IRCC’s February processing times: Family sponsorship wait times drop, study and work permit applications spike

Canada’s immigration department has released its latest processing times update for various application types, including permanent residence, temporary residence, and citizenship applications.

Many temporary resident applications have seen increases in processing times, based on the type of application and/or the location from which submissions are being made. Among the most notable are:

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Processing times for citizenship grants and proof of citizenship certificates have climbed as well, which may possibly be attributable to a growing demand.

On the other hand, family sponsorship submissions are seeing a decline in wait time—in particular, those made under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP).

This article compares how processing times have changed in the span of one month, from January 15 to February 17, 2026.

Permanent residence applications

Processing times for permanent residence applications remain largely unchanged overall, though decreases in wait time can be seen among various family sponsorship application types.

A minor bump in processing time can be seen for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) submissions.

*Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) does not release processing time estimations for the FSTP due to insufficient data.

IRCC service standard: For all Express Entry programs, it is six months.

Total number of people waiting for a decision on their application:

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Processing times for PNP applications remain unchanged compared to a month ago.

Service standard: For Express Entry-aligned applications it is six months, for base applications it is 11 months.

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Processing times for PR applications through Quebec’s skilled worker pathway have remained steady over the last month.

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Submissions under the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) continue to see sky-high wait times.

Wait times for family sponsorship applications have remained the same or decreased—with the biggest drop seen for those made under the PGP (to reside outside Quebec).

Service standard: IRCC only publishes service standards for the sponsorship of a spouse or common-law partner living outside Quebec, which sit at 12 months.

No changes in processing times have occurred within the last month for in-Canada dependent child sponsorship applications.

A one-month drop can be observed for Nigeria-based submissions.

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Temporary residence applications

India and the US both saw drops in visitor visa processing times, while other countries experienced increases—the highest being Nigeria.

Service standard: Only outside-Canada applications are published by IRCC, for which the standard is 14 days.

While most countries showed a relatively steady decrease or incline in wait time, processing times for work permit applications made from Pakistan shot up significantly—by a staggering 17 weeks in just a one-month time frame—to nearly seven months.

Service standard: Within-Canada applications (initial and extensions) have a 120-day standard, while outside Canada applications have a 60-day standard. This excludes International Experience Canada (IEC) permits (56-day standard).

View our coverage on occupations that IRCC is currently prioritizing for work permit processing.

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Processing times for study permit applications are up across the board, increasing by one to two weeks for all countries featured.

Service standard: 120 days for applications submitted from within Canada; 60 days for outside-Canada applications.

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Pakistan is the only country featured which saw super visa processing times go down rather than up—with wait times for US submissions more than doubling.

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For both citizenship application types, the immigration department reports prolonged wait times—each up one month, likely due to the number of individuals seeking Canadian citizenship following the passing of Bill C-3 two months ago.

Service standards: Only citizenship grant service standards are published, which is set at 12 months.

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Processing times and service standards

Oftentimes mistaken for one another, processing times and service standards are not synonymous nor interchangeable.

IRCC’s published processing times indicate the expected duration to render a decision on an application, if it were submitted that day.

For online applications, processing is marked by the submission timestamp; for paper applications, processing starts once an application arrives in the mailroom.

There are two types of processing times, including:

Historical: Based on how long it took to process 80% of a given application type in the past.

Forward looking: Based on future estimates, which are dependent on the department’s current inventory (considering pending submissions and expected finalization rate).

On the other hand, service standards are IRCC's internal, self-assigned benchmarks for the length of time it should take to process any given application type.

They are reflective of the completion rate for 80% of said application type—with the remaining 20% reserved for more complex cases.