PR Applications Explained : Updates from IRCC
IRCC Reveals Which PR Applications Will Be Processed in 2025
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) recently published its 2025 operational priorities, showing where the permanent residence (PR) intake will have full backlog clearing this year and where partial clearing only will occur.
Relatively few PR streams, essentially the streams related to Express Entry, the community-based pilots, and Quebec’s worker streams, will have all their application stockpiles cleared by the end of 2025, according to the most recent Minister Transition Binder from the IRCC.
Many PR streams, such as business immigration, caregiver streams, and some select economic pilots, will also have phased stock reduction depending upon capacity and demand.
Programs Expected to See Full Processing in 2025
It will consider the applications under the following streams solely:
The rest of the programs will make partial advances, as follows:
| PR Pathway | Proportion of Inventory to be Processed in 2025 |
|---|---|
| Agrifood Pilot | 5% |
| Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) | 33% |
| Caregiver Pilots | 14% |
| Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) | 12% |
| Base PNP (Non–Express Entry) | 35% |
| Quebec Business | 3% |
| Start-up Visa (SUV) | 2% |
Express Entry Programs
IRCC plans to finalize all Express Entry applications this year, including the CEC, FSW, and FSTP categories.
| PR Pathway | Inventory (as of Sept 11) | Applications to Process in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| CEC | 19,300 | 19,300 |
| FSW | 12,500 | 12,500 |
Recent Processing Times (in months):
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FSW | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| CEC | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
The Enhanced PNP streams under Express Entry will also have their complete stock cleared off by 2025. Base PNP streams, however, that are not under Express Entry will only have one-third of the backlog cleared.
| PR Pathway | Inventory (as of Sept 11) | Applications to Process in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| PNP (Express Entry) | 16,300 | 16,300 |
| PNP (Base) | 87,700 | 30,695 |
Processing timelines (months):
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNP (Express Entry) | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| PNP (Base) | 11 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 19 |
Quebec Immigration Streams
IRCC reiterated that Quebec’s skilled worker streams, namely the PSTQ, PEQ, and pilot streams, will have all their inventories processed by 2025. Quebec’s business streams- Investor, Entrepreneur, and Self-Employed- will have only 3% of the applications processed.
| PR Pathway | Inventory (as of Sept 11) | Applications to Process in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Quebec Skilled Worker | 27,600 | 27,600 |
| Quebec Business | 4,100 | 123 |
Processing timelines (months):
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quebec Business | 20 | 17 | 22 | 108 | 108 |
| Quebec Skilled Worker | 8 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 9 |
Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)
The AIP, created to lure experienced newcomers to Atlantic Canada, will have a 33% backlog eliminated by the end of the year.
| PR Pathway | Inventory (as of Sept 11) | Applications to Process in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| AIP | 12,100 | 3,993 |
Wait times (months):
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIP | 12 | 13 | 17 | 27 | 24 |
Federal Economic Pilots
These include the Agrifood Pilot, the Caregiver Programs, and the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP). While all three are on track to finalize, only a strictly limited few of the submissions will receive approval this year.
| PR Pathway | Inventory (as of Sept 11) | % Processed in 2025 | Applications to Process |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agrifood | 8,900 | 5% | 445 |
| Caregivers | 34,400 | 14% | 4,816 |
| EMPP | 2,500 | 12% | 300 |
Historic processing times (months):
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agrifood | 22 | 32 | 60 | 180 | 228 |
| Caregivers | 31 | 29 | 27 | 84 | 108 |
| EMPP | 10 | 8 | 10 | 36 | 54 |
It has also closed intake to the Home Care Worker Pilot stream from abroad-based applicants, blocking further additions to the caregiver backlog this year.
Community Immigration Pilots
The federal community programs- i.e., the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), Francophone Community Immigration Program (FCIP), and Rural Community Immigration Program (RCIP)- should have their inventories all processed by the end of 2025.
| PR Pathway | Inventory (as of Sept 11) | Applications to Process in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Community Pilots | 3,500 | 3,500 |
Wait times (months):
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Pilots | 12 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 7 |
Start-Up Visa Program
The Start-Up Visa (SUV), dedicated solely to global entrepreneurs opening businesses in Canada, will make little progress this year, clearing only 2% of the backlog.
| PR Pathway | Inventory (as of Sept 11) | Applications to Process in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| SUV | 38,600 | 772 |
Wait times (months):
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUV | 48 | 51 | 71 | 420 | 420 |
Overview: Key Amendments After September 2025
Processing time has witnessed a number of alterations with IRCC’s most recent data, from the ones released on September 10, 2025.
While programs like the Federal Skilled Worker stream underwent modest alterations, much more radical changes occurred for spousal sponsorship for Quebecers and in-Canada dependent child sponsorship- some for better, some for much worse.
Dependent Child Sponsorship
Within Canada
| Current Processing Time | Processing Time (Sept 10, 2025) |
|---|---|
| 12 months | 29 months |
IRCC achieved major progress here—reducing in-Canada dependent child sponsorship processing by 17 months.
Outside Canada
| Country | Current Processing Time | Processing Time (Sept 10, 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| India | 6 months | N/A |
| Nigeria | 18 months | N/A |
Previous timelines were unavailable for comparison, but both fall under IRCC’s 12-month service target for out-of-country dependent sponsorships.
Economic Immigration
Express Entry
| Stream | Latest processing time | Processing time as of July 23, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Experience Class | 5 months | 5 months |
| Federal Skilled Worker Program | 6 months | 6 months |
| Federal Skilled Trades Program | N/A | N/A |
All Express Entry streams are measured against a 6-month service standard.
Outlook for 2025
The IRCC’s 2025 plan exhibits strategic focus on the streamlining of the Express Entry system and the community-based immigration, the prime tools for the attainment of the long-term labour needs for Canada. The majority of the speciality and pilot streams, however, are continuing to have elongated wait times, an indication that general backlog elimination within all PR categories will likely take over 2025.
