On November 9, the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association (CILA) publicly urged the federal government to abandon any plan to waive eligibility requirements for up to 450,000 visitor-visa applications stuck in IRCC’s processing inventory. The statement follows a leaked draft memo suggesting Ottawa might bulk-process or mass-approve temporary resident visa (TRV) files to cut the queue.
CILA cautions that blanket waivers would undermine public confidence, risk overstays and work-without-authorization cases and increase refugee claims. Instead, the group recommends staffing reinforcements, better communication tools and concurrent processing of TRV renewals and extensions to free resources.
![Canadian Immigration Lawyers Warn Against Waiving Visitor-Visa Eligibility to Clear Backlog]()
For businesses relying on short-term visitors—such as technicians or trainers—the proposal promised faster approvals but also uncertainty over future enforcement. Lawyers note that mass waivers could trigger downstream compliance checks, as border officers scrutinize intent to leave Canada. Organisations should therefore continue to prepare full supporting documentation even if a fast-track measure is adopted.
The debate highlights the pressure IRCC faces as overall temporary-resident inventories exceed two million files. Any decision to relax eligibility rules would be a major departure from the tightening trend seen in work-permit cancellations and student-visa caps, signalling that mobility teams must monitor policy signals closely.
CILA cautions that blanket waivers would undermine public confidence, risk overstays and work-without-authorization cases and increase refugee claims. Instead, the group recommends staffing reinforcements, better communication tools and concurrent processing of TRV renewals and extensions to free resources.
For businesses relying on short-term visitors—such as technicians or trainers—the proposal promised faster approvals but also uncertainty over future enforcement. Lawyers note that mass waivers could trigger downstream compliance checks, as border officers scrutinize intent to leave Canada. Organisations should therefore continue to prepare full supporting documentation even if a fast-track measure is adopted.
The debate highlights the pressure IRCC faces as overall temporary-resident inventories exceed two million files. Any decision to relax eligibility rules would be a major departure from the tightening trend seen in work-permit cancellations and student-visa caps, signalling that mobility teams must monitor policy signals closely.
