IRCC updated its published permanent residence processing times on April 18, 2026. The headline: Express Entry CEC applications now process in 5 months (up from 4 in February), while spousal sponsorship inland holds steady at 10 months. Here's every PR pathway and what changed since the start of the year.

April 2026 processing times — full table

These are the times IRCC commits to for 80% of applications received and decided in the most recent 12-month rolling window.

Eight of ten major streams are slower than at the start of 2026. Only spousal inland and parent/grandparent held flat.

Why times slipped

Three factors are at work, per the IRCC quarterly operations update released alongside the times:

• Lower 2026 admissions targets. The November 2025 levels plan cut total PR admissions from 500,000 to 395,000 for 2026. Fewer admissions means lower throughput, even with stable application volume.
• PNP allocation cuts. Provincial nominee program allocations were reduced by 50% for 2026, but applications already in the pipeline still need processing — creating a temporary congestion.
• Quebec Arrima reform. The MIFI's transition from the old DCS system to Arrima continues to slow Quebec Skilled Worker decisions through Q2.

What actually counts in your wait

IRCC's published times start from the day they receive a complete application. They do not include:

• Time spent in the Express Entry pool before receiving an ITA
• The 60-day window after an ITA to submit your e-APR
• Time waiting for a provincial nomination
• Sponsorship approval time (for spousal applications, where sponsor is assessed first)

If you're estimating your full timeline from "I'm thinking about Canada" to landed PR, add 6–12 months of front-end work to the published numbers.

Implications for May draws

The 5-month CEC processing time means an ITA received today realistically lands as a confirmed PR (COPR) in late September 2026. Anyone planning a job change, mortgage application, or RRSP/FHSA contribution should plan around that window. See our CRS calculator if you're still building toward an ITA.

Once you land, the residence days clock starts for citizenship eligibility. Use our citizenship physical presence calculator to project your earliest application date — most CEC PRs become citizenship-eligible roughly 4 years after their COPR date.

Bottom line

Plan for longer waits in 2026 than in 2024–2025. CEC remains the fastest federal pathway by a wide margin (5 vs. 7 months for FSW, 11 for PNP). If your CRS is competitive enough for a CEC draw, that's still your best bet for a sub-12-month total timeline from ITA to landing.

Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — Application processing times (canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html), updated April 18, 2026.