As of mid-March, IRCC reports a backlog of 1,844,424 persons across all lines of business.
IRCC reports there are 1.84 million people waiting on decisions in its inventory as of mid-March.
The backlog has progressed as follows since summer 2021:
- March 15 and 17, 2022: 1,844,424 persons
- February 1, 2022: 1,815,628 persons
- December 15, 2021: 1,813,144 persons
- October 27, 2021: 1,792,404 persons
- July 6, 2021: 1,447,474 persons
The data represents the number of persons currently awaiting processing by IRCC.
Permanent residence inventory data is from March 15 and temporary residence inventory data is from March 17. The reason for the difference is when IRCC provided the March 15 temporary residence data initially, the “visitor record” data was missing. On March 17 temporary residence data was provided when requested.
Significant progress is being made on Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) applications. There are just 10,400 CEC persons left to be processed, which suggests IRCC could wind down CEC backlog by the spring. Meanwhile, tremendous progress is being made on FSWP applications. In the last two weeks, IRCC has processed more FSWP applicants than it did over a seven-month period in 2021. The department processed 4,000 FSWP persons between February 28 and March 15. At this current rate, the department could also wind down the FSWP backlog in the second half of this year.
Express Entry inventory
| Immigration category | Persons as of Mar. 15 | Persons as of Feb. 1 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Skilled Worker Program (EE) | 41,336 | 49,751 | -8,415 |
| Canadian Experience Class (EE) | 10,388 | 15,139 | -4,751 |
| Provincial/Territorial Nominees (EE) | 36,590 (EE) + 34,621 (No EE) | 68,682 (EE + No EE) | +2,529 |
| Federal Skilled Trades Program (EE) | 589 | 805 | -216 |
| Grand total | 123,524 | 134,337 | -10,813 |
The family class inventory has shown some progress in the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP), as well as the humanitarian and compassionate category. Although there was some growth in the spouses, partners, children, and other categories.
Family class immigration
| Immigration category | Persons as of Mar. 15 | Persons as of Feb. 1 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| FCH-Family relations - H&C | 3,320 | 3,350 | -30 |
| Parents and Grandparents | 35,324 | 36,046 | -722 |
| Spouses, partners, children, other family | 55,301 (spouses) + 9,166 (children and other) | 62,826 | +1,641 |
| Total Family Class | 103,112 | 102,222 | +890 |
As of the end of February 2022, the citizenship inventory is 453,265. This figure includes all prospective, mailroom estimates and unopened electronic applications.
IRCC previously reported the backlog for citizenship applicants was standing at about 448,000 on December 31, 2021.
There were about 5,000 more citizenship applications in the inventory at the end of February, compared to the end of December.
The Temporary Residence to Permanent Residence (TR2PR) pathway
TR2PR also saw an increase of about 5,400 applicants. Even though IRCC received all applications for this program between May 6 and November 5, 2021, these applications were saved in a cloud environment and not yet considered part of the inventory. IRCC received about 91,000 applications in total for the TR2PR program. As of March 15, 2022: 35,341 persons were reported in the inventory.
Permanent residence
| Immigration category | Persons as of Mar. 15 | Persons as of Feb. 1 | Difference |
| Economic Class | 230,767 | 230,573 | +194 |
| Family Class | 103,112 | 102,222 | +890 |
| Humanitarian and Compassionate/Public Policy | 27,218 | 27,436 | -218 |
| Permit Holders Class | 18 | 21 | -3 |
| Protected Persons | 157,552 | 158,778 | -1,226 |
| Grand total | 518,667 | 519,030 | -363 |
Economic class immigration
| Immigration category | Persons as of Mar. 15 | Persons as of Feb. 28 | Persons as of Feb. 1 | Difference from earliest available date |
| Agri-Food Pilot Program | 649 | 653 | N/A | -4 |
| Atlantic Immigration Pilot Programs | 2,672 | 2,577 | N/A | +95 |
| Canadian Experience Class (EE) | 10,388 | 12,088 | 15,139 | -4,751 |
| Canadian Experience Class (No EE) | 107 | 84 | N/A | +23 |
| Caring For Children Program | 17,585 | 16,316 | 16,085 | +1,500 |
| Federal Self Employed | 5,263 | 5,181 | 5,396 | -133 |
| Federal Skilled Workers (C-50) | 190 | 197 | N/A | -7 |
| Federal Skilled Workers (EE) | 41,336 | 45,437 | 49,751 | -8,415 |
| Federal Skilled Workers (Pre C-50) | 23 | 23 | N/A | 0 |
| High Medical Needs Program | 16 | 15 | N/A | +1 |
| Live-in Caregiver Program | 1,268 | 1,328 | N/A | -60 |
| Provincial/Territorial Nominees (EE) | 36,590 | 37,484 | 68,682 (EE + No EE) | -894 |
| Provincial/Territorial Nominees (No EE) | 34,621 | 32,106 | N/A | +2,515 |
| Quebec Entrepreneur | 408 | 416 | N/A | -8 |
| Quebec Investor | 14,309 | 13,845 | 14,117 | +464 |
| Quebec Self Employed | 121 | 89 | N/A | +32 |
| Quebec Skilled Workers | 26,997 | 26,217 | 25,263 | +1,734 |
| Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot | 870 | 897 | N/A | -27 |
| Skilled Trades (EE) | 589 | 632 | 723 | -134 |
| Skilled Trades (No EE) | 3 | 3 | N/A | 0 |
| Start-up Business | 1,421 | 1,295 | N/A | +126 |
| TR to PR | 35,341 | 34,304 | 29,864 | +5,477 |
| Ministerial Instruction Economic Programs | N/A | N/A | 5,553 | N/A |
| Total Economic Class | 230,767 | 231,187 | 230,573 | +194 |
There were also a number of increases in temporary residence applications. Work permits saw the largest increase up by about 14,700 between February 1 and March 17. Extensions for both work and study permits as well as visitor records were also on the rise.
Temporary residence
| TR category | Persons as of Mar. 17 | Persons as of Feb. 1 | Difference |
| Study Permit | 111,192 | 112,185 | -993 |
| Study Permit Extension | 30,533 | 26,479 | +4,054 |
| Temporary Resident Visa | 419,243 | 420,097 | -854 |
| Visitor Record | 68,528 | 65,093 | +3,435 |
| Work Permit | 100,205 | 85,526 | +14,679 |
| Work Permit Extension | 142,791 | 139,218 | +3,573 |
| Grand total | 872,492 | 848,598 | +23,894 |
Major changes since autumn 2021
IRCC has stopped holding Express Entry draws for CEC candidates since the fall of 2021, and for FSWP candidates since December 2020. The reason was to clear the large inventory of applications that caused processing times to increase. Once IRCC records suggest that Express Entry draws for FSWP and CEC candidates will resume in 2022, once the backlogs are reduced and the six-month processing standard can resume.
Canada has also introduced the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), an accelerated temporary residence pathway for Ukrainians fleeing war. IRCC has said these special measures for Ukrainians will not impact the processing of refugee applications.
