On May 12, Canada’s immigration agency released revised processing times for different types of permanent residence and citizenship applications. Applications for Express Entry and the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) both experienced a one-month increase in processing times. This update resulted in the Canadian Experience (CEC) queue rising by more than 6,000 applicants, while the base PNP inventory grew by over 2,000.

Conversely, wait times for the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) decreased by two months, while the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) experienced a one-month reduction.

This article compares the wait times for current permanent residence (economy and family sponsorship) and citizenship applications as of May 12 with those from the previous April 7 update.

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PR: Economic immigration

The AIP is the sole economic immigration pathway that has experienced a reduction in wait time, whereas all other pathways have either stayed the same or increased.

Express Entry

The processing duration for FSWP applications has risen again, following a recent decrease that was the first in several months.

Application type	Current (May 12)	Previous (April 7)
Canadian Experience Class (CEC)	7 months	7 months
Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)	7 months	6 months
Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)*	N/A	N/A

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) do not release FSTP processing time predictions, owing to a lack of adequate data.

Service benchmark: six months for all Express Entry submissions.

Pending assessment applications in inventory:

• CEC: 60,900 (+6,300)
• FSWP: 52,000 (+7,900)

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

In just over one month, the wait time for base PNP applications jumped by one month, while remaining unchanged for base applications.

Application type	Current (May 12)	Previous (April 7)
Through Express Entry (enhanced)	7 months	7 months
Non-Express Entry (base)	14 months	13 months

Service standard: For enhanced applications, it is 6 months; for base applications, 11 months.

Pending evaluation applications in inventory:

• Improved: 14,000 (+300)
• Base: 110,200 (+2,100)

Immigration to Quebec

Processing times stay the same for the Quebec Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ) and the Quebec Business Class.

Application type	Current (May 12)	Previous (April 7)
Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ)	11 months	11 months
Quebec Business Class	78 months	78 months

Service standard: 11 months for PSTQ applications.

Pending evaluation of inventory applications:

• PSTQ: 24,800 (decreased by 900)
• Classe Affaires du Québec : 3 700 (-100)

Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)

Despite wait time projections for AIP applications remaining above three years, they have shortened by two months since the last update.

Current (May 12)	Previous (April 7)
38 months	40 months

• Standard for service: 11 months.
• Inventory applications pending evaluation: 12,900 (-300).

Alternative economic initiatives

Processing durations for the Start-Up Visa and the Federal Self-Employed Persons Program applications remain the same, with both requiring a wait of over ten years.

Application type	Current (May 12)	Previous (April 7)
Start-Up Visa	More than 10 years	More than 10 years
Federal Self-Employed Persons Program	More than 10 years	More than 10 years

None of the programs mentioned above has a publicly available service standard.

Pending evaluation applications in inventory:

• Federal Self-Employed: 8,100 (no change)
• Visa for Start-Up: 46,000 (-200)

PR: Sponsorship by family

Processing times have risen for spousal sponsorship applicants looking to settle outside Quebec, while wait times for parent or grandparent sponsorship have decreased—irrespective of location.

Application type	Current (May 12)	Previous (April 7)
Spouse or common-law partner living inside Canada	To reside outside Quebec: 25 months To reside in Quebec: 31 months	To reside outside Quebec: 24 months To reside in Quebec: 31 months
Spouse or common-law partner living outside Canada	To reside outside Quebec: 16 months To reside in Quebec: 32 months	To reside outside Quebec: 15 months To reside in Quebec: 32 months
Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP)	To reside outside Quebec: 33 months To reside in Quebec: 66 months	To reside outside Quebec: 34 months To reside in Quebec: 67 months

Service standard: The sponsorship service standard for a spouse/common-law partner outside Quebec is 12 months. IRCC does not provide service standards for different types of family sponsorship applications.

Pending assessment applications in inventory:

• Parents and Grandparents, in Quebec: 11,000 (-200)
• Partner residing in Canada, outside of Quebec: 55,200 (+1,300)
• Partenaire vivant au Canada, au Québec : 13 100 (+400)
• Partner residing outside Canada, beyond Quebec: 51,300 (+2,100)
• Partenaire vivant hors du Canada, au Québec : 18 600 (-100)
• Parents and Grandparents, outside Quebec: 43,500 (-1,400)

Citizenship

Although processing times for citizenship applications were previously declining, they have risen by a month, while applications for renunciation have decreased by 3.

Application type	Current (May 12)	Previous (April 7)
Citizenship grant	13 months	12 months
Renunciation of citizenship	7 months	10 months
Search of citizenship records	17 months	17 months

There are presently 321,100 citizenship grant applications in the inventory pending evaluation (+7,900 since April 7), with a service standard of 12 months.

Comprehending processing durations and service criteria

Processing times and service standards are often confused, even though they indicate distinctly different metrics.

IRCC processing times are meant to estimate how long an applicant might wait for a decision if the application is submitted on a specific date. For online applications, the processing timer starts upon submission. For applications submitted on paper, it starts when the application arrives at the mail intake center.

Processing durations are shown in two formats:

• Historical processing times are backward-looking metrics derived from the duration needed to complete 80% of applications within a specific category.
  
• Forward-looking processing times are estimations based on IRCC’s existing inventory and anticipated processing capabilities.

Service standards, in comparison, are organizational benchmarks set internally by IRCC. They demonstrate the department’s goal of handling 80% of applications within a set timeframe, while recognizing that more complicated issues might need extra processing time.