Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani is scheduled to meet with the chief justices of Canada’s four federal courts on Friday, as budget shortfalls weigh on federal courts, including efforts to clear a backlog of immigration applications in three major cities. The move comes after the company warned it was putting “significant” pressure on its operations. .
Federal courts alone estimate that the number of filings this year is expected to increase by almost 50 percent.
The four courts also said there is an estimated $35 million annual difference in funding that impacts court operations. The National Post first reported Thursday on the budget challenges facing the court.
In a statement to CBC News, the Courts Administration Service (CAS) said: “At a minimum, cases will take longer to hear and modernization efforts will be delayed or halted, resulting in negative impacts on litigants and access to justice. There will be disadvantages.” This independent federal agency has jurisdiction over the Federal Court and Canada’s three other federal courts, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Canadian Courts Martial, and the Tax Court of Canada.
“Immigration cases are already delayed and are not being heard within statutory deadlines,” CAS said.
The report predicts that federal courts will file 24,000 immigration and refugee cases this year, a 44% increase compared to 2023 and a pre-COVID-19 average. He pointed out that this amount is four times the number of lawsuits filed.
According to CAS, nearly 500 cases have been postponed beyond the required 90-day limit in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The additional waiting time is nine weeks in Toronto and Vancouver, and 12 weeks in Montreal.
It also said the Federal Court Registry can process only half of the documents it receives within its 48-hour service standard. “The current situation could increase the overall time a file is active by 3 to 30 days.”
Immigration lawyers say their clients are feeling the effects
Two immigration lawyers who spoke to CBC News said delays in the case have a serious impact on their clients.
“Given the fact that the federal courts seem to be bursting at the seams with immigration cases, it makes me think that the system is really stuck,” said Lisa Middlemiss, who practices immigration law in Montreal. ” he said.
“Processing is backlogged and people are filing lawsuits over lengthy processing delays and denials that end up on the desks of federal courts.”
Cases ranging from refugee hearings to study and work permit applications can end up in federal court after initial rejection by other courts.
“This is an access to justice issue for applicants, some of whom are in Canada, who could easily wait 14 to 18 months for a hearing,” Middlemiss said. Ta.
Vancouver immigration lawyer Erin Ross said the court’s registry “currently takes two to four weeks to receive a notice of filing.”
When CBC News spoke to her on Thursday afternoon, she said she had just received a memo saying a decision had been made on her client’s file, but could not see it because it had not yet been officially translated.
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Threat of mass deportation
The lawyers also said that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to carry out mass deportations of millions of illegal immigrants could ultimately make the current delays even worse.
“Every day we hear from people who are very scared,” Ross said. “And we don’t know how much of what’s being said will translate into policy.”
Middlemiss said that if an immigrant flees to Canada and ends up applying for asylum in Canada, “some of those cases could end up being contested if rejected; “It could end up on a judge’s desk in federal court.”
Aldo Mendoza, a graduate of the University of Ottawa’s computer engineering program, is currently awaiting a federal court judicial review of a decision by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to deny his application for a post-graduation work permit. A document that allows Mexican immigrants to work in Canada.
He said the court had not yet given him and his lawyer a hearing date, adding that this has both economic and social implications.
He says he’s worried about leaving Canada to visit family in Mexico over the holidays. This is because they do not know whether they will be allowed to enter the country again when they return.
“It makes me really anxious about whether I’ll ever have a chance to settle down or if I’ll ever be able to take control of my life again.”
Ottawa, “Identifying Sustainable Solutions”
Virani’s office said in a statement that when the justice minister meets with the four judges on Friday, he will “discuss their needs and seek to identify sustainable solutions.”
The agency also said Virani has appointed 178 judges since taking office in July 2023, with more than 96% of judicial positions nationwide filled and only five vacancies on federal courts. Ta.
The statement said Virani is “working urgently to fill the vacancies of qualified judges.”
