As Canada welcomed the year 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) celebrated a significant milestone in its efforts to manage immigration backlogs. Between November and December 2024, the number of immigration applications in processing dropped by 6.5%, from 2,267,700 to 2,119,900, marking a decrease of 64,200 cases.
What is an immigration backlog?
An immigration backlog refers to the applications that exceed the processing times set by the IRCC. These service standards are the ideal processing time targets, aiming for 80% of applications to be processed within these standards. However, increased demand can sometimes cause delays, leading to backlogs in certain categories.
As of December 31, 2024, Canada had 836,900 permanent residency applications under processing. The target for welcoming 775,000 new permanent residents between 2025 and 2026 appears well within reach.
Breakdown of Canada’s immigration backlog data
The IRCC’s data reveals that the backlog varied across different application types:
- Citizenship: The backlog for citizenship applications rose by 3.84%, reaching 40,600. This increase reflects the growing number of new applications.
- Permanent residency: The backlog for permanent residency grew by 8.4%, totalling 344,700 applications. This indicates that some categories remain under significant pressure.
- Temporary residency: Temporary residency saw the most improvement, with a reduction of 14.23%. The backlog dropped to 557,000, a sign that the IRCC has made notable progress in processing high-demand categories such as work and study permits.
Overall, the total backlog dropped by 6.4%, from 1,006,500 to 942,300 applications.
Applications processed within service standards
While the backlog showed a reduction, the number of applications processed within the IRCC’s service standards also saw fluctuations:
- Citizenship: Applications processed within service standards increased by a modest 1.19%, reaching 191,600.
- Permanent residency: The number of permanent residency applications processed on time decreased by 3.6%, bringing the total to 492,200.
- Temporary residency: The most significant drop occurred in this category, with a 12.22% decline. The number of temporary residency applications processed on time fell to 493,800.
In total, applications processed within the standards decreased by 6.63%, from 1,261,200 to 1,177,600.
IRCC’s projections for 2025
Looking to the future, the IRCC has set ambitious goals for further backlog reduction in 2025. The following are the projected backlog reductions for key application categories:
- Citizenship: The backlog is expected to improve slightly, with projections showing a reduction of around 17%.
- Express entry and provincial nominee program (PNP): Both categories are expected to maintain a 20% backlog, though further processing improvements are anticipated.
- Spousal sponsorship: The backlog is expected to hold steady at 15%.
- Temporary resident visas (TRVs): The backlog for TRVs, currently at 75%, is anticipated to decrease to 50% by February 2025.
- Study and work permits: Backlogs for study and work permits are expected to see a notable decrease, with targets of 24% and 32%, respectively.
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How is the IRCC reducing the backlog?
The IRCC is employing several strategies to tackle its backlog. One key initiative was the release of Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan in October 2024, which lowered targets for permanent residency admissions over the next three years. Additionally, the government plans targeted reductions in temporary resident admissions to help streamline processing.
Other measures include the introduction of virtual citizenship ceremonies, the expansion of online portals for tracking application statuses, and the implementation of the Study Permit Pilot Project. This pilot has proven to be effective, reducing the wait times for judicial reviews of rejected study permit applications from 14-18 months to under five months.
With these efforts, the IRCC is optimistically working toward reducing the immigration backlog and improving processing times for all categories, ensuring that Canada remains a welcoming destination for those seeking to build a life in the country.
