Building a stronger immigration system
Canada is a top choice for people looking for a new place to work, study and build their lives with their families. Newcomers and visitors fuel our economy and add vibrancy to our communities.
Strengthening our immigration system means focusing on people, families and communities. It means giving Canada an advantage in the global race for talent and supporting our industries. It also means being flexible to respond to global humanitarian crises and help people when they need it most.
Highlights
News
- Employers and temporary workers to benefit from family work permits to address labour shortages December 2, 2022
- Government of Canada allowing more international youth to work and travel in Canada December 1, 2022
- Shaping the future of immigration through Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy November 30, 2022
See more
- Solving labour shortages in key sectors like health care, construction, and transportation November 16, 2022
- An Immigration Plan to Grow the Economy November 1, 2022
- Streamlining immigration medical examination requirements for eligible applicants October 12, 2022
- International students to help address Canada’s labour shortage October 7, 2022
- New online refugee claims portal improves client service September 13, 2022
- A stronger immigration system that better serves newcomers September 1, 2022
- Expanding the benefits of immigration in rural and northern communities August 26, 2022
- Tackling immigration backlogs to help Canadian businesses grow August 24, 2022
- New measures for foreign nationals with expired or expiring post-graduation work permits and applicants to the temporary resident to permanent resident pathways August 2, 2022
- New measures to address Canada’s labour shortage April 22, 2022
IRCC applications at a glance: Inventories and backlogs
To meet our annual immigration targets and achieve our goals, it’s important to have an inventory of applications for our programs. An inventory contains all applications received for a program that have not yet been finalized. This includes those that are processed within our service standards, as well as a backlog of applications that have been in our inventories longer than our service standards.
At any given time, IRCC is managing over 1 million applications from our inventories. In 2022, we finalized more than 5.2 million decisions across our lines of business.
Information on this page is up to date as of . Data is approximate and subject to change.
total applications in all IRCC inventories
Service Standards
Temporary residence
applications are within service standards
This is % of
total applications for temporary residence.
Permanent residence
applications are within service standards
This is % of
total applications for permanent residence.
Citizenship
applications are within service standards
This is % of
total applications for citizenship.
Backlog
Temporary residence
in backlog (exceeding service standards)
This is % of
total applications for temporary residence.
Permanent residence
in backlog (exceeding service standards)
This is % of
total applications for permanent residence.
Citizenship
in backlog (exceeding service standards)
This is % of
total applications for citizenship.
Reducing backlog
We’re taking action to reduce the backlogs of applications within our inventories. Our goal is to process 80% of applications within our service standards. This allows for expected delays in some very complex cases or when we need more information from our clients before we can finalize their files.
Our projections are estimates based on current operating conditions and may change. They don’t account for sharp increases in received applications, urgent shifts in priorities, or other unforeseen circumstances affecting our operations.
Permanent Residence
Federal High Skilled
2022-2023 Percentage of backlog of federal high-skilled applications – Actual and projected
2022-2023 Percentage of backlog of federal high-skilled applications – Actual and projected
| Month | Backlog (Actual) | Backlog (Projected) |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22 | 89% | - |
| Feb 22 | 92% | - |
| Mar 22 | 98% | - |
| Apr 22 | 99% | - |
| May 22 | 100% | - |
| Jun 22 | 100% | - |
| Jul 22 | 99% | - |
| Aug 22 | 90% | 86% |
| Sep 22 | 68% | 72% |
| Oct 22 | 45% | 59% |
| Nov 22 | 31% | 46% |
| Dec 22 | 22% | 20% |
| Jan 23 | 20% | 20% |
| Feb 23 | 20% | 20% |
| Mar 23 | 18% | 20% |
| Apr 23 | 17% | 20% |
| May 23 | - | 20% |
| Jun 23 | - | 20% |
| Jul 23 | - | 20% |
Provincial Nominee Program (Express Entry)
