By ALEXANDER PANETTA, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA -- Canada has reversed a decades-long trend toward longer immigration wait times, with prospective newcomers having their applications processed 12% faster last year.

The 2008 figures from Citizenship and Immigration show 80% of applications were processed within 33 months -- a four-month improvement from 2007.

The government cites the snail's pace in dealing with applications as a factor that leads educated, highly mobile immigrants to choose other countries over Canada.

But critics say the modest dip in processing times does nothing to make Canada a more attractive destination.

Wait times remain longer than they were in 2004, and business-class immigrants from some countries need to wait more than seven years to have their applications accepted or denied.

Still, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the tide has turned.

"This is a huge development," Kenney said.

"It's been at least two decades -- a generation -- since waiting times went down rather than up ... We're talking about highly skilled, economic immigrants and we're competing with places like Australia, New Zealand and the United States for the best and the brightest."

Kenney credited the shift in part to $109 million that helped hire visa workers, but also to legislative reforms and administrative changes.

But opponents aren't impressed.

They point to a series of rough patches in the Conservatives' track record.

The processing times for family members actually went up in 2008 -- 20% for dependent children, and 37.5% for spouses and partners.

Up to 80% of spouses now have their cases processed within 11 months, up from eight months in 2007, while 80% of children are now processed within a year, up from 10 months in 2007.

Critics also point to wild discrepancies from one country to the next: 80% of those from Asia had their files processed within 55 months, compared with only 21 months for the Americas.

The longest waits were from India -- where 80% of applications were handled within 72 months; Pakistan, where it took 67 months; and the Philippines, where it took 56 months.