Canadians and their foreign spouses are now being reunited by the thousands
In September, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino deployed 66 per cent more staff to handle spousal sponsorship applications in Canada and set an ambitious target to process 18,000 cases between October and December.
In total, 15,999 files were finalized in the quarter, with 14,816 applications approved, 837 refused and 346 withdrawn. Two-thirds of the completed applications were from people who were physically overseas, while the rest were from inside Canada.