SYDNEY, Nova Scotia, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Increased demand for Canadian citizenship has applicants waiting as long as 19 months for the application process to be completed, officials said.
The Citizenship and Immigration Canada office in Sydney, Nova Scotia, which has been swamped since the handles citizenship applications for the entire country, the Immigration Act was changed in 2009.
The office also is responsible for processing tens of thousands of permanent resident cards.
"Really it's just a question of enough resources to process all the applications we receive," CIC operations manager Paul Snow told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. "Citizenship and Immigration as a department has a fixed amount of resources and we're facing increasing applications in all of our program areas".
Some say delays are too long.
"I don't think this is a good way of welcoming our fellow Canadian citizens-to-be, considering the fact that they pay all kinds of taxes," said Edward Chung, president of the Korean Association of Prince Edward Island.
UPI
