Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has published its monthly service-standard dashboard, revealing that backlogs are once again expanding in several high-volume categories. The February 12 data—released publicly on February 13—puts the average citizenship-grant wait at 14 months, up from 13 in January, with 313,000 applicants now in queue.
Economic-class files are feeling the strain as well. Canadian Experience Class (CEC) permanent-residence processing edged up to seven months, while Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) inventories swelled to roughly 43,000. On the temporary side, work-permit extensions processed inside Canada now average 246 days, an increase of 36 days since late December.
The one bright spot is permanent-resident card renewals, which improved marginally to 30 days. Family-class sponsorship shows mixed results: spousal sponsorship outside Quebec lengthened to 15 months, but the parents-and-grandparents stream fell by two months to 35.
![IRCC’s February update shows processing times creeping upward in key streams]()
For employers, the numbers translate into longer onboarding timelines for international hires—particularly those transitioning from study permits or post-graduation work permits to permanent residence. HR teams are advised to file extensions at least eight months in advance and to build contingencies for project staffing.
VisaHQ can simplify this preparation stage. Through its digital portal (https://www.visahq.com/canada/), applicants and HR professionals can receive step-by-step guidance, document checks, and real-time status alerts for Canadian visas and permits—helping reduce errors that might otherwise add weeks or months to IRCC’s already prolonged queues.
IRCC says 80 percent of applications continue to be finalised within the published benchmarks, but advocates warn that slower citizenship and economic processing could discourage would-be applicants at a time when Canada is already tightening temporary-resident inflows.
Economic-class files are feeling the strain as well. Canadian Experience Class (CEC) permanent-residence processing edged up to seven months, while Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) inventories swelled to roughly 43,000. On the temporary side, work-permit extensions processed inside Canada now average 246 days, an increase of 36 days since late December.
The one bright spot is permanent-resident card renewals, which improved marginally to 30 days. Family-class sponsorship shows mixed results: spousal sponsorship outside Quebec lengthened to 15 months, but the parents-and-grandparents stream fell by two months to 35.
For employers, the numbers translate into longer onboarding timelines for international hires—particularly those transitioning from study permits or post-graduation work permits to permanent residence. HR teams are advised to file extensions at least eight months in advance and to build contingencies for project staffing.
VisaHQ can simplify this preparation stage. Through its digital portal (https://www.visahq.com/canada/), applicants and HR professionals can receive step-by-step guidance, document checks, and real-time status alerts for Canadian visas and permits—helping reduce errors that might otherwise add weeks or months to IRCC’s already prolonged queues.
IRCC says 80 percent of applications continue to be finalised within the published benchmarks, but advocates warn that slower citizenship and economic processing could discourage would-be applicants at a time when Canada is already tightening temporary-resident inflows.
