IRCC Updates PR, Family and Citizenship Processing Times

Canada’s immigration department updated processing estimates for permanent residence and citizenship applications on August 10, showing shorter waits in several categories compared with July 7.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program and Parents and Grandparents Program recorded improvements. Most other timelines were unchanged, while the base Provincial Nominee Program was the only major category reviewed to become slower.

Express Entry and Provincial Nominees

Canadian Experience Class processing remained at six months, while the Federal Skilled Worker Program fell from seven months to six. Both now match IRCC’s six-month Express Entry service standard. IRCC does not publish a Federal Skilled Trades Program estimate, citing “not enough data.”

CEC inventory fell by 1,800 to 59,700 applications, while FSWP inventory dropped by 3,400 to 52,400.

Enhanced PNP processing stayed at seven months, above its six-month service standard. Base PNP processing rose from 12 to 13 months, compared with an 11-month standard, even as its inventory declined by 1,400 to 102,400. Enhanced PNP inventory fell by 300 to 11,800.

Quebec, Atlantic and Other Economic Programs

Quebec’s Skilled Worker Selection Program remained at 11 months, with inventory down 1,000 to 21,200. The Quebec Business Class stayed at 75 months, with 3,700 applications awaiting assessment.

The Atlantic Immigration Program remained at 26 months against an 11-month service standard. Its inventory fell by 200 to 12,100.

The Start-up Visa and Federal Self-Employed Persons Program both remained above 10 years. Start-up Visa inventory increased by 100 to 47,600, while self-employed inventory stayed at 8,000. The federal government has described the self-employed pathway as “no longer fit for purpose.”

Family Sponsorship

Outside Quebec, inland spousal or common-law sponsorship remained at 27 months and outland sponsorship at 17 months. The Parents and Grandparents Program improved from 30 months to 29.

Inventories stood at 56,800 for inland partners, down 100; 58,000 for outland partners, up 3,900; and 39,000 for parents and grandparents, down 1,400.

In Quebec, inland sponsorship stayed at 32 months and outland sponsorship at 33. The PGP fell from 65 months to 64. Inventories were 14,000 inland, up 300; 19,000 outland, up 400; and 10,400 for parents and grandparents, down 100.

Citizenship Timelines

Citizenship grants remained at 12 months, matching IRCC’s service standard, while citizenship-record searches stayed at 17 months. Renunciation fell from seven months to four.

IRCC held 328,200 citizenship grant applications on August 10, up 2,000 from July 7.

What the Estimates Mean

IRCC says processing times are estimates, not deadlines. Actual waits can vary with case complexity, completeness and requests for more information.

The department uses historical estimates based on how long it took to finalize 80 per cent of similar cases, and forward-looking estimates based on current inventory and expected capacity. Service standards are separate performance targets. IRCC generally aims to finalize about 80 per cent of covered applications within those standards.

Processing times for permanent residence and citizenship are updated monthly, while temporary residence estimates are updated weekly. Service standards can remain unchanged for years; Express Entry’s standard, for example, was last revised in 2019.