IRCC’s 2025 Plan: Which Canadian PR Applications Will Be Processed Fully?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has revealed which permanent residence (PR) streams it intends to fully clear in 2025 — and which ones will only see partial processing.

Which PR Streams Will Be Fully Processed?

In 2025, IRCC plans to clear the entire inventory of applications for these key economic streams:

• Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
• Community Pilots
• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
• Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)
• Enhanced Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams aligned with Express Entry
• Quebec’s skilled worker pathways including PEQ and PSTQ
• Quebec pilot programs
  
  

That means for these programs, IRCC aims to process all outstanding applications in 2025.

Partial Processing for Other PR Paths

For several other economic immigration streams, IRCC will only process a portion of the existing applications. Below is how much of each inventory will be handled:

So, many applicants in these streams will still remain in queue after 2025.

Express Entry Programs

All Express Entry streams that are active now will be fully processed in 2025 — including CEC, FSW (Federal Skilled Worker), and FSTP.

As of September 11:

• CEC had about 19,300 applications pending
• FSW had about 12,500 pending
  
  

Recent Wait Times

Here’s how long applicants have waited lately (in months):

Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP)

PNP streams aligned with Express Entry will be fully cleared in 2025. But base PNP streams (those not tied to Express Entry) will see only 35% of their inventories processed.

As of September 11:

• Express Entry–aligned PNP had ~16,300 applications
• Base PNP had ~87,700 applications
  
  

Recent Wait Times for PNP

Quebec Immigration Categories

Quebec’s skilled worker immigration classes (PSTQ, PEQ, and pilot programs) are set to be fully cleared in 2025. However, Quebec’s business immigration programs will see just 3% of their pending applications processed.

As of September 11:

• Quebec Skilled Worker had ~27,600 pending
• Quebec Business had ~4,100 pending
  
  

Wait Times for Quebec

Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)

IRCC plans to process 33% of the AIP’s inventory in 2025:

• Total pending (as of Sept 11): ~12,100
• To be processed in 2025: ~3,993
  
  

Wait Times (Months)

• Q2 2024: 12
• Q3 2024: 13
• Q4 2024: 17
• Q1 2025: 27
• Q2 2025: 24
  
  

Federal Economic Pilots

These include programs like Agrifood, Caregiver Pilots, and the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP):

• Agrifood: 5% (~445 out of 8,900)
• Caregiver Pilots: 14% (~4,816 out of 34,400)
• EMPP: 12% (~300 out of 2,500)
  
  

Wait Times for These Programs

Also note: IRCC has closed intake for the “applicants not in Canada” stream of the Home Care Worker Pilot (HCWP), so no more new applications will be added there.

Community Immigration Pilots

IRCC plans to fully clear its inventory for community-based programs such as:

• Rural Community Immigration Program (RCIP)
• Francophone Community Immigration Program (FCIP)
• Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP — now closed)

As of September 11, there were about 3,500 applications pending for these.

Wait Times

Over the past year, wait times ranged between 12 and 14 months, and by Q2 2025, it’s expected to be around 7 months.

Start-up Visa Program

The Start-up Visa (SUV) program will see very limited processing — only 2% of its inventory in 2025:

• Pending as of Sept 11: ~38,600
• To be processed: ~772
  
  

Wait Times

Recent wait times have been significant:

• Q2 2024: 48 months
• Q3 2024: 51 months
• Q4 2024: 71 months
• Q1 & Q2 2025: ~420 months
  
  

What This Means for Applicants

• If your application is under Express Entry, Quebec skilled worker, or community pilot streams, there is reason to hope for full processing in 2025.
• If you applied through base PNP, Start-up Visa, or business immigration streams, your wait may extend beyond 2025 due to only partial processing.
• The wait times for many programs remain long, especially for pilots and specialty streams.