IRCC shares the PR application processing plan for 2025, i.e., Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced which permanent residence (PR) applications it aims to process in 2025, while making it clear that not all inventories will be cleared this year.
According to IRCC’s most recent Minister Transition Binder, only selected PR streams such as Express Entry programs, Express Entry-linked Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams, IRCC community pilots, and Quebec’s skilled worker pathway will have their entire inventories processed within the year.
Meanwhile, other economic immigration programs will only see partial inventory processing based on their specific pathway targets.
Programs Expected To Be Fully Cleared In 2025
IRCC plans to clear the full application inventory for the following economic immigration streams this year:
- Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
- Community Pilots
- Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
- Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)
- Enhanced PNP streams (Express Entry-aligned)
- Quebec Experience Class (PEQ)
- Quebec’s Pilot Programs
- Quebec Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ)
For other economic PR pathways, only a portion of the application backlog will be processed in 2025:
| 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 (Not Express Entry-aligned) | 35% |
| Quebec Business | 3% |
| Start-up Visa | 2% |
Express Entry
As IRCC shares the PR application processing plan for 2025, let us discuss all about Express Entry.
Well, all active Express Entry streams are expected to have their full application inventory processed this year. This includes the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Worker programs (FSWP and FSTP).
| PR Pathway | Application Inventory As Of September 11 | Applications To Be Processed This Year |
| CEC | 19,300 | 19,300 |
| FSW | 12,500 | 12,500 |
Application wait times (in months) over the last year for these pathways are given below:
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
| FSW | 6 months | 5 months | 6 months | 6 months | 6 months |
| CEC | 6 months | 6 months | 6 months | 7 months | 5 months |
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams linked to Express Entry, known as enhanced PNP streams, are set to have their entire application inventory processed in 2025.
In contrast, PNP streams not connected to Express Entry, referred to as base PNP streams, will see only 35% of their applications processed this year. Moreover, these base streams include all remaining PNP pathways that do not use the Express Entry system for selecting candidates or managing applications.
| PR Pathway | Application Inventory As Of September 11 | Applications To Be Processed This Year |
| PNP (Express Entry) | 16,300 | 16,300 |
| PNP (Base) | 87,700 | 30,695 |
Application wait times (in months) over the last year for these pathways are given below:
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
| PNP (Express Entry) | 6 months | 6 months | 7 months | 7 months | 6 months |
| PNP (Base) | 11 months | 11 months | 13 months | 24 months | 19 months |
Quebec Immigration Streams
Quebec’s skilled worker programs, including PSTQ, PEQ, and Quebec Pilot Programs will have their inventories fully processed this year.
On the other hand, Quebec’s business immigration pathways (Investor, Entrepreneur, and Self-Employed Programs) will only see a small 3% portion of their inventory processed.
| PR Pathway | Application Inventory As Of September 11 | Applications To Be Processed This Year |
| Quebec Skilled Worker | 27,600 | 27,600 |
| Quebec Business | 4,100 | 123 |
Moreover, application wait times (in months) for these two classes are given below:
| PR Pathway | 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)
IRCC intends to process one-third of the AIP application inventory by the end of 2025.
| PR Pathway | Application Inventory As Of September 11 | Applications To Be Processed This Year |
| AIP | 12,100 | 3,993 |
AIP application wait times (in months) over the last year are given below:
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
| AIP | 12 months | 13 months | 17 months | 27 months | 24 months |
Federal Economic Pilots
As IRCC shares the PR application processing plan for 2025, here’s all about the federal economic pilots.
Well, Canada’s federal economic pilot programs consist of the Agrifood Pilot (now closed), caregiver programs (including the Home Care Worker Immigration Pilot, Home Child Care Provider Pilot (closed), Home Support Worker Pilot (closed), and the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP).
The table below shows the percentage of applications expected to be processed for each program in 2025, along with the corresponding number of applications this represents:
| PR Pathway | Application Inventory As Of September 11 | Percentage Of Inventory To Be Processed This Year | Applications To Be Processed This Year |
| Agrifood | 8,900 | 5% | 445 |
| Caregivers | 34,400 | 14% | 4,816 |
| EMPP | 2,500 | 12% | 300 |
Historic application wait times (in months) over the last year for these pilots are given below:
| 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 |
IRCC has also closed intake for the “applicants not in Canada” stream of the HCWP to prevent additional backlog in the caregiver category.
Federal Community Pilots
IRCC’s federal community pilot programs include the Rural Community Immigration Program (RCIP), the Francophone Community Immigration Program (FCIP), and the now-closed Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP).
Thus, for 2025, IRCC intends to process the remaining application inventory for these programs in full:
| PR Pathway | Application Inventory As Of September 11 | Applications To Be Processed This Year |
| Community Pilots | 3,500 | 3,500 |
Application wait times (in months) over the last year are given below:
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
| Community Pilots | 12 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 7 |
Start-Up Visa
IRCC will only process 2% of its large Start-Up Visa (SUV) inventory this year.
| PR Pathway | Application Inventory As Of September 11 | Applications To Be Processed This Year |
| SUV | 38,600 | 772 |
Historic application wait times (in months) over the last year for the SUV are given below:
| Program | 2024-Q2 | 2024-Q3 | 2024-Q4 | 2025-Q1 | 2025-Q2 |
| SUV | 48 | 51 | 71 | 420 | 420 |
With this detailed processing plan, IRCC is prioritizing high-impact economic immigration pathways like Express Entry, enhanced PNP streams, Quebec’s skilled worker programs, and community pilots.
Meanwhile, programs like AIP, caregiver pilots, and SUV will see slower processing rates, contributing to longer wait times and a managed backlog heading into 2026.
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