Spotlight: Immigration

The time tax refers to the many hours that people spend doing paperwork or other tasks just to receive government services and supports. At its worst, the time tax can be regressive, wasteful, and ineffective. Despite this, the time tax often flies under the radar. We think it deserves more attention. This is the seventh article in our series on the time tax, the harms it causes, and how it might be fixed.

Many people’s first interaction with Canadian government services happens when they apply to immigrate to Canada. This isn’t always a good start. The immigration process harbors many of the worst aspects of the time tax, reducing trust in government right from the first impression.

Applying for permanent residency can be an especially frustrating and time-consuming process. Depending on who you are and how you’re applying, some combination of paperwork is required, including police certificates, medical exams, proof of funds, birth certificates, marriage certificates, photos, credential assessments, and proof of job offers.

But among the legitimate requirements related to security and immigration selection criteria are some more arbitrary administrative requirements. Notably, language tests are required for skilled worker immigration programs, even if the applicant is from an English-speaking country or has educational credentials from an English-speaking institution. In these cases, language tests can be a waste of time and effort.

Beyond the sheer number of requirements, immigration applications are unnecessarily complicated. Immigration forms are difficult to follow, often featuring hundreds of pages, bureaucratic jargon, and little supporting detail. Further, applications can be assessed based on how closely instructions are followed, not just whether it is a strong application — meaning that entire applications can be returned for a misplaced signature.

Alongside the complexity, immigration bureaucracy is high stakes. A returned application can lead to lengthy delays and making it through the immigration process in a timely manner is pretty fundamental to living your life how you wish. With the complexity and the stakes, hiring an immigration lawyer is often necessary, adding a high financial and time cost to comply, and stacking the cards against people who can’t afford the fees.

Administrative burdens don’t always come in the form of paperwork. They can also appear as long wait times, delays, or missing information. This was, unfortunately, highlighted in Canada over the course of 2021–2022, when the country faced significant immigration application backlogs. As a result, people were left unable to visit or live with their family, start new jobs, or make major life decisions. They were also left unsure of when their situation might change; the lack of transparency around one’s immigration application means that the entire process is essentially a black box. These service challenges reflect a common theme: people’s money is recognized as valuable, but their time is not.

Time taxes can be a purposeful yet subtle gatekeeping tool. As Tony Keller notes in the Atlantic,

“Canada has a border wall — in a sense. In fact, it has five of them. Four are geographic, the fifth is bureaucratic.”

In other words, immigration bureaucracy (and decisions not to simplify it) is a choice made to manage immigration in a discreet way. On the other hand, time taxes can also be the result of accidental, unnecessary bureaucracy. If, as government has suggested, Canada is truly in a global competition for talent and looking to present itself as a great place to build a business, a complex immigration process is a counterproductive first impression. And these only cover the time taxes immigrants face before arrival — not to mention the hurdles to maintain visas, navigate professional licensing, or pursue citizenship.

Progress is being made, however. IRCC is “expanding the use of advanced data analytics” to process applications, broadening eligibility for online applications, and is developing a new digital case management system. This progress should be welcomed, and it could serve as an example of how efforts to reduce time taxes can also be popular. Few are likely to complain that their immigration application was processed too efficiently. But efforts to reduce bureaucracy should come alongside a new mindset: one that values people’s time in the same way that it values people’s money, and one that does not see security and simplicity as a zero-sum game.

By Khiran O’Neill