As a result of a $44 million investment in Economic Action Plan (EAP) 2013 to reduce processing wait times, and recent changes to the Citizenship Act, citizenship applications are taking less time to process.
The chart below shows how CIC’s backlog of grant applications is expected to be eliminated sooner than previously forecasted. By spring 2016, applicants can expect just-in-time processing and the shortest waits in more than a decade.
Benefits of Taking Action
Text version: Benefits of Taking Action
This graph shows how the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act will eliminate the citizenship applicant backlog much sooner than previously forecast.
| Year | Grant Application Inventory | Grant Application Inventory (no EAP funding or legislative change) | Grant Application Inventory (status quo with EAP funding but without legislative change) | Grant Application Inventory (new decision-making model combined with funding) |
|---|
| 2012/13 |
324,662 |
|
|
|
| 2013/14 |
301,758 |
387,600 |
387,600 |
387,600 |
| 2014/15 |
295,000Footnote* |
454,700 |
438,700 |
327,700 |
| 2015/16 |
|
515,100 |
333,100 |
150,000 (Just-in-time processing) |
| 2016/17 |
|
579,200 |
229,200 |
150,000 (Just-in-time processing) |
| 2017/18 |
|
646,100 |
159,100 |
150,000 (Just-in-time processing) |
src:news.gc.ca