IRCC cuts 3,300 jobs! Will immigration processing slow down?

Idigogo2025-02-03 23:37 EST

Machine-translated from Chinese, so it may read oddly. Comments are left as members wrote them. Read the Chinese original

Canada's immigration department (IRCC) will cut 3,300 jobs over the next three years, which could affect processing times for immigration, visas, passports, and more!

Reasons for the cuts
IRCC says the cuts are due to lower immigration levels and reduced funding.
Over the past few years, IRCC expanded rapidly due to the pandemic, system modernization, and high immigration demand, leading to a surge in temporary staff.
In 2024, the Canadian government released a new immigration levels plan, deciding to pause immigration growth and adjust IRCC's staffing to match long-term sustainable development needs.

Scale of the cuts
It is expected that 80% of the cuts will be achieved by reducing temporary positions, while 20% will affect indeterminate employees.
The cuts will affect all IRCC departments, including domestic and international offices, headquarters, and regional offices, even at the executive level.
IRCC's total staff reached 13,092 in 2024, compared to just 7,800 in 2019, meaning the positions added in recent years will be reduced.

Will immigration applications be affected?
Currently, IRCC still faces a large backlog of cases, and the cuts could lead to the following issues:
Further delays in processing times for visas, permanent residence, and citizenship
Longer wait times for applicants, making family reunification harder
More uncertainty for businesses and international students
For example, processing times for spousal sponsorship from abroad have already increased from 12 months to 24 months, and could get even longer!