The federal government is considering extraordinary measures to reduce its backlog of immigration applications, including waiving eligibility requirements for nearly half a million visitor visas, according to a policy memo reviewed by The Globe and Mail.

A draft document from December reveals that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is trying to significantly reduce or eliminate its
inventory of visitor visa applications by February and is willing to use “aggressive measures” to do so. There were more than 700,000 temporary resident visa (TRV) applications in the system as of early December, a portion of the overall sum.

Read more from the Globe and Mail at https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-immigration-backlog-visitor-visas-canada/

I recall some aggressive reduction of files in early 2000’s – where applicants were so frustrated after waiting for so long, and their applications were unilaterally cancelled. I hope that this time around the measure should be more considerate than the last one.