OTTAWA, Oct. 16-- More than 200,000 people have become Canadian citizens since the start of 2014, according to Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Ministry Thursday. The citizenship backlog has been reduced by 13 percent since last June to its lowest level since spring 2012. These achievements are among the direct results of the Canadian government's recent changes to citizenship processing, said Chris Alexander, Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister.

Nearly 50,000 people have become Canadian citizens since a new decision-making process came into effect on Aug. 1 this year. That is a 172 percent increase from the same period last year.

Recent changes allow decision-making officers to make progress on the backlog of so-called "non-routine" cases, including ones where residency questions persist. Almost half of all cases in which a residency questionnaire (RQ) was issued prior to November 2013 have been resolved with the applicants receiving their citizenship.

Thousands more applicants who have been issued residency questionnaires are about to write their tests. The files will be evaluated by a record number of decision makers with the onus on applicants to prove they meet the requirements.

The ministry's statistics show Canada has enjoyed the highest sustained levels of immigration in its history since 2006, an average of 250,000 newcomers each year.