IRCC reduced FSWP processing last year in order to convert as many international students, temporary foreign workers, and other temporary residents as possible to permanent residents in order to meet its 2021 levels plan objective. The reason being is it would be far more difficult to achieve the immigration goals if it attempted to accept significant numbers of FSWP and other immigrants overseas while dealing with the pandemic’s operational issues.
However, IRCC appears to be changing its tune, since more FSWP applications have been processed in recent months. Between the middle of December and the end of February, it processed nearly 9,000 persons under the FSWP, far more than the average of 600 people it had been processing under the FSWP for the previous six months.
This is one piece of evidence that the IRCC is starting to normalize its operations, which requires establishing a balance between processing immigration petitions from within Canada and those from outside the country.
Another reason to pay attention to the January 2022 immigrant admissions report is that it is projected to be the lowest point in Canada’s monthly landings this year. Prior to the pandemic, because of the colder weather and the winter vacation season, Canada’s immigration landings were typically lower in the first and fourth quarters of each year.
Landings would increase by nearly 40% during the warmer spring and summer months of Q2 and Q4. With IRCC processing more applications abroad, we may expect higher immigration landings in Q2 and Q3 of this year; however, the extent of the increase is uncertain.
Unlike last year, when significant COVID-19 operational challenges such as Canada’s travel restrictions and worldwide issues hampered Canada’s ability to reach its immigration objectives in 2022, there is less doubt now. The IRCC has shown that it is capable of processing even more green card applications than it was before the pandemic. IRCC is likewise investing heavily in modernizing its application technology.
