Federal Court staff work weekends, on vacation to keep up with cases: chief justice

The Federal Court is struggling to manage a surge in immigration cases, leading to increased workloads for staff working weekends and during vacations, according to Chief Justice Alan Diner. Immigration filings have jumped from 5,000 to 6,000 cases per year in 2014 to over 33,000 cases in 2023. The rise in cases coincides with a growing number of immigrants, asylum seekers, and permanent and temporary immigrants following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Federal Court is on track to handle more than 33,000 immigration filings this year alone, with over 14,000 cases filed between January and June 2023, and almost 1,000 cases granted hearings for judicial review. The passage of Canada's border security bill, C-12, has added pressure to the Federal Court's resources, as it limits refugee claim eligibility to within a year of arrival in Canada.

This has led to over 2,000 applications challenging the constitutionality of C-12, and a significant increase in requests for a stay of deportation. Chief Justice Diner has called for more judges to address the workload, but the government has been made aware of the request. The court is also seeing an increase in requests for technology solutions to manage the surge in cases.