Super Visas and Visitor Visas get refused often. There are many reasons for refusal, depending which country a person is a citizen of: Visa-required or visa-exempt country.
Every Visitor (Super Visa included) requires travel authorization to board a plane and travel to Canada; this is in the form of either an eTA or a TRV. This is the most important part of the visa application process and when an individual is refused a visa (visitor visa, super visa, student visa, work visa), it is as a result of not getting either an eTA or TRV approved.
Visa-exempt countries only require an eTA (electronic travel authorization) which typically is easy to obtain. Non-visa exempt countries, however, require a TRV (Temporary Resident Visa) which is a much more thorough screening process and have a much higher rate of refusal- especially when individuals apply on their own. Typical processing times for TRV visas can be between 2 weeks to 4 months, depending on the visa office that is responsible for processing.
TRV Visa: Visa-required countries
A TRV visa is a type of travel authorization, much like the eTA. Individuals from Visa-required countries require a TRV visa in their passport before they are allowed to board a plane at an airport. The Canadian government has placed many countries on a non-visa exempt list to ensure individuals are screened properly before being permitted to travel to Canada.
The TRV visa application process is a lengthy one. The application asks for plenty of detailed personal and family information. In addition, many documents must be provided to strengthen and support the application. Unlike US visas that have an interview, Canada's screening process is only done by a paper application with no interview. It is extremely important to prepare a strong application as the immigration officers can make a decision based on the information provided in the application.
Many individuals do not understand the process and there is a high rate of refusal when an individual applies on their own. Normally when an application is submitted after one or more refusals, it should extensively address all the previous refusal reasons, otherwise an officer may refuse the application again.
TRV visas are refused for many reasons. They are refused for all the same refusal reasons as an eTA (see below), plus an additional 12 reasons which normally only apply to the screening process for TRV applications.
eTA (electronic Travel Authorization) visa: Visa-exempt countries
Individuals from visa-exempt countries are usually refused on grounds of inadmissibility: