to cabinet doesn’t necessarily make it a secret, if it is otherwise available in public,” he stated.
Canada plans to considerably ramp up immigration within the coming years, a call the federal authorities says is critical to handle altering demographics and labour shortages.
In November, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser introduced a brand new plan that can see Canada purpose to welcome 500,000 immigrants per yr by 2025.
Giroux stated if backlogs persist, the onus can be on the federal authorities to elucidate why.
If the division is as environment friendly accurately, Giroux stated, it might divert workers from processing purposes within the financial stream to the household reunification or refugee streams.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
