CIMM – CIMM 70.3 – Citizenship Processing Time in 2019 – November 07, 2023

IRCC’s response to a request for information made by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on June 5, 2023

Question

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Ms. Girard, on the subject of wait times... I guess the reasoning that I'm picking up on here is the departmental reasoning that having these alternate methods is to speed up the process. Because this is something that's being demanded by people asking for this option, do you have statistics and have there been studies done on the requests to do that?

Ms. Nicole Girard: I can say in general that the department frequently receives representation from applicants who are looking to have their processing time reduced... As I mentioned in a previous hearing, we had a record number of over 374,000 citizenship grants last year, but we have more work to do, including continuing to work on getting those processing times down.

In further response to the member's question about wait times and ceremonies, historically it's been in the range of three to five months. It can go as low as one to two months to wait to get your ceremony, and I believe it's on the lower end of the wait currently...

Part of this proposal is to again give the choice and put the applicants in the driver's seat in terms of what's going to work for them. If they're able to attend that ceremony, they wish to take their oath at a ceremony and they're prepared to do that, they can proceed. If they need to become citizens now and want to take an oath online, if that becomes an option that's available to them, they can do that and can become citizens immediately once the oath is taken...

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Have people been asking for these options? I understand that it seems like it might be a good idea to people in the department, but have people been asking for the option to do it that way?

Ms. Nicole Girard: I'm not aware of all of the client feedback the department receives, so while it's possible that the request has been made, I don't have that information available to me at this time.

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Is there data to back up the reasoning for this decision, or is this just people sitting around a table who thought it would be a good idea and they thought they should do that?

Ms. Nicole Girard: This is an evidence-based proposal. It's backed by significant data. The data includes that the processing standard that the department strives to meet is to process citizenship applications within 12 months. Although the department achieved a record number of grants last year—over 374,000, as I mentioned—last April the processing times were around 27 months. Through hard work, those processing times continue to come down, but are still much higher than we want them to be. They are in the range of 21 or 22 months, as I understand it

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Have people been asking for these options? I understand that it seems like it might be a good idea to people in the department, but have people been asking for the option to do it that way?

Ms. Nicole Girard: I'm not aware of all of the client feedback the department receives, so while it's possible that the request has been made, I don't have that information available to me at this time.

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Is there data to back up the reasoning for this decision, or is this just people sitting around a table who thought it would be a good idea and they thought they should do that?

We are constantly looking for opportunities for how to improve service offerings and client service, and how we can leverage technology to reduce processing times and wait times. We are confident that significant progress will continue with the various initiatives we've put in place over the last year or two during the pandemic, including bringing applications online, conducting online citizenship tests and having a combination of in-person citizenship ceremonies and virtual ones.

Mr. Brad Redekopp: Did I hear you say that the wait time for citizenship piece is 22 months? Is that correct?

Ms. Nicole Girard: Yes, that is correct.

Mr. Brad Redekopp: What were wait times like in 2019 for citizenship?

Ms. Nicole Girard: I believe they were closer to the 12-month processing standard, but as I don't have that processing time in front of me now, we will check and provide that to the committee.

Response

Processing times^{Footnote 1} for Citizenship Grant Applications in 2019 was 15 months.

As of May 2023, the Citizenship Grant Application processing time was averaging 19 months; however, expected wait times for clients who submit new applications is within the service standard of 12 months. IRCC has committed to reduce application processing times to align with the service standard to process Citizenship Grant Applications within 12 months.

With the successful conclusion of the 2021 Fall Economic Statement commitments for Citizenship, IRCC

has largely cleared the inventory backlog that accumulated due to processing challenges during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inventory has been reduced by 108K since the start of 2022 to May 25, 2023, and applications over the service standard now represent 24% of the inventory, compared to 40% in April 2022. Moving forward, IRCC will seek to maintain a level of new citizen output that exceeds new intake to further position it towards returning to the 12 month processing service standard. Clients who submit new applications should expect to be processed within services standards.