Urgent: Sudden Increase in PR Processing Times for Refugees and Protected Persons (Up to 99 Months!)

[moref1988]

There no chance IRCC is going to increase PR quotas, eliminate quotas, etc. for all forms of PRs, protected people and their dependents. It was the government’s responsibility to try to minimize how many were arriving in Canada and claiming asylum and to limit the size of refugee programs coming from abroad. The JT government made it easier to get to Canada and had large refugee programs. The consequence is now the many who benefited from easier access to Canada are going to have to wait longer to get PR. There are also no changes the previous processing time page was based on backwards looking data. If you had looked at the raw data (number of applications and the yearly PR quota) the processing times were evident which is why I have been pointing out the processing times will continue to get longer for at least a year. The processing times have increased because more people applied. It is pure math.

Why shouldn't there be an opportunity to increase quotas? Quotas are nominal for those already in Canada. Just as they were lowered under public pressure during the prime ministership of the honorable Justin Trudeau, they could certainly be increased again.

 

[moref1988]

Honest question, -what benefits exactly that a PR person have, that ***YOU*** don't have as an approved refugee?
Despite to wait longer for the process to become a citizen, what else does it impact currently your life?
Limbo for me, is while still being a claimant.

This is a good question. There's the problem of constantly renewing your work permit and not being able to change your Social Security number. Because you can't change your Social insurance number like a PR person, you can't access certain banking services, and for example, it makes it more difficult to get a loan, maybe mortgage..

 

[Viking007]

In fact an approved refugee is in some ways a better place than a TDH - temporary document holder (like international students or temporary foreign workers). Even if a person has their temporary status approved there is an expiry date to it and the person must leave by then unless a way to extend it or apply for another status occurs first. This was me not so long ago.

In some ways it's very much the inverse issue that approved refugees face - TDHs are free to travel and can leave whenever they want, but rather than having the certainty of getting PR and eventually citizenship after an admittedly long wait, TDHs aren't sure if they'll even be able to stay in Canada at all.

https://thewalrus.ca/permanent-residency-cuts-canada/


I do sympathize with the very long wait and would agree to some changes (like extra credit for citizenship). I myself as a TDH (specially a temporary foreign worker obtaining PR via the Economic stream) had to wait about as long as you folks do to obtain PR, and the lack of extra credit means I'm still not yet a citizen.

In truth, I'm one of the lucky ones. My banker is also an immigrant, arriving around the same time I did, but younger and with less work experience, so he couldn't apply for PR earlier the way I did. I was able to get past ATIP or whatever stage it is that you don't have to about points anymore. He wasn't - he didn't have enough points until post-Covid ... which means he still doesn't have enough points. (He'd meet the bar now if the required score was at the pre-covid levels. As it is, he now wakes up at 5am every day - including weekends - and starts his day by learning French.)


I suppose I was lucky again, qualifying for multiple closed work permits for jobs that paid either six figures or very high five figures - until I qualified for an open work permit a year or so before I got PR.

I confess I'm a bit sore - I did get told once by a recruiter that the employer wouldn't hire me without PR, even though I had an open work permit. I'm pretty sure this is illegal, though.


This makes sense to me. I didn't have any when I came, but if I did, I would have been able to bring my spouse and kids. And gotten my spouse an open work permit too!


I'm a bit confused on this point. I was under the impression that refugee claimants and approved refugees got open work permits (OWP), https://www.gov.nl.ca/immigration/in-canada-refugee-claimants/ & https://newyouth.ca/en/resources/immigration/refugees/how-do-i-apply-work-permit-refugee-claimant

With an open work permit, what kind of jobs are you not able to do? (The two major restrictions that I'm aware of compared to PR is that an OWP doesn't allow sex work and that you have to do an IRCC approved medical before you can do certain jobs like working with children. But I thought all refugees eventually would do a medical, and somehow I don't feel that you are concerned about that other restriction...)


Well, that's not imposed by Canada though, right?

As another approved refugee points out,


The issue is that you can't visit your family because they're in the home country that you fear persecution from. Nothing short of Canadian citizenship would be enough to protect you (and perhaps even then you wouldn't be safe). So getting PR earlier and faster would not help you - heck if you did visit your family after getting Canadian PR, it might end up getting stripped from you! (See https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...-for-citizenship.333455/page-77#post-11100561 )

A protected person can’t apply for a military, police or other high end government jobs. You must be a PR or citizen.

 

[Buletruck]

"Why shouldn't there be an opportunity to increase quotas?"

Simple. It would be political suicide in the current atmosphere. The voting pubic is currently opposed to increased quotas. That includes refugees.

 

[abff08f4813c]

A protected person can’t apply for a military, police or other high end government jobs. You must be a PR or citizen.

