August 2025

One of the main objectives of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) is family unification. The same section of the act also lists objectives such as “consistent standards and prompt processing” and “establishment of fair and efficient procedures.” However, our recent experience reflects the opposite of these objectives; unrepresented clients are facing significant barriers to preparing a successful application. Additionally, in-Canada applicants and those destined to live in Québec are experiencing considerable processing delays.

As of September 23, 2022, it is mandatory to submit spousal sponsorship applications online, unless accommodations are requested. For unrepresented clients, the online application is submitted through the Permanent Residence Portal, as opposed to the Permanent Residence Portal for Representatives used by lawyers. This portal, like all IRCC portals, has user issues and technical problems. Recently, we had two consultations with unrepresented applicants who faced similar issues with their applications being rejected by IRCC. The applications they submitted were returned as ‘incomplete’, despite their belief that they had completed the forms and submitted the relevant documents. We found that, in addition to other common mistakes, they may have selected the wrong category of application. They had both intended to choose the Family Class, indicating that their spouses lived outside of Canada. Yet, they may have submitted their application under the ‘Spouse or common-law partner in Canada Class’ by inadvertently choosing the wrong option in a drop-down menu. The mistake could easily have been made by an accidental mouse scroll, thereby switching the selection of a field.

However, it’s also possible to select the correct type of application and have IRCC return the application in error. Our office has not experienced this issue, but colleagues have reported it. In our case, both of our clients received letters from IRCC stating that their applications were being returned because ‘Our office processes Family Class Sponsorship applications where the Principal Applicant resides in Canada.’ The letters were issued by the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga. Yet, according to the IRCC website, CPC Mississauga processes ‘applications to sponsor family members who live in Canada or abroad.’ Even if the wrong type of application was selected, once CPC Mississauga realized the mistake, why couldn’t they simply adjust their records, rather than requiring the applicants to start all over? Once the type of application is chosen in the portal, it can’t be changed. You must do a completely new application.

Another issue affecting spousal sponsorships is processing times. Until recently, the processing times for Family Class and Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class applications were similar. However, a few months ago, the processing time for inside-Canada applications jumped dramatically, from just under a year to the current expected processing time of 36 months. That is almost a 2-year difference in processing time.

During June 2024, I wrote the newsletter “Family Reunification Programs Continue to be Inequitably Applied” at a time when most inside and outside Canada sponsorships were all being processed in approximately 10 months. Representatives receive no advance notice of the change in processing time and thus cannot predict whether a submitted application falls into the category that has been changed to a longer processing time. This is particularly frustrating because spouses who live in Canada are still able to apply under the Family Class category. The  Family Class option would have been chosen if it were known that the processing time would have been quicker.

We, along with other firms, had clients who submitted their applications under the Inside Canada class at the end of 2024, who are now stuck in the dramatically long 2.5-year processing time. The inconsistency in processing times, combined with the numerous technical errors on the IRCC portals, results in unnecessary burdens on applicants. Spouses with pending spousal sponsorship applications will need to take the initiative to extend their temporary status in Canada, incurring additional financial costs and time expenses. Spouses who submitted under the ‘in-Canada’ category at a time when the published processing time was significantly shorter are now stuck in Canada, unable to visit their family members for an extended period, fearing the consequences. There is no guarantee that foreign nationals who have left Canada after applying for the Spouse or Common-law Partner in Canada class will be allowed to return to or re-enter Canada. It’s unrealistic for IRCC not to consider that at some point in two and a half years, an applicant may want to visit their family in their home country. Still worse, applicants were utterly unaware that they were choosing between not seeing their spouse for 10 months and not seeing the rest of their family for years — and neither did their representatives.

For residents of Québec, the problem is compounded by the need to obtain a Certificat de Sélection du Québec (CSQ).  Quebec limits how many CSQs it issues in a year, and for 2025, the quota was reached in early July; applicants must now wait until after June 25, 2026, to receive their CSQ. This means that for Quebec residents, they will be waiting an incredible 40-41 months (depending on whether their spouse is in or outside of Canada).

The burdens imposed by the inconsistencies and technical errors cannot be overlooked. As discussed above, the consequences of these burdens on applicants often directly oppose the objectives of family reunification, “consistent standards and prompt processing,” and “establishment of fair and efficient procedures.”