IRCC Backlog Decreases as Canada Improves Visa Processing Time in 2025
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The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) continues to make significant strides in managing its application inventory, which currently stands at over 2 million as of February 24 2025.
The backlog has seen another monthly reduction of 50,200 applications following a 64,200 decrease in the previous month, reflecting their sustained progress in clearing pending cases
Key Highlights
- The IRCC backlog i.e. applications exceeding standard processing time continues to witness decline, easing wait times for applicants
- As of January 31, 2025 the total application count stood at 2,076,000
- Over 7 million decisions were finalized in 2024 demonstrating the departments efficiency and scale
Backlog Insights and Increasing Processing Performance
- Citizenship: 42,000 applications were delayed in January (up from 40,600 in December), while 196,600 applications remained within service standards. The backlog rate stands at 17.6%.
- Permanent Residency: The backlog increased from 344,700 in December to 356,400 in January, with 483,500 applications processed within standard processing times. High volumes and resource allocations impacted this category
- Temporary Residency: Backlog numbers drop from 557,000 in December to 493,700 in January, indicating improved processing times
Future Projections for Immigration Backlog in 2025
Category wise future projections for immigration backlogs in 2025 is as follows:
|
Category |
Projected March 2025 |
Projected February 2025 |
Actual January 2025 |
Projected January 2025 |
|
Citizenship |
17% |
17% |
18% |
16% |
|
Express Entry |
20% |
20% |
20% |
20% |
|
Provincial Nominee Program |
20% |
20% |
30% |
20% |
|
Spousal Sponsorship |
15% |
15% |
15% |
15% |
|
Temporary Resident Visas |
45% |
50% |
71% |
62% |
|
Study Permits |
15% |
24% |
45% |
33% |
|
Work Permits |
24% |
32% |
42% |
40% |
- The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) backlog, is expected to decrease from 30% to 20% by March 2025.
- Study and work permit processing is expected to improve significantly
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IRCC’s commitment to processing 80% of applications within standard timelines is yielding positive results with temporary residency showing marked improvement, however PR yet remains an area to watch out for. With continued focus these trends signal a promising outlook for applicants awaiting their decisions.
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