Ottawa is ready to use “aggressive measures” to Close the Immigration Backlog a political memo reveals

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) are willing to take “strong action” to decrease or eliminate its backlog of visitor visa applications by February, according to a draught document from December. More than 700,000 applications for temporary resident visas (TRVs) were in the system as of the beginning of December.

The email states that IRCC is investigating two strategies to lower the volume of applications for visiting visas. The first would involve the government processing roughly 195,000 applications in bulk. This may include a sizable proportion of visitors from nations where a visa is necessary to enter Canada.

For around 450,000 applicants, Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser would waive some eligibility standards under the second scenario. This determination would be applicable to all pending applications as more steps are taken to reduce the backlog for TRV.