International students facing visa delays due to a backlog of Canadian immigration applications are unsure if they will arrive in time for the fall semester as Ottawa works to determine whether it can prioritize September applications.

Federal data shows that as of the end of July, 34 percent of pending international student visa applications were taking longer to process than the standards dictate.

Humaira Khan, an international recruitment student based in Montreal and CEO of Logic Academic Services, said, "I have seen a significant delay at the moment." Khan said she had never seen such a large number of students waiting for visas just weeks before classes begin.

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser also stated that the department began attempting about a month ago to find out if it could prioritize students scheduled to start their studies in September.

So far, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has processed more than 360,000 study permits, a 17 percent increase over the same period in 2004.

Government standards state that the application should take about two months to process, but between December 2020 and November 2021, the average waiting time was 82 days.