Last Updated On 21 December 2023, 10:29 AM EST (Toronto Time)
The new IRCC update suggests that the Canadian immigration backlog has now dropped by 46,200 (-4.93%) as per the latest data updated by the department on December 20, 2023.
This Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data is for citizenship, permanent residency, and temporary residency applications as of November 30, 2023.
The Canadian immigration backlog for citizenship, permanent residency, and temporary residency has now registered a close to 5% drop for the first time since April 2023.
The immigration backlog is defined as any application for citizenship, immigration, or a temporary visa that takes longer to process than the average service standard set by the immigration department.
To view IRCC service standards by application category, click here.
890,300 applications for citizenship, immigration, and temporary visas were backlogged overall, according to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), and the processing of these applications was taking longer than usual.
To view IRCC service standards by application category, click this link.
IRCC has a target of processing 80% of applications within the department’s service standards and applications that take longer than this are classified as backlogs.
Month-to-Month Comparison of the Backlog for Canadian Immigration
| Application Type | Backlog Nov 30 | Backlog Oct 31 | Difference Since October 31 | Age Change Since October 31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citizenship | 53,000 | 56,400 | -3,400 | -6.03% |
| Permanent Residence | 287,300 | 287,500 | -200 | -0.07% |
| Temporary Residence | 550,000 | 592,600 | -42,600 | -7.19% |
| Total | 890,300 | 936,500 | -46,200 | -4.93% |
Compared to last month’s data, the backlog for citizenship and temporary residency applications shrank significantly.
As of November 30, 2023, the IRCC was overseeing 2,092,700 applications across all categories.
Below is the month-on-month comparison of applications being processed within service standards.
| Application Type | Within Service Standards, November 30 | Within Service Standards, October 31 | Percentage Change Since October 31 |
| Citizenship | 216,700 | 214,800 | 0.9% |
| Permanent Residence | 365,700 | 351,500 | 4.0% |
| Temporary Residence | 620,000 | 664,000 | -6.6% |
| Total | 1,202,400 | 1,230,300 | -2.3% |
Comparison of IRCC backlogs for 2023
Since March 2023, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been processing more than two million applications at any given point in time.
The official IRCC immigration backlog statistics reported since January 2023 are shown in the table below, with links to detailed updates for each month along with the monthly percentage change.
| Backlog Update Date | Applications In Backlog | Total Applications Under Processing | Backlog Net Age Change month-on-month |
| November 30, 2023 | 890,300 | 2,092,700 | -4.93% |
| October 31, 2023 | 936,500 | 2,166,800 | 0.86% |
| September 30, 2023 | 928,500 | 2,194,900 | 9.9% |
| August 31, 2023 | 844,700 | 2,198,700 | 5.2% |
| July 31, 2023 | 802,600 | 2,274,600 | 0.2% |
| June 30, 2023 | 801,000 | 2,264,000 | -2.3% |
| May 31, 2023 | 820,000 | 2,248,000 | 1.4% |
| April 30, 2023 | 809,000 | 2,006,000 | -9.7% |
| March 31, 2023 | 896,300 | 2,017,700 | -1.5% |
| February 28, 2023 | 910,400 | 1,962,600 | -6.6% |
| January 31, 2023 | 974,600 | 1,944,500 | 6.1% |
What is the IRCC 2023’s most recent backlog?
As of November 30, 2023, the IRCC was handling 2,092,700 applications for immigration, citizenship, and visas.
According to the most recent IRCC report by the Canadian Immigration Department, as of November 30, 2023, there were 890,300 applications in backlog, exceeding normal processing times.
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