{
  "id": 19999417,
  "title": "Lawyers unsure if extra funding can reduce massive caseload at Federal Court",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/14/lawyers-unsure-if-extra-funding-can-reduce-massive-caseload-at-19999417",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-14T15:20:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Global News",
    "slug": "global-news-globalnews",
    "url": "https://globalnews.ca/news/12151047/federal-court-funding/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The recent federal budget allocated $58 million in additional funding for court administration, but the Federal Court remains uncertain about how this funding can be used to reduce its growing caseload, which has surged since 2020. Chief Justice Paul Diner stated that they do not have detailed information on the distribution of the funding. The Federal Court handles immigration-related matters, including visa applications, refugee claims, and removals, with nearly 31,000 proceedings commenced as of September 2023, up from about 7,600 in 2020. Over 27,000 of these cases are immigration-related. The budget also aims to address resource challenges, the Official Languages Act compliance, and modernizing court infrastructure. The funding is set to begin in the 2027/28 fiscal year and will continue for four years, averaging $14.5 million annually.\n\nImmigration lawyers question whether the additional funds will significantly alleviate the caseload, given the dramatic increase. Jacqueline Bonisteel, an Ottawa-based immigration lawyer, noted that while the increase is welcome, the modest $58 million is insufficient to handle the surge in immigration cases, which have grown by 600% since 2020. She highlighted that it can take up to two years to resolve an immigration case, attributing the backlog to a shortage of registry staff and the complexity of routine paperwork. Zeynab Moayyed, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, added that the decrease in human interaction with the Immigration Department, due to new AI tools, has exacerbated the problem, as routine paperwork now takes weeks instead of days. Both lawyers emphasized that the underlying issues, such as the impact of AI tools and the lack of systemic solutions, need to be addressed, not just through court funding.",
  "summary": "The Federal Court asked for additional resources to handle a caseload that's ballooned to nearly 31,000 proceedings commenced as of Sept. 30 — up from about 7,600 in all of 2020.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CityNews",
        "title": "Lawyers unsure if extra funding can reduce massive caseload at Federal Court",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/14/lawyers-unsure-if-extra-funding-can-reduce-massive-caseload-at-19978209",
        "published": "2026-11-14T11:00:06.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Winnipeg Free Press",
        "title": "Lawyers unsure if extra funding can reduce massive caseload at Federal Court",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/14/lawyers-unsure-if-extra-funding-can-reduce-massive-caseload-at",
        "published": "2026-11-14T11:00:06.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}