Processing time for in-Canada work permits falls to lowest this year
On June 24, Canada’s immigration department released updated processing times for temporary residence applications, showing significant improvements—particularly for work permit applicants.
The most notable improvements since June 17 are as follows:
- Work permits: record low for in-Canada work permits (144 days) in 2026; down by seven weeks for Nigeria,
- Super visas: down by over a month for Indian applicants; and
- Study permits: one-week improvement for submissions from India and Nigeria.
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For wait time increases, the standout change was an 11-day increase for super visa applications submitted from Pakistan. Aside from this, increases were limited, with visitor visa and super visa wait times rising by just one to three days for select applicants.
In this article, we’ll examine how work permit, study permit, visitor visa, and super visa processing times have changed from June 17 to June 24.
Work permits
Work permit wait times fell for applications submitted from within Canada and Nigeria, with the largest drop coming from Nigeria at seven weeks.
This is also the lowest wait time work permit applicants from within Canada have seen in 2026 to date.
| Applying from: | Current (June 24) | Previous (June 17) |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 144 days | 171 days |
| India | 9 weeks | 9 weeks |
| Pakistan | 5 weeks | 5 weeks |
| Nigeria | 9 weeks | 16 weeks |
| United States | 4 weeks | 4 weeks |
| Philippines | 8 weeks | 8 weeks |
Service standard:
- In-Canada submissions (initial and extensions): 120 days
- Outside Canada submissions: 60 days
Study permits
After weeks of unchanged processing times, India and Nigeria each recorded a one-week drop in study permit wait times.
| Applying from: | Current (June 24) | Previous (June 17) |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 6 weeks | 6 weeks |
| India | 4 weeks | 5 weeks |
| Pakistan | 6 weeks | 6 weeks |
| Nigeria | 5 weeks | 6 weeks |
| United States | 5 weeks | 5 weeks |
| Philippines | 4 weeks | 4 weeks |
Service standard:
- In-Canada submissions (initial and extensions): 120 days
- Outside Canada submissions: 60 days
Visitor visas
Wait times for visitor visas eased modestly for submissions from within Canada and India, while Nigerian applications saw a small increase.
| Applying from: | Current (June 24) | Previous (June 17) |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 42 days | 44 days |
| India | 22 days | 24 days |
| Pakistan | 43 days | 43 days |
| Nigeria | 54 days | 53 days |
| United States | 31 days | 31 days |
| Philippines | 17 days | 17 days |
Service standard:
- In-Canada submissions: N/A
- Outside Canada submissions: 14 days
Super visas
Super visa processing times improved significantly for applications from India, dropping by 44 days, while wait times for Pakistan increased by more than a week. All other countries saw modest movement.
| Applying from: | Current (June 24) | Previous (June 17) |
|---|---|---|
| India | 66 days | 110 days |
| Pakistan | 95 days | 84 days |
| Nigeria | 34 days | 35 days |
| United States | 104 days | 101 days |
| Philippines | 42 days | 41 days |
*Super visa applications can only be submitted from outside Canada.
Service standard: 112 days.
Processing times versus service standards
IRCC publishes processing times to give applicants a general idea of how long it may take to process their application.
They are provided for guidance only and do not guarantee that an application will be finalized within the specified time frame.
IRCC categorizes its processing estimates in two ways:
- Historical estimates: based on how long it has taken IRCC to come to a decision on 80% of applications in the past; and
- Forward-looking estimates: based on IRCC’s current application inventory and its available processing capacity.
Service standards serve a different purpose. Rather than predicting the timeline for a specific application, they function as internal performance targets for IRCC.
These standards are used to assess whether certain application types are being finalized within expected time frames under normal operating conditions, with a general target of completing about 80% within the stated period.
The two measures do not always align. Some applications may be processed faster than the service standard, while others may take longer because of backlogs, operational constraints, incomplete or complex files, or other case-specific factors.
IRCC updates published processing times on a regular basis: weekly for temporary residence applications, and monthly for permanent residence and citizenship applications.
Service standards, by contrast, are reviewed far less frequently. For example, the service standards for temporary residence applications have not been updated since 2018–2019.
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