Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released an update on January 20, 2026, showing a backlog of over 1.0 million cases as of November 30, 2025. The backlog remains steady, with pressure increasing on permanent residence applications, particularly within the Express Entry and Express Entry–aligned Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams. IRCC is currently handling 2,130,700 applications in total across various categories, out of which 1,005,800 are considered backlogged, accounting for approximately 47.2% of the total applications.
Compared to the previous report from October 31, 2025, the backlog numbers have seen minimal changes, but there have been significant shifts at the category level. Temporary residence applications have shown improvements, while permanent residence applications have worsened.
Snapshot: October 31 vs November 30
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- Inventory: 2,130,700 (Nov 30, 2025) vs 2,182,200 (Oct 31, 2025)
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- Backlog: 1,005,800 (Nov 30, 2025) vs 1,006,800 (Oct 31, 2025)
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- Within service standards: 1,124,900 (Nov 30, 2025) vs 1,175,500 (Oct 31, 2025)
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- Backlog %: 47.2% (Nov 30, 2025) vs 46.1% (Oct 31, 2025)
IRCC notes that these figures are approximate due to privacy-driven rounding and suppression in specific tables. In November, there has been a noticeable shift in the backlog distribution, with temporary residence applications improving while permanent residence applications are under increasing pressure.
Category-by-category: where the backlog is moving
As of November 30, 2025, there were 941,600 permanent residence applications in inventory, out of which 515,000 were backlogged. This represents a significant increase in the permanent residence backlog compared to the previous month. Express Entry and Express Entry–aligned PNP streams have seen a rise in their backlogs, indicating a growing workload in these high-volume economic pathways.
Temporary residence applications have shown improvement, with study permits witnessing a notable decrease in the backlog. However, visitor visas continue to face significant backlogs, possibly due to upcoming events like the FIFA 2026 World Cup.
Citizenship grant applications have also seen an increase in backlogs, with a higher backlog share compared to earlier in 2025. The backlog percentage has risen from the previous month, indicating a growing workload in this category as well.
