British Columbians concerned about backlogs after Canadian immigration job cuts

Doris Tsang was initially told her permanent residency (PR) application would take up to 18 months to process. Over three years later, she still hasn't heard back.

Without the promise of PR, her business and her life in Vancouver are in limbo. 

And she is even more concerned following Canada's announcement earlier this week that the immigration department would be cutting roughly 3,300 jobs over three years.

"This news is really discouraging," said Tsang. 

The job cuts at Immigration, Referees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) amount to about a quarter of its workforce. 

In a statement to CBC, IRCC said the department has expanded rapidly in recent years to address global crises like the pandemic and that growth relied on temporary funding.

Tsang applied for permanent resident status when she moved to Canada in 2021 under the Start-up Visa program for immigrant entrepreneurs. 

She has been running a food business in Vancouver ever since. 

"It seems like I'm just waiting, waiting, and waiting, without an end," said Tsang from the shared kitchen space she uses. 

A former chef and cooking teacher in Hong Kong, her business, DBay Kitchen and Food, sells pre-packaged Chinese food. 

Tsang said she would like to grow her business, getting its own kitchen and hiring more staff. But she can't do that until she has the certainty of PR. 

"This is very hard for us to live here, treat this as home, but with no permanent status." 

She says her business is expanding and grew 30 per cent in the last year. 

"It seems that the government is not recognizing us ... It seems that I just work for nothing. It's really hard," she said. 

Growing wait times

Tsang is not alone.

Vancouver-based Canadian immigration lawyer Zool Suleman says the news was upsetting for many of his clients, who were already facing long wait times for a decision. 

"Clients are actually extremely anxious. They don't know how to plan their lives, and this is going to result in more uncertainty," said Suleman. 

He says cuts to the IRCC will further exacerbate processing times. Suleman said the backlog for some immigration and visa categories is in the hundreds of thousands of cases. 

"I think, first of all, you will have slower decision-making," said Suleman.

"Secondly, you will have bad decision-making because decisions are hurried and rushed when you have fewer people." 

Reduced immigration 

In October, the government also announced reduced immigration levels over the next three years, intending to stabilize population growth and relieve pressure on the housing market. 

Rubina Boucher, president of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union, which represents IRCC workers, says cuts to the department have repercussions beyond the employees directly affected. 

She says it means less capacity to attract talent from across the world, including health-care professionals, skilled tradespeople, and entrepreneurs like Tsang. 

"The consequences of these cuts are definitely far-reaching," said Boucher. 

"We're deeply concerned about the impact and what it will mean to families and businesses."