Ottawa: As part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, the Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced how investments in our immigration system will allow Canada to grow and prosper.
He said that an investment of $74.6 million over 5 years, and $15.7 million ongoing, will boost our application processing capacity both domestically and in the Indo-Pacific region—including New Delhi, Chandigarh, Islamabad and Manila.
These new resources will bolster ongoing efforts to process the high volume of visa applications from the region, contribute to improved processing times, and support people-to-people ties, all with the goal of bringing more people to Canada—whether to visit, study, work or immigrate permanently—and doing it faster.
The Minister said that the Indo-Pacific Strategy includes new initiatives and investments of almost $2.3 billion over the first 5 years. In 2021, India, China and the Philippines were the top 3 source countries for permanent residents to Canada, accounting for 44% of admissions combined.
“The Indo-Pacific region is vital for Canada’s immigration and will continue to be in the future. Today’s announcement brings significant new funding to help boost Canada’s visa application processing capacity at home and abroad. As we look to record growth in admissions in the years ahead, this funding will help promote greater diversity among those looking to visit, study, work or live in Canada, ”said Sean Fraser.