Recent data from the Canadian immigration department reveals a surge in the Express Entry application backlog, reaching a new high since October 2022.

The latest statistics, released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on January 20, 2026, indicate that as of November 30, 2025, IRCC was handling 1,005,800 applications, showing a slight decrease from the previous month (-900).

Compared to the previous month, the backlog for Express Entry applications increased from 27% to 32%, while the backlog for study permit applications decreased from 41% to 36%.

By the end of November 2025, the total number of applications across all IRCC inventories stood at 2,130,700, with 1,124,900 applications being processed within the service standards.

Overview of IRCC’s Backlog in 2025

Month	Immigration backlog	Change relative to preceding month
January, 2025	891,100	-5.33%
February, 2025	821,200	-7.95%

An application is considered part of the backlog if its processing time exceeds the immigration department’s service standards for that specific application type.

Permanent Residence Applications

As of November 30, IRCC had 941,600 permanent residence (PR) applications in its inventory, marking an increase of 12,800 applications compared to October 31.

IRCC manages applications for Express Entry, Express Entry-aligned Provincial Nominee Programs, and other immigration streams.