CIMM – Spousal Sponsorship Processing Times – October 24, 2023

Key Facts and Figures

• Current processing times for spousal permanent resident applications (excluding QC) are approximately 14 months (overseas) and 10 months (in-Canada) compared to 22 months and 13 months (respectively) for the same period last year.
• The 2023 planned admission target for Spouses, Partners and Children is 78,000 which is expected to increase to 80,000 in 2024, and 82,000 in 2025.
• 70,079 spouses, partners and children became permanent residents in 2022, compared to 69,691 in 2021. From January to August 2023, 59,093 partners and children have become permanent residents which exceeds the pace demonstrated from January to August of 2022 (49,893) and 2021 (37,112).
• In 2022, over 91,000 decisions were made, surpassing the number of decisions made in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
• As of August 31, 2023 spousal TRV applications that were streamlined through new processing tools have yielded processing times of 20 days.

Key Messages

• IRCC is committed to reuniting families. The Department has implemented several measures to support and accelerate the processing of spousal sponsorship applications including file digitization, remote processing, the use of streamlined processing measures, online portals and an increase in the number of decision-makers.
• On May 26, 2023, we announced new measures to strengthen family reunification and help address labour shortages:
  • Going forward, with the help of new and dedicated processing tools, most new temporary resident visa applications for spousal sponsorship applicants will be processed within 30 days.
  • Open work permits can now be issued to spouses and partners that have arrived in Canada and are pending a decision on their permanent residence application under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class or family class programs.

Supplementary Information

• Quebec-destined spouses face additional delays in processing, compared to other applicants, given limited levels space under family class to accommodate demand of Quebec-destined sponsors/spouses.