Authored by Aisling Bondy, Barrister & Solicitor, Bondy Immigration Law.
IRCC’s permanent residence application process that launched for caregivers on March 31, 2025, was an unfair technological mess.
The shortcomings of IRCC’s portal created multiple hurdles that applicants and their representatives had to overcome to file applications, creating unfair barriers to access. Even without those hurdles, the way the program operates on a first-come-first-serve basis is inherently unfair and discriminatory.
With so many temporary foreign workers in Canada facing fewer and fewer pathways to transition to permanent residence, it should have been apparent to IRCC that demand to apply through this program would far outstrip the 2,350 spots available in each of the two streams. The department should have ensured their portal had sufficient capacity to handle the inevitable number of applicants who would be trying to file applications, and should have considered the equity concerns that would arise from a first come first serve process.
PORTAL FAILURE
The application process was even worse than many of us had feared. The application portal began severely malfunctioning within minutes of the application process opening at 10am. Applicants and their representatives were erratically logged out, had to try many times to log back in, and the applications mostly stayed frozen at the first page of the very first form to be filled out.
When it became possible to navigate the portal more reliably at some point after 1pm, many who had partially completed applications received error messages each time they tried to input additional information or documents. Many of those who were fortunate enough to try filing a new application soon after the portal resumed functioning were able to file their applications. Others who spent longer trying to get their initial application to work were unable to get their applications filed before the cap was met around 3pm.
Canada should NOT be deciding entitlement to PR based on whether someone happened to try the correct workaround to IRCC’s portal glitches at just the right time of day. IRCC should have anticipated the volume of traffic they would receive in the portal and ensured it could handle it.
UNFAIRNESS OF THE FIRST COME-FIRST-SERVE PROCESS
Despite the glitches, IRCC was never going to deliver the current caregiver program fairly because the first-come-first-serve process is unfair and discriminatory given the number of limited spots made available.
IRCC allows only a limited number of people to apply through a format other than the portal for reasons such as disability. But there are many other categories of workers who may be unable to access the program on a first-come-first-serve basis because they require more time to file their application:
- Caregivers with a spouse and dependent children need more time to fill out multiple forms and upload several documents for each family member as compared to applicants who are single and have no children.
- Caregivers with less formal education and less experience with computers may need more time to understand how the portal operates and be slower to type in the forms and upload documents compared to those with more formal education and computer experience.
- Caregivers who are more vulnerable or in more precarious employment may be unable to take the day off work to even attempt filing an application before the cap was reached. Some may have even taken the morning off work to file their application on March 31, but been unable to remain off work for the afternoon while they waited for the portal to resume operating.
It’s unfair if caregivers with families, less education and precarious employment are unfairly denied the ability to apply for permanent residence because of the way IRCC designed their first come first serve application system.
Carving out additional categories of applicants who can apply outside the portal may not be tenable given the number of hopeful candidates vying for so few spots. Instead, IRCC needs to roll out a process that is fair for everyone. First and foremost, this should involve increasing or even eliminating the cap so more qualified caregivers can qualify for permanent residence. If demand still outnumbers available spots, IRCC should consider a predictable points-based system or a lottery to determine who can apply.
Another round of caregiver applications is scheduled to open soon for candidates who don’t have previous work experience in Canada. It will likely attract an even larger number of hopeful applicants. IRCC needs to learn from this unfair fiasco and roll out a better system. I struggle to comprehend how anyone at the department thought their current approach to this program was sound policy.
