Federal refugee employment program faces 'extremely long, ballooning wait times'

Instead of waiting months, a federal program is now taking years to process the applications of refugees who are living overseas and have a job waiting for them in Canada.

As a result, some Canadian businesses are unable to fill positions, while skilled refugees are also in limbo and risk exploitation, arrest or detention. 

In 2018, the federal government launched the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) for employers facing skill shortages to recruit internationally from within refugee populations. If approved, the individual is given permanent residency and can immigrate to Canada with their spouse and children.

Since its inception, more than 1,200 people have been approved through the program to enter Canada, according to the federal government.

Ottawa has touted the speed of the program as a strength, with processing times of just six months in most cases.

But those wait times have increased to 54 months, according to a ministerial transition binder prepared in May for Immigration Minister Lena Diab.

Ottawa is no longer living up to its promise to employers or refugees, said Dana Wagner, managing director of TalentLift Canada, a Toronto-based non-profit that helps Canadian employers hire refugees internationally when they can't find suitable workers locally.

"It's extremely frustrating knowing the value of this program and knowing the potential and knowing how successful it's been,” said Wagner. "Canada is no longer treating this applicant group like the skilled workers they are.”

As part of a survey, TalentLift heard from more than 20 businesses looking to hire through the EMPP and found the long wait times are resulting in production cuts, delayed expansion plans, cancelled projects and lost revenue.

Meanwhile, some refugees are facing arrest, deportation, evictions or are struggling to feed their families while they wait to be accepted into Canada through the EMPP, said Wagner.

“These are really extreme situations playing out while people have a job offer in Canada waiting for them, a workplace waiting and their visa is now, in some cases, a year over the promised processing time,” she said.

"It just kind of makes you shake your head and say, 'What's going on here?'"

Last week, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the government is aiming to bring immigration to “more sustainable levels.”

“I think Canadians understand that we had reached our capacity — or sometimes even exceeded our capacity — to welcome [newcomers],” he said during a news conference before the budget was tabled.