IRCC makes decisions on Protected Person PR applications within the limits of Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan, which is set each year and tabled in Parliament. For 2025, the government capped the number of Protected Persons in Canada (and their dependents abroad) at 20,000 admissions. This means that even if thousands of applications are already fully processed and marked “ready for final decision,” officers cannot finalize them all at once — they must pace approvals so the total number of landed protected persons does not exceed the yearly quota. Inside IRCC’s system, cases are often grouped and processed in batches rather than one-by-one each day. When assessments (eligibility, medical, security, background) are complete, the file goes into a “ready for decision” queue. Officers then review these case groups, but the final sign-off is timed against available quota space. This explains why many applicants see no progress for months even though all checks are done — their file is essentially waiting for a landing spot to open under the 20,000 cap. Once quota space is available, officers can quickly flip those “ready” files to Decision Made (DM) and issue the Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) in a short batch.
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