Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a) and (b), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, IRCC, understands the importance of the decisions on visa applications. IRCC recognizes that timely decisions are essential. Every case is assessed based on the information provided by the applicant and in accordance with Canada's immigration laws.
The time it takes to process an application varies according to a number of factors, such as the type of application being submitted, how well and how quickly applicants respond to requests from IRCC to provide biometrics, if applicable, and additional information, including medical examinations; how easily IRCC can verify the information provided; the complexity of an application; and resources within the integrated processing network. Processing times are regularly updated on the IRCC website at https://www.canada .ca/en/immigration -refugees-citizenship /services/application /check-processing-times.html.
With regard to (c), approximately 48,900 applicants, or 11%, who were admitted as permanent residents between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, had two or more immigration medical examinations associated to their permanent resident application. The results of an initial medical examination may have expired for a variety of reasons, which include, but are not limited to, public health measures, travel restrictions and office closures related to COVID, pending receipt of other information on a file such as background or security results from partners or supplementary information required from a client.