Law360 Canada (June 26, 2026, 2:41 PM EDT) -- The Federal Court has announced that as of June 26, a special order will extend the deadline to file an applicant’s record from 45 to 90 days in immigration proceedings. The court said it was “required to take this additional step in light of increasing caseload, budget restrictions, and insufficient resources.”

The court updated its Consolidated Practice Guidelines for Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection Proceedings, with amendments to paragraphs 4, 43-45 and Annex C.

“This measure aims to reduce the need for extension motions, promotes greater procedural efficiency, and alleviates administrative pressures on the Court’s Registry,” it said in its notice.

The court stated that new immigration proceedings have increased “for a fifth record-breaking year” and that they may exceed 30,000 files in 2026. This was about five times the average annual filing volume before the pandemic, from 2014 to 2019.

“This persistent surge is causing significant and sustained operational pressures on the Court and the Registry,” it said.

Court statistics further indicated that this unprecedented volume would take years to abate. It noted that new files can take up to eight weeks to be processed by the registry.

“Despite the implementation of a range of mitigation measures, the Court is operating beyond capacity and facing a historic backlog.”

The court is also observing a 54 per cent increase in urgent motions for stays of removal as compared to last year.

“If this trend continues, it will cause the backlog to grow exponentially.”

The court encouraged practitioners and litigants to review the amended guidelines in full, available on the Notices page of the Federal Court website.

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