Canada Express Entry backlog hits 1 million, highest in three years

Canada's immigration department is again struggling with delays, with Express Entry files making up a growing share of applications stuck beyond service standards

The backlog of Express Entry applications at Canada’s immigration department has climbed to its highest level in more than three years, reversing earlier gains made in 2025.

 

Latest figures released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on January 20, 2026 show that as of November 2025, the department was carrying 1 million applications beyond its service standards. This was a marginal dip of 900 applications compared with October, but still marks the largest backlog since October 2022.

 

By the end of November, total applications across all IRCC inventories stood at 2,130,700. Of these, 1,124,900 were being processed within service standards, leaving just over 1 million categorised as backlog.

 

Express Entry delays deepen

 

Express Entry applications accounted for a growing share of the backlog. Compared with October, the proportion of Express Entry files exceeding service standards rose from 27 per cent to 32 per cent.

 

Express Entry is not a visa programme in itself but an online system used to manage skilled worker permanent residence applications under three economic streams:

 

Federal skilled worker programme

Federal skilled trades programme

Canadian experience class

 

Applicants submit an online profile and are ranked under the Comprehensive Ranking System, which scores candidates on factors such as age, education, work experience and language ability. Those with the highest scores are invited to apply for permanent residence through periodic draws.

 

IRCC’s own projections had expected Express Entry backlog levels to stay closer to 25 per cent. The 32 per cent figure recorded in November is the highest since October 2022, when nearly half of all Express Entry files were overdue.

 

Backlog trend through 2025

 

After steady declines early in the year, the overall backlog began rising again from May onwards.

 

Month-wise backlog figures for 2025 show:

 

January: 891,100, down 5.33 per cent from December

February: 821,200, down 7.95 per cent

March: 779,900, down 5.03 per cent

April: 760,200, down 2.53 per cent

May: 802,000, up 5.5 per cent

June: 842,800, up 5.02 per cent

July: 901,700, up 6.98 per cent

August: 958,850, up 6.33 per cent

September: 996,700, up 3.95 per cent

October: 1,006,700, up 1 per cent

November: 1,005,800, down 0.09 per cent

 

An application is counted as backlog when it is not finalised within IRCC’s published service standards for that category.

 

Permanent residence applications

 

As of November 30, IRCC held 941,600 permanent residence applications in its inventory, up by 12,800 from the end of October.

 

This category includes:

 

Express Entry

Express Entry-aligned provincial nominee programmes

Family sponsorship applications

 

Of the total PR inventory, 426,600 applications, or 45 per cent, were within service standards. The remaining 515,000 were classified as backlog.

 

Within this:

 

< Express Entry backlog stood at 32 per cent, up from 27 per cent a month earlier

< Express Entry-linked provincial nominee applications saw backlog rise from 51 per cent to 53 per cent, the highest level since March 2022

< Family sponsorship backlog remained unchanged at 20 per cent

 

Between January 1 and November 30, 2025, IRCC made 414,700 decisions on permanent residence files and admitted 367,500 new permanent residents.

 

Temporary residence applications

 

Temporary residence inventories showed some improvement. As of November 30, IRCC had 942,000 temporary resident applications on hand, down from 999,100 at the end of October.

 

These include applications for work permits, study permits and visitor visas.

 

Of the total:

 

< 507,600 applications, or 54 per cent, were within service standards

< 434,400 were counted as backlog

 

Breaking this down further:

 

< Work permit backlog eased slightly from 50 per cent to 49 per cent, still above the department’s projected 44 per cent

< Study permit backlog fell sharply from 41 per cent to 36 per cent, below the projected 37 per cent

< Visitor visa backlog remained unchanged at 57 per cent for the third consecutive month, above the projected 54 per cent

 

Between January and November, IRCC finalised 557,400 study permit applications and 1,221,300 work permit applications, including extensions.

 

Citizenship grant applications

 

Citizenship applications continued to see gradual pressure build. As of November 30, IRCC had 247,100 citizenship grant applications in its inventory, up by 7,200 from October.

 

Of these:

 

< 190,700 applications, or 77 per cent, were within service standards

< 56,400 applications, or 23 per cent, were categorised as backlog

 

This marks the fifth straight month in which the citizenship backlog has risen by about one percentage point. During November alone, IRCC granted citizenship to 25,100 applicants.

 

How IRCC defines backlog

 

IRCC uses service standards as internal benchmarks to track processing timelines across application types.

 

For instance:

 

Express Entry applications have a six-month processing target

Family sponsorship applications have a 12-month target

 

Any application that exceeds these timelines is classified by the department as part of its backlog.