Ah, I forgot about that. (I once saw a job posting for a role with IRCC but I didn't bother applying because of the above requirement.)

I don't see the harm in allowing approved refugees to take on these jobs where a PR is eligible. More accurately, if the lack of PR is the only disqualifying condition for an approved refugee to take the role, then it shouldn't be. (For example, even though I have PR now, I still wouldn't qualify for the military or the police - the bar for this is appropriately high.)

It seems like a small gesture that wouldn't cost much, but would make our accepted refugees feel that much more welcome.

This is a good question. There's the problem of constantly renewing your work permit

Ah, yes. I believe these are good for a max of two years, so you'd need to renew every two years.

Versus every five to keep a current PR card...

not being able to change your Social Security number.

Interesting. My experience as a TDH was the opposite - every time I changed permits I'd get a new 9-starting SIN.

Because you can't change your Social insurance number like a PR person,

This would make a bit more sense - it's not so much about a SIN changing or not, but the fact that you don't have a permanent SIN like a PR or citizen.

I don't see why it'd be a big deal to offer permanent SINs to approved refugees. These folks have a guaranteed pathway to PR and the intent is to settle in Canada permanently, no matter how long it takes. It seems like a small gesture that wouldn't cost much. (As for what happens if a refugee ends up leaving - well the same thing that happens when a PR leaves and renounces PR - or has it lost after a section 44 report.)

Because you can't change your Social insurance number like a PR person, you can't access certain banking services,

Really? Which ones? I don't recall any issues along these lines when I had a temporary SIN...

and for example, it makes it more difficult to get a loan, maybe mortgage..

This makes sense. Your stay is actually not temporary, but since it looks that way, you have to show more income or more funds to qualify compared to an identical person who has PR already. I... I feel like banks shouldn't be allowed to discriminate like this. If the approved refugee has enough funds and a good enough income, credit history and all that, this person should be in the same position as having PR. I don't see how the difference between being an approved refugee without PR and an approved refugee with PR creates a difference of risk for the bank here...

Why shouldn't there be an opportunity to increase quotas? Quotas are nominal for those already in Canada. Just as they were lowered under public pressure during the prime ministership of the honorable Justin Trudeau, they could certainly be increased again.

This I believe was based on a well nuanced and highly informed reading of the current political currents.

Of course, this doesn't rule out things being changed for some other reason (e.g. a court order requiring the gov't to allow immediate family members to come to Canada to stay with a refugee claimant).

But really what seems to be a reasonable compromise is to make it more comfortable to wait for PR for those approved refugees in the queue. There is already a guarantee of PR, it's just a matter of when. In the mean time, if barriers are removed so approved refugees can get gov't jobs, the comforts of having a permanent SIN, and less discrimination from banks when applying for loans and mortgage, the need for getting PR quicker goes away - but extending these comforts also wouldn't go against public opinion on keeping the quotes down. The only thing I can think of where they'd still headbutt is in terms of being able to reunite with a spouse.

 

[canuck78]

Why shouldn't there be an opportunity to increase quotas? Quotas are nominal for those already in Canada. Just as they were lowered under public pressure during the prime ministership of the honorable Justin Trudeau, they could certainly be increased again.

This would create a pull factor and encourage more to claim asylum versus economic routes and would also lead to a huge increase in population as dependents are added.

 

[canuck78]

This is a good question. There's the problem of constantly renewing your work permit and not being able to change your Social Security number. Because you can't change your Social insurance number like a PR person, you can't access certain banking services, and for example, it makes it more difficult to get a loan, maybe mortgage..

Your SIN doesn’t really change. It just goes from temporary to permanent. You can access most things including mortgages.

 

[canuck78]

A protected person can’t apply for a military, police or other high end government jobs. You must be a PR or citizen.

Some of the top clearance gvt jobs require citizenship not PR. In general most jobs are still accessible to refugees and protected people.

 

[abff08f4813c]

This would create a pull factor and encourage more to claim asylum versus economic routes and would also lead to a huge increase in population as dependents are added.

Would it really be that huge? How many dependents (spouse + kids) would we be looking at, total?

Your SIN doesn’t really change. It just goes from temporary to permanent. You can access most things including mortgages.

Agreed. Really, the most annoying thing really was always having to show my permit all the time (since the 9 series SINs are known to be temporary with an expiry that follows the relevant immigration document).

Some of the top clearance gvt jobs require citizenship not PR. In general most jobs are still accessible to refugees and protected people.

My wife - who has PR - was looking into changing careers and at one point tried to look into being a flight attendant for Air Canada. We were astonished to discover that Canadian citizenship was a requirement. (Also, tbf, she probably dodged a bullet.)