Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has recently published updated processing time estimates for various immigration applications, including temporary residence, permanent residence, and citizenship.
Notable changes include increased wait times for in-land spousal sponsorship within Quebec, while Parent and Grandparent (PGP) sponsorship processing times have decreased both within and outside Quebec. Additionally, India-based dependent child sponsorship processing times have seen a significant reduction of eight months.
Visitor visas have shown improvements, particularly for applicants from India and the United States.
On the other hand, work permit applications from Nigeria are experiencing longer wait times, with an additional two weeks added, while submissions from the United States have seen a one-week decrease.
This article will provide an overview of the latest processing times for temporary residence, permanent residence, and citizenship applications.
Temporary Residence Applications
Temporary residence processing times have been compared to the previous update on February 26, with the most recent data as of March 11, 2026 (or March 9 for specific application types).
Work Permits
Processing times for work permit applications have remained relatively stable, with slight improvements for applications from India and Nigeria. In-Canada work permit applications have seen a minor increase in wait time, while US-based submissions have improved by one week.
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 26) | Current (Mar. 11) |
|---|---|---|
| Inside Canada | 256 days | 259 days |
| India | 8 weeks | 7 weeks |
| Pakistan | 30 weeks | 30 weeks |
| Nigeria | 11 weeks | 13 weeks |
| United States | 10 weeks | 9 weeks |
| The Philippines | N/A | 7 weeks |
Service standards:
- In-Canada submissions (initial and extensions): 120 days
- Outside Canada submissions: 60 days
- International Experience Canada permit submissions: 56 days