Thank you, Madam Chair.
Welcome, Minister, as always.
Minister, earlier my very good friend on the other side, Bob Saroya, asked you a question about this person. My sympathy goes to those families as well. You know that we had many cases like that one as well. We came to you and you [Inaudible--Editor] Before you brought in another minister's regulation or order in council, we were not able to bring those families here because they did not fit in that category. I appreciate all of the great work you have done over the last many months. Make sure that we keep up that great work.
Now going to the real question here, Minister, before the COVID-19 pandemic, permanent and temporary resident applications had been increasing greatly over the past number of years. At the same time, IRCC reduced processing times and inventories. By 2019, the number of temporary resident visa applications received from around the world had increased 80% from 2013 levels. Also in 2019, over 550,000 temporary workers were issued work permits, including extensions to work in Canada, and 87% of new work permit applications were finalized within 60 days of the service standard.
Could you please elaborate on some of the processes put in place that have allowed the department to process applications in a timely manner and reduce the backlog at the same time?