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On October 21, 2025, MLT Aikins immigration lawyer Reis Pagtakhan spoke to CBC Information Radio about newly extended wait times for immigration programs – waits that can extend up to 50 years for some categories of permanent residency.
The expected wait times, outlined in the newly released Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Minister's Transition Binder, indicated that wait times for applicants from certain immigration streams can extend up to 600 months (or 50 years).
"It's really the business programs, the refugees and the humanitarian categories where the waits are going to be excessively long, where it's going to be decades or at least a decade," said Reis to CBC's Marcy Markusa. "There will be people who will make an application," Reis continued, "who will be retirement age by the time they get here – or have died."
While damage to Canada's longstanding reputation as immigration leaders has already begun as a result of the sudden changes to permanent residency processes over the last 18–24 months, these increased wait times will only add to the issue.
Watch the full interview on the CBC News Manitoba YouTube channel.
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