This article was originally posted by Kathleen Harris (CBC News) on December 28th, 2017. To read the full article, click here.
“17,500 applications filed in week after requirements revised, compared with 3,653 in an average week
There was a spike in applications for Canadian citizenship after the government relaxed the rules around residency requirements and language proficiency this fall.
Figures from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship provided to CBC News show there was an average of 3,653 applications a week in the six months before changes were brought in Oct. 11.
The number shot up to 17,500 applications the week after the new requirements kicked in. There were 12,530 applications submitted the week after that, but data for subsequent weeks is not yet available.
Citizenship applications
“Reducing the physical presence requirement gives more flexibility to applicants to meet the requirements for citizenship and encourages more immigrants to take the path to citizenship,” said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship spokeswoman Nancy Caron. “This helps individuals who have already begun building lives in Canada achieve citizenship faster.”
In recent years, there has been an average of 200,000 citizenship applications submitted each year.
Fluctuations in application rates are expected after rule changes, so the department put resources in place to handle “surge capacity” and keep processing times below the 12-month service standard, Caron said…”
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