2022-2023 Percentage of backlog Provincial Nominee Program (Express Entry) applications – Actual and projected
2022-2023 Percentage of backlog Provincial Nominee Program (Express Entry) applications – Actual and projected
| Month | Backlog (Actual) | Backlog (Projected) |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22 | 56% | - |
| Feb 22 | 55% | - |
| Mar 22 | 54% | - |
| Apr 22 | 51% | - |
| May 22 | 47% | - |
| Jun 22 | 45% | - |
| Jul 22 | 43% | - |
| Aug 22 | 42% | 39% |
| Sep 22 | 40% | 35% |
| Oct 22 | 42% | 31% |
| Nov 22 | 42% | 28% |
| Dec 22 | 41% | 20% |
| Jan 23 | 38% | 40% |
| Feb 23 | 32% | 39% |
| Mar 23 | 30% | 32% |
| Apr 23 | 28% | 30% |
| May 23 | - | 28% |
| Jun 23 | - | 24% |
| Jul 23 | - | 22% |
Spouses, partners and children (except for Quebec)
2022-2023 Percentage of backlog of spouses, partners and children (except for Quebec) applications – Actual and projected
2022-2023 Percentage of backlog of spouses, partners and children (except for Quebec) applications – Actual and projected
| Month | Backlog (Actual) | Backlog (Projected) |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22 | 34% | - |
| Feb 22 | 32% | - |
| Mar 22 | 30% | - |
| Apr 22 | 29% | - |
| May 22 | 27% | - |
| Jun 22 | 27% | - |
| Jul 22 | 26% | - |
| Aug 22 | 25% | 24% |
| Sep 22 | 25% | 23% |
| Oct 22 | 24% | 22% |
| Nov 22 | 24% | 20% |
| Dec 22 | 24% | 19% |
| Jan 23 | 24% | 24% |
| Feb 23 | 23% | 24% |
| Mar 23 | 24% | 24% |
| Apr 23 | 23% | 24% |
| May 23 | - | 24% |
| Jun 23 | - | 24% |
| Jul 23 | - | 24% |
Citizenship
Citizenship
2022-2023 Percentage of backlog of citizenship applications – Actual and projected
2022-2023 Percentage of backlog of citizenship applications – Actual and projected
| Month | Backlog (Actual) | Backlog (Projected) |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22 | 46% | - |
| Feb 22 | 45% | - |
| Mar 22 | 42% | - |
| Apr 22 | 40% | - |
| May 22 | 39% | - |
| Jun 22 | 37% | - |
| Jul 22 | 35% | - |
| Aug 22 | 30% | 30% |
| Sep 22 | 30% | 30% |
| Oct 22 | 28% | 28% |
| Nov 22 | 29% | 27% |
| Dec 22 | 28% | 26% |
| Jan 23 | 27% | 26% |
| Feb 23 | 26% | 25% |
| Mar 23 | 25% | 24% |
| Apr 23 | 25% | 24% |
| May 23 | - | 24% |
| Jun 23 | - | 24% |
| Jul 23 | - | 24% |
Temporary Residence
Temporary resident visas (TRV)
Note
- Approximately % of temporary resident visa (or visitor visa) applications in our inventories are from the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel.
2022–2023 Percentage of backlog of temporary resident visas (TRV) – Actual and projected
2022–2023 Percentage of backlog of temporary resident visas (TRV) – Actual and projected
| Month | Backlog (Actual) | Backlog (Projected) |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22 | 70% | - |
| Feb 22 | 74% | - |
| Mar 22 | 55% | - |
| Apr 22 | 55% | - |
| May 22 | 56% | - |
| Jun 22 | 71% | - |
| Jul 22 | 67% | - |
| Aug 22 | 71% | 68% |
| Sep 22 | 74% | 71% |
| Oct 22 | 74% | 70% |
| Nov 22 | 70% | 67% |
| Dec 22 | 70% | 77% |
| Jan 23 | 68% | 68% |
| Feb 23 | 64% | 68% |
| Mar 23 | 61% | 65% |
| Apr 23 | 50% | 56% |
| May 23 | - | 42% |
| Jun 23 | - | 42% |
| Jul 23 | - | 42% |
Study permits
2022–2023 Percentage of backlog of study permits – Actual and projected
2022–2023 Percentage of backlog of study permits – Actual and projected
| Month | Backlog (Actual) | Backlog (Projected) |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22 | 42% | - |
| Feb 22 | 34% | - |
| Mar 22 | 27% | - |
| Apr 22 | 32% | - |
| May 22 | 31% | - |
| Jun 22 | 30% | - |
| Jul 22 | 31% | - |
| Aug 22 | 38% | 39% |
| Sep 22 | 31% | 42% |
| Oct 22 | 26% | 33% |
| Nov 22 | 28% | 31% |
| Dec 22 | 32% | 33% |
| Jan 23 | 35% | 36% |
| Feb 23 | 29% | 34% |
| Mar 23 | 23 % | 25% |
| Apr 23 | 18% | 22% |
| May 23 | - | 15% |
| Jun 23 | - | 15% |
| Jul 23 | - | 15% |
Work permits
Note
- Approximately % of work permits in our inventories are from the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel.
2022–2023 Percentage of backlog of work permits – Actual and projected
2022–2023 Percentage of backlog of work permits – Actual and projected
| Month | Backlog (Actual) | Backlog (Projected) |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22 | 48% | - |
| Feb 22 | 51% | - |
| Mar 22 | 29% | - |
| Apr 22 | 23% | - |
| May 22 | 26% | - |
| Jun 22 | 28% | - |
| Jul 22 | 28% | - |
| Aug 22 | 34% | 29% |
| Sep 22 | 27% | 35% |
| Oct 22 | 23% | 49% |
| Nov 22 | 24% | 55% |
| Dec 22 | 25% | 60% |
| Jan 23 | 26% | 26% |
| Feb 23 | 23% | 28% |
| Mar 23 | 18 % | 28% |
| Apr 23 | 22% | 26% |
| May 23 | - | 24% |
| Jun 23 | - | 22% |
| Jul 23 | - | 22% |
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