December 7, 2016 – Through a recent change in the Immigration policy, the Government of Canada is making it faster and easier for Canadians and permanent residents to reunite with their spouses. At the direction of the Minister, there has been concerned efforts by the Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) towards reducing processing times. However, from the start of 2016 to fall this year, processing times were reduced by 15 percent for applications of people living in Canada and just over 10 percent for applications of people outside Canada.

Starting today, Dec 7 , 2016 , the processing times will be reduced even further and with this most spousal applications will now be processed in 12 months. However Complex cases may require more time.

Applicants who already filed an application will not have to wait an additional 12 months to have them finalized and their applications continue to be processed in the order they were received. Most families who have been waiting should have a decision on their sponsorship application no later than the end of December 2017.

These new changes are expected to benefit more than 64000 applicants by the end of 2017, and are the latest measures to bring families together by the present Government