Strengthening Citizenship, Speeding Up Processing – Canada News Centre

Bit of a puff piece as no hard numbers (not that the improvements are not happening, but the Government appears to have an aversion to releasing numbers on a timely basis):

It is expected that in 2015/16 the processing time for citizenship applications will be less than a year. It is also projected that the current backlog of applications will be reduced by more than 80 percent.

Changes to Citizenship Act now in effect:

In addition to the new streamlined decision making model, the government has today implemented a range of legislative amendments to further strengthen Canada’s citizenship program. These amendments relate to authorities to refuse incomplete applications and a uniform system for judicial review of citizenship decisions are also now in effect.

These changes were part of Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, which received Royal Assent on June 19, 2014. These improvements are in addition to funding in Economic Action Plan 2013 of an additional $44 million over two years to the citizenship program to ensure the timely processing of applications.

Quick facts

• Canada has the highest rate of naturalization in the world—85 per cent of eligible permanent residents become citizens.

• Since 2006, Canada has welcomed over 1,300,000 proud new Canadians.

• Citizenship and Immigration Canada received 333,860 citizenship applications in 2013, the highest volume ever and a strong reminder of the value of being a Canadian citizen.

Strengthening Citizenship, Speeding Up Processing – Canada News Centre.