Study and work permits will not be available ‘fast’ in Canada, has the government ended ‘flagpolling’? understand its meaning

Canada Flagpolling: Canada has officially ended flagpolling for work and study permits at its border. In this way people will no longer be able to cross the border for work permit and study permit. According to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), foreigners with temporary resident status (foreign students and workers) in the country must submit a new online application to Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Actually, earlier people used to go out of the country for a short time and come back and get permits quickly, this is called flagpolling. By doing this the immigration process would speed up. Flagpolling has long been used by temporary residents to bypass the processing time for work and study permits. Under flagpolling, people used to go to America and then spend some time there and return to the country. This helped him/her get the permit quickly.

Security will increase on the border: Canada

The Canadian government says that stopping flagpolling will reduce the burden on the border and will also increase security. Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said, “This change will make it easier to work at the border. Canadian and American border officers will now be able to do the work for which they were trained.” Due to flagpolling, the burden on the border services of both Canada and America was increasing.

Why was flagpolling stopped?

According to CIC News, between April 2023 and March 2024, the CBSA observed more than 69,300 flagpolling cases. Most of these were in the Pacific region, southern Ontario and Quebec. The CBSA has said the border service is for people coming to Canada, not people already present. Flag polling was increasing the crowd at the border and due to this important work was getting delayed.

“Strong Canada-U.S. relations allow people and goods to move safely across the border and our borders remain secure,” said Immigration Minister Mark Miller. he/she said that this change will increase fairness, reduce crowding at the border and improve functioning. Work is also being done to strengthen the Canada-America border. The government has spent $1.3 billion over six years for drones, helicopters and border surveillance.