Olha Kuskho and her family applied for permanent residence in June after fleeing the war in Ukraine. She's one of thousands of applicants under the humanitarian and compassionate program, now facing decades-long processing times, according to updated numbers from Canada's Immigration Department.
Processing times for Canadian immigration appli cations have reached unp recedented lengths — up to 50 years under some permanent residency programs — stunning applicants and lawyers who say the system has become unviable.
"We were shocked," said Olha Kushko, whose family fled Kyiv and settled in Ottawa in 2023 under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), a special measure introduced after Russia's full-scale invasion.
"It doesn't have any sense. I don't know how it's possible, so I can’t believe it," Kushko said.
Families who recently applied for permanent residence (PR) under Canada’s humanitarian and compassionate stream face waits of 12 to 600 months, according to the new immigration minister’s May 2025 "transition binder" .
Other economic immigration programs list similar waits:
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