NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
About 300 families in the NWT are awaiting approval of applications to Citizenship and Immigration Canada to have relatives join them in this country.

Bruce Proud of Enterprise has been trying for three years to arrange for his family in the Philippines – his wife, Anelyn Proud, and his adopted son Lyndon Proud – to come to Canada. - photo courtesy of Bruce Proud

Many have been waiting months or years for those approvals, including those hoping to be reunited with their spouses.

That includes Enterprise's Bruce Proud, who has been waiting three years for the approval of an application to allow his wife and 10-year-old adopted son to join him in Canada.

Proud blames the lengthy wait on bureaucratic red tape.

"It's actually embarrassing for me to be a Canadian and have that kind of inefficiency, because normally you're used to other places in the world taking forever to do anything, but in Canada, you would think, if you want to get a driver's licence, you go in, you pay your money and half an hour later, you're walking out. Done," he said.

Proud said he understands the federal government has to be careful not to let criminals into Canada, but he still believes the system can be more efficient.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington said there is approximately 300 files involving applications from people in the NWT.

"It's an ongoing problem area since I've been an MP for eight years," he said, noting there are many rules and it is sometimes a very difficult process. "Even in good time, it can take between 18 months and three years, if everything goes right."

Bevington said his office in Yellowknife has dealt with "hundreds and hundreds" of sponsorship files over the past eight years.

The MP explained part of the problem is specific rules about how much time can elapse between security checks.

"For instance, if somebody gets a security clearance and then the process takes too long, then the security clearance is null and void. They have to go back and get another one," he said.

Bevington added there are concerns over arranged marriages.

"They're looking very closely at marriages to make sure these are not just marriages of convenience to get somebody into Canada," he said.

The MP also points to government cuts, both by the Conservatives and the Liberals before them.

"The immigration system, like most of the federal department, has been cut to the bone with these Conservatives over the last number of years," he said. "They want immigration and yet they reduce the number of people working in the system. That seems to me to be counterproductive."

Bevington said it will continue to be a problem without spending the money to hire people to do the job right.

"Our country relies on immigration and I really find it quite absurd that we make it so difficult for families to reunite," he said, adding the government should not be in the business of making it hard for people to succeed when they immigrate to Canada.

"I think that our concern over a few bad apples in the bunch is a little overdone. I think, perhaps, that could be handled better," Bevington said. "I think that definitely we need more personnel working on these immigration files for the federal government. We also need to ensure that the embassies in many of these countries have Canadian-trained staff there."

According to the Citizenship and Immigration website, people who can be sponsored into the country include spouses, common-law partners, dependent children, parents, grandparents, adopted children, children to be adopted, orphans and other family classes.

Since 2006, Canada has welcomed the highest sustained levels of immigration in this country's history - an average of 257,000 newcomers each year.

"We have taken action to improve processing times and reduce backlogs, and will continue to do so," said Sonia Lesage, a spokesperson for the western region of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. "We are improving the way we process and grant applications so that it's faster and more efficient."

Lesage said processing times for spousal applications vary over time, depending on factors such as whether the sponsored spouse lives inside or outside of Canada, the number of applications received, the complexity of the case and the need for additional documentation.

Applications are processed in the order in which they are received.

"Canada has one of the most generous family reunification programs in the world," said Lesage. "We admit more parents and family members than most other developed countries."

She noted since Citizenship and Immigration Canada launched an action plan for faster family reunification two years ago, it has reduced the backlog by nearly 50 per cent.

"Had no action been taken over the long term, it was predicted that the backlog could have increased to 250,000 persons with wait times of 15 years by 2015," she said.

Canada admitted more than 50,000 parents and grandparents over 2012 and 2013, and plans to welcome an additional 20,000 parents and grandparents in 2014.

"These numbers represent the highest level of parent and grandparent admissions in nearly two decades, demonstrating Canada's commitment to family reunification," said Lesage.

The website includes estimated processing times for various types of relatives, which include assessments of both the sponsor and the person being sponsored.

Proud has been working as the head of public works with the Hamlet of Enterprise for three years. Prior to that, the 60-year-old was retired for a decade in the Philippines.

The last contact he or his wife had with the Canadian embassy in the Philippines or Citizenship and Immigration Canada was Febuary 2013.

"My wife could have come a year ago in November, except we weren't willing to just leave my son," he said, noting the government wanted an adoption process to finalize - which it now has - before it would let the boy come to Canada.

On April 23, Proud's wife in the Philippines received a call from the Canadian embassy.

"They were requesting more documents and they're proceeding with our case. I don't know if it's a coincidence or if it is because of the interest that the media had focused on them that we're finally getting some action," he said, referring to calls by News/North to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

"I'm very happy," Proud said of the latest development. "Now, all we have to do is the other 300 families in the North."

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