Immigration lawyers say automation is partly driving a massive Federal Court backlog - BERITAJA

The number of migration cases being brought to Federal Court has much than quadrupled since 2020 — and immoderate migration lawyers are linking the surge successful portion to the national government’s usage of artificial intelligence and automation to clear visa exertion backlogs.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada insists that exertion is not to blasted and that aggregate factors are driving the roar successful ineligible challenges of the department’s decisions.

About 6,400 immigration cases were brought to Federal Court successful 2020, a fig successful statement pinch the inclination complete the erstwhile decade. The caseload spiked sharply successful 2021, erstwhile 9,700 cases were sent to the court.

More than 28,000 cases were revenge pinch the tribunal past twelvemonth and much than 6,600 were revenge successful the first 4th of 2026. The immense mostly of these cases are not exile matters.

Jacqueline Bonisteel, an Ottawa-based migration lawyer, said the section is leaning much connected exertion to velocity up decisions connected migration files — and the value of those decisions is slipping arsenic a result.

“The usage of caller exertion and automation tools, it conscionable intends that a quality serviceman isn’t spending arsenic overmuch clip pinch the files arsenic they erstwhile did,” she said.

Five years ago, Bonisteel said, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada would connection a elaborate mentation of each determination to cull a visa application.

“It mightiness beryllium brief, but you’d person immoderate consciousness that an serviceman engaged pinch the grounds that was filed,” she said.

“And now pinch these automated determination making tools, you usually don’t get overmuch astatine all. There’s these canned lines that we spot successful almost each refusal decision.

“There’s nary motion of engagement pinch the evidence. And that really seems to beryllium a consequence of the exertion and officers being nether unit to conscionable move decisions through, without going into extent and taking a adjacent look astatine what was really filed.”

Taous Ait, Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s property secretary, told BERITAJA that IRCC’s AI and precocious analytics devices activity nether quality oversight astatine each times. She said the AI devices assistance pinch tasks for illustration “triaging applications, identifying regular cases, generating summaries for officers” and answering customer questions pinch chatbots.

“AI plays nary domiciled successful decision-making connected immigration applications. As a matter of fact, each refusal decisions are made by trained officers pursuing a afloat quality review. When an exertion is refused, applicants person correspondence explaining the reasons for the decision,” she said successful an emailed response.

The department’s first AI strategy, released earlier this year, says IRCC is utilizing the exertion to trim exertion backlogs and hold times.

The strategy says that AI could beryllium utilized to make assessments, urge options and emblem “straightforward, low-risk files” for an expedited quality decision. While the archive says AI devices could urge options, it maintains these devices do not “refuse aliases urge refusing immoderate applications.”

Despite this, migration lawyers who said to BERITAJA said they person tracked a diminution successful the value of decision-making astatine IRCC.

Nalini Reddy, an migration lawyer successful Winnipeg, said 1 of her clients saw her visitant visa exertion rejected connected the grounds that her Canadian family ties suggested she would overstay her visa.

Reddy said this tells her the exertion materials weren’t decently reviewed because while the woman’s partner is Canadian, her children, family and friends are each successful the Philippines. She said personification who examined the grounds wouldn’t person denied the visa.

“That benignant of point has happened truthful galore times successful files that I’ve seen successful the past … three, 4 years, whereas that was really an different occurrence successful the past. But now it’s commonplace,” she said.

Reddy and different migration lawyers constituent to a programme IRCC uses called Chinook. Government documents picture it arsenic a Microsoft Excel-based programme designed to “simplify the ocular representation” of customer information.

The aforesaid documents opportunity this circumstantial programme does not usage AI aliases make recommendations about exertion decisions.

Andrew Koltun, a St. Catharines, Ont., migration lawyer, said package could neglect to spot nuances successful a visa application, resulting successful much decisions that could lead to tribunal challenges.

Koltun based on the existent strategy is simply shifting IRCC’s backlog to the Federal Court.

He said that he had an Afghan exile customer who was initially refused aft an serviceman didn’t look astatine each the evidence.

“We succeeded successful judicial review, it was sent back. The 2nd determination conscionable copy-and-pasted the first reasons and past made the aforesaid error. So we’re backmost astatine Federal Court,” Koltun said.

“But now, whereas earlier his determination sewage heard successful a year, now we’re past a twelvemonth and a half and we haven’t moreover been scheduled for a tribunal hearing.”

Ait disputes the lawyers’ declare that artificial intelligence and automation is driving the spike successful migration litigation.

“The summation successful litigation earlier the Federal Court cannot beryllium attributed to a azygous factor. In caller years, IRCC has received exertion volumes that transcend the number of admissions spaces disposable nether the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan,” she said successful an email.

“At the aforesaid time, the section has processed and finalized grounds numbers of applications crossed aggregate lines of business. Higher exertion volumes, larger inventories and an summation successful the number of decisions rendered wide whitethorn lend to a corresponding summation successful litigation.”

Retired Federal Court main justness Paul Crampton told CBC News successful September 2025 that the Federal Court is dealing pinch a systemic assets shortfall that is contributing to problems pinch processing an “extraordinary” surge successful migration cases.

He said that galore of the cases successful the tribunal backlog are related to decisions connected visa applications from extracurricular of Canada and the wide emergence successful the number of group looking to travel present is starring to a emergence successful refusals and ineligible challenges.

Crampton retired successful October and his replacement has not yet been named.

Reddy based on that the increasing unit connected the Federal Court is wiping retired immoderate ratio gains from the usage of exertion astatine IRCC.

“I deliberation it’s short-sighted because it’s not causing immoderate savings of resources anywhere. It’s conscionable shifting them about and astatine the extremity of the day, my cognition is that it is creating a far, acold worse business successful position of utilization of resources,” she said.

Bonisteel agreed that the emergence successful the number of group looking to travel to Canada and tighter migration levels could successful portion explicate the caseload surge astatine the Federal Court.

Immigration cases relationship for the immense mostly of matters heard astatine Federal Court — 86 per cent of cases past year. Koltun said that having conscionable 44 Federal Court judges is not sustainable.

“I deliberation the only existent durable solution is to importantly summation tribunal resources, to beryllium honest,” Koltun said. “I would opportunity double the number of judges.”

The authorities lists 1 Federal Court judge vacancy arsenic of May 1.

Bonisteel said she thinks a caller rule that requires exile claimants to make their claims wrong a twelvemonth of their presence successful Canada will thrust up the Federal Court backlog moreover further.

After Bill C-12 became law, the authorities issued about 30,000 letters to exile claimants telling them their claims mightiness beryllium deemed invalid nether the caller rules.

“A full organization has conscionable go ineligible to make a exile declare and they’re going to diverted to the pre-removal consequence appraisal process, and those decisions we cognize are challenged successful precocious numbers,” Bonisteel said.

“That’s different broadside of this excessively that’s going to proceed to make this a problem.”

The only venue to situation a pre-removal consequence appraisal determination is the Federal Court.