Processing times rise for permanent residence and citizenship applicants

Canada’s immigration department released updated permanent residence (PR) and citizenship processing times on September 3, showing lengthening wait times for several application types.

Three categories saw processing times rise by one month—the largest increase recorded in the update:

By contrast, processing times shortened by one month for the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) and for spousal sponsorship within Canada, outside Quebec.

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Many PR applicants residing in Canada have the opportunity to apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP), which lets them maintain their status while awaiting a decision on their PR application, provided they apply before their current work permit expires—and their spouse or common-law partner may also qualify for an open work permit.

This article examines the latest processing estimates for economic immigration, family sponsorship, and citizenship applications alongside those reported on August 10.

Processing times for FSWP applications rose by one month as the inventory increased by 1,400 applications. CEC timelines saw no change, despite 800 applications being processed since August 10.

*IRCC does not publish processing times for FSTP applications, citing “not enough data.”

Service standard: Six months across all Express Entry programs.

Applications in inventory awaiting assessment:

PNP processing times remained unchanged, despite IRCC processing 900 base applications and adding 1,000 enhanced applications to its inventory.

Service standard: Six months for enhanced PNP applications; 11 months for base PNP applications.

Many base PNP applicants can now apply for Bridging Open Work Permits (BOWP)s before receiving Acknowledgement of Receipts (AOR) for their PR application, under a special temporary measure that came into effect on June 9, 2026.

Despite IRCC processing 800 PSTQ applications and no QBC applications over the past month, processing times for both programs remained unchanged.

Service standard: Six months for PSTQ applicants, unpublished for QBC applications.

Processing times under the AIP remained fixed at 26 months for a fourth consecutive month, even with 300 fewer applications in IRCC’s inventory.

Wait times under the Start-Up Visa Program and Federal Self-Employed Persons Program continue to exceed 10 years, as thousands of applications await processing.

Service standards are not available for the above programs.

In-Canada spousal and parent or grandparent sponsorship processing times each declined by one month, while out-of-Canada spousal processing increased by one month, mirroring changes in application inventories.

Service standard: 12 months for sponsorship of a spouse/common-law partner outside Quebec; IRCC does not publish standards for other application types.

Parent and grandparent sponsorship was the only category to see a shorter processing timeline, declining by one month alongside a 100-application drop in inventory.

IRCC does not provide published service standards for those intending to settle within Quebec.

The only change observed among the citizenship application types reviewed below was for search of citizenship records, which saw an one-month increase.

Service standard (grants): 12 months.

IRCC’s citizenship grant inventory stood at 327,100 applications as of September 3, down 1,100 from August 10.

For the latest information on proof of citizenship certificate processing times, see our dedicated coverage.

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How processing times and service standards differ

While both processing times and service standards provide information about IRCC application timelines, they measure different aspects of processing.

Processing times give applicants an estimate of how long their type of application may take to finalize. These timelines are not guarantees, and individual cases can take more or less time than the published estimate.

Processing-time estimates may be:

Factors such as application completeness, case complexity, and requests for additional information or supporting documents can all affect how long processing takes.

By comparison, service standards are benchmarks IRCC sets for how quickly it intends to process certain types of applications under normal circumstances.

For most programs subject to a service standard, the department aims to process about 80% of applications within the stated target.

Processing times are updated more regularly than service standards.

PR and citizenship timelines are generally revised monthly, while temporary residence timelines are updated weekly. Service standards can remain unchanged for years, including those for Express Entry, which were last revised in 2019.