Hello Community...
So IRCC have just updated their estimated processing times.
While it still shows as 5 months remaining for August 2025 applicants, the number ahead of me has significantly dropped from 41,400 to 31,900. This means that IRCC processed 9,500 applications during Sept 2026. The total number of applicants stands at ~77,600 (down from ~86,000 in Sep 2026).
For Jan 2024 applicants, there are ~9,300 files still in process, down from ~11,500. This means that IRCC processed more than 2,000 applications from 2023 and earlier in Sep 2026. For Jan 2025 applicants, there are 19,600 applications still in process. Taking into account that there were ~40,000 PR applications from protected persons in 2024, this means that ~30,000 were finalized for 2024 applicants. For us, 2025 applicants, there are still ~30,000 applications in process. At the same time, IRCC finalized ~17,000 applications.
According to my observation, IRCC has so far finalized at least 50,000 PR applications for protected persons in the past 12 months.
Why does it still show as a 5-month wait time? I think (I hope I'm wrong) that IRCC may slow down a little bit in the last 2 months of 2026, possibly waiting for the new immigration level plan to be approved?
As per IRB statistics, there were ~38,000 approved refugee claims in 2023. Add to that the appeals, PRRA, etc. maybe the number will be ~40,000. As of today, there are still ~7,000 not finalized. This represents ~17% of 2023 total applications.
As for 2024, there were ~49,000. As of today, there are still ~10,000 not finalized. This represents ~20% of 2024 total applications.
As for 2025, there were ~52,000. As of today, there are still ~30,000 not finalized. This represents ~55% of 2024 total applications. At the same time, this means that ~45% of 2025 applications were finalized, which is great, especially if we remember how long it used to take to receive PR and if we remember that there are ~19,500 still not finalized for 2022, 2023 and 2024 applicants.
While it still shows the estimated processing time as 5 months, this is only indicative. There are applications that will be finalized must faster than that. On the other hand, there are applications that could take even longer, again for various reasons.
As for Quebec, it shows that there are ~42,6500 PR applications in the inventory for protected persons, with an estimated processing time of more than 10 years. Maybe the best course of action for QC protected persons is to move out of QC. It is not an easy decision. The other route will be to wait for a deal between the federal government and QC to accelerate processing of these 42K applications. I pray for all protected persons in QC that such a deal will be reached soon.
I pray that all of us who are still patiently waiting will become PR and will be reunited with our families soon.
Good Luck everyone!
