IRCC to Start Publishing Monthly Data on Waitlisted Permanent Residence Applications

Key Takeaways

Starting July 21, IRCC will publish monthly figures showing how many permanent residence applications are actively processed versus waitlisted for future years.
As of May 31, 2026, 705,315 PR applications were awaiting finalization, split across Economic, Family, and Protection categories.
Roughly 25% of Economic, 40% of Family, and 46% of Protection applications were waitlisted due to limited spaces under the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan.

A New Layer of Transparency on Application Backlogs

Beginning July 21, Canada's immigration department will start releasing monthly updates that reveal what share of permanent residence (PR) applications are being actively processed versus set aside — or "waitlisted" — for future processing. Some applications are being waitlisted simply because there isn't enough room for them under the current Immigration Levels Plan.

This marks the first time the federal government has disclosed the proportion of PR applications being held back for later processing. Figures will be broken out across three categories: Economic, Family, and Protection, and will be refreshed monthly based on IRCC's inventory at each month's end.

IRCC announced the change through an overhauled version of its application inventory webpage on July 21. Alongside the new waitlist figures, the department will stop publishing data on what share of its inventory is being processed within official service standards.

According to the department, applications will keep being processed as long as space remains under the Levels Plan target — but once that space runs out, new applications will wait until room opens up in a future year. As the updated webpage states: "When we receive more applications for a program than there are spaces in the levels plan, some applications must wait until spaces become available in a future year." The department acknowledges this can lengthen processing times.

What Falls Under Each PR Category

The waitlist figures released for each category will cover the following application types:

Economic: pathways such as Express Entry, federal business programs, and regional economic programs, including:

The Provincial Nominee Program;
The Atlantic Immigration Program;
The Rural Community Immigration Pilot; and
The Francophone Community Immigration Pilot.

Family: reunification of spouses, partners, and children, plus parents and grandparents, as well as international adoptions.

Protection: PR applications from protected persons already in Canada, government-assisted refugees, privately sponsored refugees, and humanitarian and compassionate grounds cases.

First Look at the Waitlist Numbers

IRCC's application inventory update reflects figures accurate as of May 31, 2026. As of that date, the department reported a total of 705,315 PR applications still awaiting finalization.

Under the Economic category, 238,335 applications remained unfinalized — 75% in active processing and 25% waitlisted.

The Family category had 159,765 applications awaiting finalization, with 60% in active processing and 40% waitlisted.

The Protection category carried the largest share awaiting a decision: 307,215 applications, of which 54% were in active processing and 46% were waitlisted.

The next update to IRCC's application inventory webpage is expected in mid-to-late August and will reflect data current to June 30.

Planned Permanent Residence Admissions for 2026

For 2026, the federal government plans to admit 380,000 permanent residents settling outside Quebec, broken down as:

Economic: 239,800
Family: 84,000
Refugees and protected persons: 49,300
Humanitarian & compassionate and other: 6,900

In its latest webpage update, IRCC reports finalizing a total of 198,700 PR applications across all categories between January 1 and May 31, 2026, including both approvals and refusals.

What This Means for Applicants

Applicants in the Protection and Family categories face the highest odds of landing on a waitlist under the current numbers — 46% and 40% respectively — while Economic applicants fare somewhat better at 25%. Because waitlisting is tied directly to available admission spaces under the Levels Plan rather than to an application's individual merits, applicants currently in the queue may see longer timelines even if their file is otherwise complete and eligible. The monthly updates promised from IRCC should make it easier for prospective and current applicants to track how quickly their category's backlog is moving.