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IRCC Announces 2025 Permanent Residence Application Processing Plan
Published Date: October 9, 2025

Immigration Programs That Will Clear All Backlogs in 2025

According to IRCC's plan, the following economic class permanent residence application programs will process all pending applications in 2025:

  • Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
  • Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
  • Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)
  • Enhanced Provincial Nominee Programs (Express Entry-aligned PNP streams)
  • Community Pilot Programs
  • Quebec Experience Class (PEQ)
  • Quebec Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ)
  • Quebec Pilot Programs

Immigration Programs Processing Only Partial Backlogs

Other economic immigration programs will maintain certain application backlog levels and only process a portion of pending applications. Specific processing ratios are as follows:

Immigration Program2025 Processing Ratio
Agrifood Pilot5%
Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)33%
Caregiver Pilots14%
Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP)12%
Base Provincial Nominee Program (Non-Express Entry)35%
Quebec Business Immigration3%
Start-up Visa Program2%

Detailed Data by Program

Express Entry Programs

As of September 11, the application backlog and processing plan for Express Entry programs are as follows:

Application Backlog and Processing Volume:

  • Canadian Experience Class (CEC): 19,300 applications in backlog, planning to process 19,300
  • Federal Skilled Worker (FSW): 12,500 applications in backlog, planning to process 12,500

Application Processing Time Changes (Past Year):

Program2024 Q22024 Q32024 Q42025 Q12025 Q2
FSW6 months5 months6 months6 months6 months
CEC6 months6 months6 months7 months5 months

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

The Provincial Nominee Program is processed in two categories:

Application Backlog and Processing Volume:

  • Enhanced PNP (Express Entry-aligned): 16,300 applications in backlog, planning to process 16,300
  • Base PNP (Non-Express Entry): 87,700 applications in backlog, planning to process 30,695 (35%)

Application Processing Time Changes:

Program2024 Q22024 Q32024 Q42025 Q12025 Q2
Enhanced PNP6 months6 months7 months7 months6 months
Base PNP11 months11 months13 months24 months19 months

Notably, Base PNP processing times surged to 24 months in the first quarter of 2025. Although they declined slightly to 19 months in the second quarter, they remain significantly higher than 2024 levels.

Quebec Immigration Programs

Quebec's immigration programs show a polarized trend:

Application Backlog and Processing Volume:

  • Quebec Skilled Worker Category: 27,600 applications in backlog, planning to process 27,600
  • Quebec Business Immigration Category: 4,100 applications in backlog, planning to process only 123 (3%)

Application Processing Time Changes:

Program2024 Q22024 Q32024 Q42025 Q12025 Q2
Quebec Business Immigration20 months17 months22 months108 months108 months
Quebec Skilled Worker8 months8 months11 months8 months9 months

Quebec Business Immigration processing times skyrocketed to 108 months (9 years) in 2025, reflecting severe processing delays facing this category.

Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)

Application Backlog and Processing Volume:

  • 12,100 applications in backlog, planning to process 3,993 (33%)

Application Processing Time Changes:

2024 Q22024 Q32024 Q42025 Q12025 Q2
12 months13 months17 months27 months24 months

AIP processing times significantly lengthened in 2025, increasing from 12 months in Q2 2024 to 27 months in Q1 2025.

Federal Economic Pilot Programs

Federal economic pilot programs include the Agrifood Pilot (now closed), Caregiver Pilots (including the Home Care Worker Immigration Pilot HCWP, Home Child Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot, with the latter two now closed), and the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP).

Application Backlog and Processing Volume:

ProgramApplications in BacklogProcessing RatioPlanned Processing Volume
Agrifood Pilot8,9005%445
Caregiver Pilots34,40014%4,816
EMPP2,50012%300

Application Processing Time Changes:

Program2024 Q22024 Q32024 Q42025 Q12025 Q2
Agrifood Pilot22 months32 months60 months180 months228 months
Caregiver Pilots31 months29 months27 months84 months108 months
EMPP10 months8 months10 months36 months54 months

These pilot programs experienced significant processing time extensions in 2025, with the Agrifood Pilot even reaching 228 months (19 years).

Additionally, IRCC recently closed the "applicants not in Canada" stream of the HCWP, indicating that the department will not further add to its caregiver category backlog this year.

Federal Community Pilot Programs

Federal community pilot programs include the Rural Community Immigration Program (RCIP), Francophone Community Immigration Program (FCIP), and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP, now closed).

Application Backlog and Processing Volume:

  • 3,500 applications in backlog, planning to process 3,500

Application Processing Time Changes:

2024 Q22024 Q32024 Q42025 Q12025 Q2
12 months14 months12 months12 months7 months

Community pilot program processing times improved to 7 months in Q2 2025, making it one of the few programs with faster processing speeds.

Start-up Visa Program (SUV)

The Start-up Visa program faces the most severe processing bottleneck:

Application Backlog and Processing Volume:

  • 38,600 applications in backlog, planning to process only 772 (2%)

Application Processing Time Changes:

2024 Q22024 Q32024 Q42025 Q12025 Q2
48 months51 months71 months420 months420 months

Start-up Visa program processing times surged to 420 months (35 years) in 2025, a figure reflecting the extreme processing delays and backlog issues facing this program.

Conclusion

IRCC's 2025 processing plan demonstrates clear priority divisions. Express Entry and its aligned provincial nominee programs, Quebec skilled worker immigration, and community pilot programs will receive priority processing, while the Start-up Visa, Quebec Business Immigration, and some federal pilot programs face long-term application backlogs and processing delays. Applicants should plan their immigration timelines appropriately based on the processing status of their respective programs.

Source:  https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/transparency/transition-binders/minister-2025-05/economic-immigration.html

Friendly reminder: There are many pathways to immigrate to Canada. We recommend first using UNA AI to generate an objective and neutral immigration plan, so you can gain an initial understanding of the possible immigration pathways and their requirements, and then choose to proceed with one-on-one consultations with a licensed Canadian immigration consultant partnered with UNA.
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