Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has updated its online application processing tool, providing more transparency for Canadian Permanent Residence and citizenship applicants regarding expected timelines, reports CIC News.
Applicants will be able to see when their application will be processed, which will vary depending on when they filed it and where their application is in the queue.
The IRCC update enables Permanent Residence (PR) and citizenship applicants to view an average processing time based on the selected application type and program, without considering the submission date. But now, permanent residence and citizenship applicants can view personalized processing times.
According to CIC News, now one can see tailored processing times and information about the number of people ahead of them or the total number of people waiting on a decision for The Atlantic Immigration Program, The Canadian Experience Class, The Federal Skilled Worker Program, The Provincial Nominee Program, The Self-Employed Persons Program, Quebec Business Class and the Start-up Visa Program.
The IRCC processing tool has been updated to include two questions for specific application types, providing users with a better understanding of their application’s inventory status.
Question 1: Have you already applied?
Here, you can select either “Yes” or “No.”
Question 2: When did you apply?
Here, you can input the year and date.
For example, if you choose Economic Immigration and then CEC, and yes to have applied in January 2025,
Results show – “We need more time to process your application; Last updated: October 9, 2025; People ahead of you: About 3,000 people; Total number of people waiting for a decision: About 17,900”
For Jan 2024, it shows ‘About 700 people ahead of you and About 17,900 people waiting’.
For the Atlantic Immigration Program, it shows Estimated time left: 17 months; Last updated: October 9, 2025; People ahead of you: About 6,100; Total number of people waiting for a decision: About 13,100; People applying now should be processed in: About 37 months.