The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has unveiled its plans for processing permanent residence (PR) applications in 2025. According to the latest Minister Transition Binder, only specific PR streams will have their total inventory cleared this year. The Express Entry programs, Express Entry-aligned Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams, IRCC’s community pilots, and Quebec’s skilled worker pathway are among those that will see their entire inventory processed. Other economic PR pathways will maintain varying inventory levels and aim to process only a portion of their inventories.

This article delves into the planned application processing, inventory management, and wait times for Canada’s federally managed economic PR pathways. IRCC intends to clear the entire application inventory for certain economic PR pathways in 2025, including The Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Community Pilots, The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), Enhanced PNP streams (Express Entry-aligned), Quebec Experience Class (PEQ), Quebec’s Pilot Programs, and Quebec Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ).

For the remaining economic PR pathways, only a portion of their application inventories will be processed in 2025. The proportions vary by pathway, with examples such as Agrifood Pilot (5%), Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) (33%), Caregiver Pilots (14%), Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) (12%), Base PNP (Not Express Entry-aligned) (35%), Quebec Business (3%), and Start-up Visa (2%).

Express Entry

All existing Express Entry streams will have their application inventories processed in 2025, including the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) programs.