Newly released data from March 2026 shows a significant shift in Canada’s refugee and immigration processing, marked by a record 8,584 finalized protection claims that outpaced new intakes for the first time in years. This surge in productivity led to the first notable decrease in the pending claim inventory since 2024, bringing the total down to 295,522. However, while initial claim backlogs eased, the Refugee Appeal Division faced its highest volume of new filings to date with 1,432 appeals, causing that specific pending inventory to climb to a record 4,947 cases. Similar trends of high output were observed in the Immigration Appeal Division, which finalized 349 matters even as new filings remained steady, reflecting a system-wide push to address growing administrative pressures amid fluctuating global displacement.