Canada is opening a new visa application processing centre within its embassy in the Philippines in an effort to boost immigration.
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser said the new centre is meant to bolster application processing as Canada tries to meet its planned immigration increases over the next few years.
“Canada is set to welcome a record number of newcomers in the years ahead to fuel our economic growth. This will give us an advantage in the global race for talent, and support key sectors and industries,” Fraser said in a news release Friday.
Ottawa previously announced plans to ramp up immigration levels to address labour shortages and demographic changes that threaten the country's future.
Canada is poised to see 465,000 new permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025, if its Immigration Levels Plan goals are met. The Prairies stand to benefit the most from economic growth spurred by newcomers, according to a Desjardins report from early February.
Canada saw a record number of immigrants last year, as pandemic delays in processing immigration applications surged, with about 1.3 million applications taking longer to process than the government’s service standards at the end of July 2022.
Since those delays, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said it has reduced its overall backlog by nearly half a million applications. At the end of November 2022, IRCC said it had processed approximately 4.8 million applications—nearly twice the 2.5 million processed during the same period in 2021.
The new application processing centre, located in Canada’s embassy in Manila, will be staffed by 37 employees in an effort to support Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and accommodate high levels of visa applications from around the world.
The government says Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy involves investing resources in the region, as well as building knowledge and capacity to engage to “set the pace for the future and prosperity of our economy, security and stability.” The strategy also includes promoting peace in the region, expanding trade, investment and supply chain resilience, and building a sustainable and green future.
Rechie Valdez, Liberal MP for Mississauga—Streetsville, said the new processing centre will expand Canada’s presence abroad and help facilitate the process for those who want to visit, study, work or move permanently to Canada.
“Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy is crucial in addressing the impact of the region on Canadians, including the Filipino community. The opening of the new application processing centre in Manila is a strategic investment that will benefit Filipinos by providing more efficient processing of visas and supporting Canada's planned increases to immigration levels,” Valdez said in a release.
The government says 960,000 people of Philippine origin live in Canada, while more and more Filipino citizens visit their family and friends in the country, study at Canadian colleges and universities or move to Canada permanently, according to data from the 2021 census.
With files from CTV News Parliamentary Bureau Writer, Producer Spencer Van Dyk and The Canadian Press
