Canada Adds Personalized Work Permit Processing Times

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has updated its online processing-time tool to provide more personalized estimates for certain work permit applicants inside Canada.

The change, introduced in late September 2026, allows people applying for work permit extensions and eligible post-graduation work permits (PGWPs) to see an estimated remaining wait based on the date they submitted their application.

Applicants Can See Their Estimated Remaining Wait

People using the federal government's processing-times webpage can select “Temporary residence” and then choose “Work permit extension in Canada.”

They can enter their application date to receive an estimate showing how many weeks may remain before a decision is made.

The updated page also shows how many work permit applications are ahead of an applicant and the total number of applications currently waiting for decisions.

As of September 26, 2026, the latest data available at the time of reporting showed approximately 202,900 applicants awaiting decisions.

People who have not yet applied can also check an estimated processing time based on applying on the day they use the tool.

Who Can Use the Personalized Estimate?

The application-date-based estimate applies to people inside Canada who are extending an existing work permit.

It is also available to international graduates submitting their first application for a PGWP.

Applicants who are already in Canada and are applying to change the conditions of their existing work permit are included in the work permit extension category.

Before the update, the processing-times page offered only a broader “Work permit in Canada” option. That estimate was based on the date someone checked the website rather than the date their application was submitted.

The original “Work permit in Canada” category remains available, but it now applies mainly to people inside Canada who are applying for their first work permit and are not applying for a PGWP.

Maintained Status Can Protect Work Authorization

Temporary workers who apply to extend their work permit before their current authorization expires may qualify for maintained status.

Previously known as implied status, maintained status can allow an eligible worker to continue working under the conditions of their existing permit while IRCC processes the extension application.

To benefit from this status, the worker must generally remain in Canada while waiting for a decision.

This can be particularly important for applicants facing lengthy processing periods after their current permits expire.

Temporary Measure Helps Some Provincial Nominees

The federal government also introduced a temporary measure on June 9, 2026, aimed at helping certain Provincial Nominee Program applicants extend their ability to work in Canada.

Under the measure, some applicants for permanent residence through a base Provincial Nominee Program can apply for a bridging open work permit earlier than they normally could.

Eligible applicants are temporarily exempt from the usual requirement to first receive an acknowledgement of receipt for their permanent residence application.

The measure is scheduled to remain in effect until December 31, 2026.

IRCC had previously introduced personalized processing estimates for citizenship and permanent residence applications in October 2025.