October 19, 2022
2 mins read

Canada has a good news for Indians

This is a significant increase over the 2021-2022 fiscal year and even exceeds the pre-pandemic targets of 2019-2020, when 253,000 citizenship applications were processed…reports Asian Lite News

Canada aims to grant citizenship to 300,000 people in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, a move likely to benefit many Indians.

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) memo recommends that it process a total of 285,000 decisions and 300,000 new citizens by March 31, 2023.

A decision means a review of an application which is then approved, denied, or marked as incomplete.

The citizenship target means that 300,000 approved applicants must take the oath of citizenship, which would be either in person or virtually.

IRCC also said that minors under the age of 18 will be eligible to apply for citizenship online by the end of the year.

This is a significant increase over the 2021-2022 fiscal year and even exceeds the pre-pandemic targets of 2019-2020, when 253,000 citizenship applications were processed.

Indian students paying $4K for one-way fare to land in Canada

In March 2020, IRCC became unable to process most applications due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. This was because the department was only able to process paper applications that were mailed to a central location.

IRCC was unable to conduct interviews with candidates and there could not be any oath swearing at citizenship ceremonies.

So far in the 2022-2023 fiscal, Canada has welcomed 116,000 new citizens and is on track to achieve its target. By comparison, over the same period in 2021, the country had only sworn in 35,000 people.

Though there is no country-wise break-up of the numbers, Indians are the top immigrant group to take up residence in Canada in 2022.

According to the country’s 2016 reports, Canada has some 1.4 million people of Indian descent.

In 2021, nearly 100,000 Indians moved to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and some 130,000 got work permits under the International Mobility Program.

During 2021-2022, over 210,000 permanent residents also acquired Canadian citizenship.

As per figures released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), it also issued 450,000 study permit applications. There are over 622,000 foreign students in Canada, with Indians numbering 217,410 as of December 31, 2021.

Given the fact that Canada continues to have labour shortages one can expect high levels of Indians moving to Canada to work and study over the coming years.

With a rise in the number of online applications, in addition to the backlog of paper applications, IRCC is taking steps to clear the backlog and processing 80% of all new applications within service standards.

To do this, over 1,000 new staff have been hired and there are plans to expand access to the citizenship application status tracker to representatives.

Canada’s immigration backlog remains at 2.6 million people according to fresh IRCC data.

In June this year, Indians accounted for over a quarter of 2.4 million pending cases, at approximately 700,000.

ALSO READ: We feel safe here, says Indians in Canada

Previous Story

Modi calls for global strategy to defeat terror at Interpol meet

Next Story

British Indian bags Gordon Burn Prize

Latest from -Top News

WHO adopts Global Pandemic Agreement

The agreement seeks to boost international coordination and ensure equitable access to life-saving tools during future pandemics, while reaffirming respect for national sovereignty in public health decisions In a move aimed at

UK-East Africa trade forum to kickstart investment

UK hosts first-ever forum dedicated to trade and investment with East Africa, including announcements on cross-border trade and electric motorbikes The UK has announced two investments in East Africa to de-risk cross-border

First detection of West Nile virus in UK

West Nile Virus is a vector borne disease belonging to the Flaviviridae family, which also includes the viruses that cause dengue and yellow fever A research programme by the UK Health Security
Go toTop

Don't Miss

India at 75 must exclude violence and its perpetrators

It is not possible to be a good Hindu, Muslim

Maharashtra’s political titans lock horns

Five Lok Sabha seats in Phase 1 include Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondiya,