Fresh IRCC data released on 20 January and analysed by Business Standard on 22 January 2026 reveal Canada’s Express Entry backlog has surpassed the one-million mark for the first time in three years. As of 30 November 2025, 1,005,800 permanent-residence files sat beyond service standards, with Express Entry streams accounting for a swelling 32 % share—up five percentage points in a single month.
Backlog creep is eroding the gains made earlier in 2025 when temporary measures and overtime shifts shrank inventories. Analysts attribute the reversal to a surge in early-autumn applications following category-based draws, plus staffing redeployments to implement the digital PR card renewal platform.
If you’re worried about how these processing delays might affect your own immigration plans, VisaHQ can help. Their platform (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) offers step-by-step guidance, document verification, and real-time status updates, helping applicants and employers navigate Canadian visa requirements more confidently during periods of uncertainty.
![Express Entry backlog tops one million applications, highest since 2022]()
The widening queue has real-world consequences. Candidates with expiring work permits risk falling out of status, forcing employers to scramble for extensions or interim LMIA-supported permits. Processing uncertainty also hampers provincial budgeting for settlement services, as admissions targets become harder to predict quarter-to-quarter.
IRCC insists it is “on track” to meet the 380,000 admissions target for 2026 and notes that study-permit and visitor-visa backlogs have declined. Yet critics warn that a 10-year wait for Start-Up Visa applicants and multi-year waits for family reunification undermine Canada’s competitiveness relative to Australia and the U.K.
Observers expect Ottawa to unveil an inventory-reduction task-force in the upcoming federal budget, potentially including surge staffing, AI triage tools and stricter completeness checks at intake to prevent files from entering the system without mandatory documents.
Backlog creep is eroding the gains made earlier in 2025 when temporary measures and overtime shifts shrank inventories. Analysts attribute the reversal to a surge in early-autumn applications following category-based draws, plus staffing redeployments to implement the digital PR card renewal platform.
If you’re worried about how these processing delays might affect your own immigration plans, VisaHQ can help. Their platform (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) offers step-by-step guidance, document verification, and real-time status updates, helping applicants and employers navigate Canadian visa requirements more confidently during periods of uncertainty.
The widening queue has real-world consequences. Candidates with expiring work permits risk falling out of status, forcing employers to scramble for extensions or interim LMIA-supported permits. Processing uncertainty also hampers provincial budgeting for settlement services, as admissions targets become harder to predict quarter-to-quarter.
IRCC insists it is “on track” to meet the 380,000 admissions target for 2026 and notes that study-permit and visitor-visa backlogs have declined. Yet critics warn that a 10-year wait for Start-Up Visa applicants and multi-year waits for family reunification undermine Canada’s competitiveness relative to Australia and the U.K.
Observers expect Ottawa to unveil an inventory-reduction task-force in the upcoming federal budget, potentially including surge staffing, AI triage tools and stricter completeness checks at intake to prevent files from entering the system without mandatory documents.
