Canada’s Immigration Inventory Climbs Above 1.5 Million

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has released its latest monthly figures showing how many permanent residence, temporary residence and citizenship applications remain in its system.

The data, published on August 18, 2026, reflects IRCC’s inventory as of June 30, 2026.

During the first six months of the year, the department finalized 2,011,375 applications, including 362,410 in June.

Despite that processing activity, IRCC’s total inventory rose to 1,539,785 applications, an increase of 22,015 from the end of May.

Permanent Residence Inventory Increases

IRCC had 712,795 permanent residence applications awaiting finalization at the end of June, up 7,480 from the previous month.

Economic immigration accounted for 249,555 applications, an increase of 11,220. About 77% were being processed, while 23% were waiting for future processing because of limits on available permanent residence admissions.

Economic programs include Express Entry, federal business streams, the Provincial Nominee Program and the Atlantic Immigration Program.

IRCC finalized 141,105 economic immigration applications during the first half of 2026, including 30,105 in June.

The family category reached 163,780 pending applications, up 4,015 from May. IRCC said 59% were being processed while 41% were waiting for available space.

The category includes what IRCC describes as “reunification and international adoptions,” including sponsorship for spouses, partners, dependants, parents and grandparents.

Another 299,460 applications were pending under the protection category, the largest permanent residence group in the inventory. That total increased by 7,755 from May.

Temporary Residence Numbers Show Mixed Movement

IRCC reported 401,280 temporary residence applications awaiting final decisions as of June 30.

Pending work permit applications declined by 7,385 to 27,655. IRCC finalized 161,325 work permit files during the first six months of 2026.

Study permit applications moved in the opposite direction. The inventory increased by 4,855 to 36,520, while 99,075 applications were finalized between January and June.

Visitor visas continued to represent the largest temporary residence workload. IRCC had 337,100 visitor visa applications awaiting decisions, down slightly by 265 from May.

The department finalized 1,306,055 visitor visa applications during the first half of the year, including 232,300 in June.

Citizenship Certificate Inventory Rises

IRCC also reported 425,710 citizenship applications awaiting finalization.

Citizenship grant applications fell sharply to 326,365, a month-over-month decrease of 82,020. Canada recorded 162,020 new citizens during the first half of 2026, including 30,600 in June.

However, proof of citizenship certificate applications increased significantly.

IRCC had 99,520 certificate applications awaiting finalization at the end of June, up 17,500 from May. The figure includes applications for new or replacement citizenship certificates.

A total of 31,980 certificates were issued between January and June, with 3,040 issued during June.