Canada

While processing backlogs have long plagued certain immigration streams, Lamanna notes that wait times have recently exceeded 10 years in some programs. The federal government’s recent proposal, outlined in Bills C-2 and C-12, which would grant itself the authority to cancel applications unilaterally, only amplifies concerns. On December 19, IRCC cancelled the start-up visa (SUV) and self-employed persons program, hinting at a redesigned system that will launch later. “IRCC’s clients should not be penalized for the government’s own inability to manage the immigration system,” Lamanna says. “Predictability has always been the cornerstone of Canada’s immigration success. Cancelling applications or worse, programs, erodes that predictability and undermines our competitiveness.”

According to Lamanna, the current immigration approach introduces more uncertainty into a system already struggling to meet demand. Reduced processing capacity – especially for spousal sponsorships, work permit extensions, and post-graduation work permit holders – has left applicants in precarious situations or forced some into informal work arrangements.

Despite ongoing digital modernization initiatives, IRCC continues to face chronic delays across major streams. Lamanna highlights work-permit extensions and renewals as a key pain point. “These should be the most straightforward files IRCC processes,” he explains. “Applicants are already here, already contributing to the economy, and already vetted.”

He stresses that immigration processing is no longer an administrative matter – it is a matter of economic competitiveness. With Canada under pressure from its trade dispute with the United States, failing to modernize immigration operations will undermine long-term economic development at a critical moment.

Lamanna’s concerns extend well beyond processing times. He emphasizes that permanent immigration “is not discretionary – it is vital to Canada’s demographic survival.” More than 80 percent of labour-force growth now comes from newcomers, and immigrants represent 29 percent of the labour force while making up just 23 percent of the population.

Yet the federal government is proposing reductions to permanent resident admissions starting in 2026. Lamanna warns these cuts may exacerbate labour shortages, strain public services, and slow economic growth as Canada’s population ages.

Rather than reducing numbers, CILA advocates expanding pathways from temporary to permanent residence, aligning short-term labour flexibility with long-term demographic needs. Without such pathways, Lamanna cautions that Canada risks “the emergence of an underground economy, where individuals without status work informally without protections or long-term options.”

For protected persons, the situation is dire: dependents now wait 50 months on average for processing, delaying family reunification and undermining humanitarian commitments.

CILA warns that the government’s proposed one-year asylum bar could deny vulnerable individuals the ability to make a claim, even when conditions in their home country change suddenly. Lamanna notes that this bar would apply even to individuals who visited Canada briefly or as children, making Canada’s system more restrictive than the US equivalent.