The Immigration and Refugee Board has stated that asylum seekers would wait up to two years for asylum applications to be processed

The independent refugee claims agency says that refugee claimants entering Canada today will have to wait almost two years to find out if they can stay or not.

The Immigration and Refugee Board says waiting times are currently 21 months, but could have been even higher without a federal government bailout.

In the 2018 budget, the Liberals have earmarked $ 74 million over two years in the 2018 budget to reduce the number of refugee claims waiting at the IRB.

The commission used this money to hire more than 60 new employees in the processing of asylum applications and appeals, many of which stem from an influx of tens of thousands of "irregular" border workers from the United States after an unofficial entry. points.

However, the council warns that waiting times could increase as it plans to process 60,000 new requests during this fiscal year.

Even with the additional staff, the board estimates that it will have completed its work on almost half of its current inventory of 65,000 applications by the end of March 2019. Without new resources coming from the company, it will be up to the end of March. In Ottawa, he estimated that he would have processed 24,000 requests instead of the 32,000 requests. it should be finalized this year.

A one-year review by the IRB released earlier this year revealed persistent systemic issues that have affected the effectiveness of the refugee system in Canada.

The author of the report, former Deputy Minister of Immigration Neil Yeates, recommended fundamental changes in the operation of the commission, including a new management structure under the authority of the Minister of Immigration.

Jenny Kwan, NDP immigration critic, said the government was continually depriving the IRB of resources, creating a history of issues related to the management of asylum demand peaks, which the review has highlighted.

"It's absolutely unacceptable. People's lives are in space when they wait for these cases to be processed, "she said.

The new federal money for the council does not go far enough, she added. She also noted that the government has not provided a response to the IRB's review and recommendations for improvement.

"We have a good international reputation with the IRB. What they do not have is the resources to do the work. "

At the same time, the Canadian Council for Refugees says that refugee claimants who succeed in pbading the long process must wait another two and a half years to become permanent residents – a situation that the Council calls a serious concern to be addressed. to remedy.

Board Executive Director Janet Dench said refugees were often struggling to find meaningful employment, were unable to access government programs, faced problems when they traveled and could not bring their spouses or children to Canada before their application for permanent residence is made. approved.

"You are in a kind of fuzzy state if you have refugee status but not permanent resident status," she said.

"It is essential that people get permanent residence, but the processing of applications is huge."

Dench said his group is asking the government to automatically grant permanent resident status to successful refugee claimants, who will automatically be granted permanent resident status.

Dench and Kwan said the Liberals' new immigration plan to accept 16,500 protected people in 2019 – a category largely made up of refugees with permanent resident status – is far too low, even if additional increases are planned for subsequent years, to reach 20,000 in 2021.

The Department of Immigration said that levels could be increased as needed, but it is difficult to predict the number of asylum applications that will be accepted.

The ministry also indicated that refugees whose applications are accepted have access to the same settlement and integration programs as permanent residents.