Many visitors who entered Canada through the expedited visitor visa pathway have applied to stay here as asylum seekers. This has been said to reflect, among other things, the pent-up demand for asylum created during COVID-19, when the Canadian border was closed to newcomers.

About 152,400 visas were issued under the time-limited program as of February 29, 2024, including 7,300 applicants for the Super Visa for parents and grandparents, who frequently come to Canada to visit children and grandchildren.

An internal government memorandum obtained by the Toronto Star under an access-to-information request said 19,400 asylum claims were made by visitors granted visas under the special program. Few were Super Visa applicants.

This translates to 13 per cent of visa holders having sought protection in Canada, which, as per the Star, is an abnormally high rate.

14 per cent of the 137,947 refugee claimants received by Canada in 2023 were those emerging from the program.

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The number may further grow as many visa holders are yet to come to Canada before the expiration of their admission document.

The temporary policy waived the requirements for applicants to prove that they possessed enough financial resources for their travels and would leave the country after the expiration of their visa. The policy was in effect between February 28 and December 7, 2023, and was applicable for visa applications submitted before January 16, 2023 that had not been denied.

All applicants were still required to pass security, criminal, and medical clearances.

According to an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) spokesperson, the special public policy has been successful in clearing most of the older temporary resident visa applications in the system.

As per the website, there are 1.14 million such applications in the queue, with roughly half of them exceeding service standards, down from 64 per cent in February 2023.

After COVID-19, Canada has been making it easier for temporary residents to stay in the country. Another public policy was initiated on August 24, 2020, which allows certain visitors in Canada to apply for an employer-specific work permit.

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The policy in question is being pushed forward until February 28, 2025.

The objectives of this policy are:

• To permit eligible foreign nationals with valid temporary resident status as visitors to apply for a job offer-supported work permit from inside Canada
• To exempt eligible foreign nationals from the requirement that a work permit not be issued if they have not complied with certain temporary residence conditions
• To allow eligible former temporary foreign workers to work while a decision on their work permit application is pending