Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has relaunched its Application Status Tracker (ATS) tool, providing more transparency to applicants for work permits, study permits, visitor visas, and some permanent residence application (PR) types.
The eligible PR application types are Express Entry, including the enhanced Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), and family sponsorship of a spouse or dependent child.
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On Oct. 14, 2026, IRCC took the tool live on the government web page, enabling applicants with an acknowledgement of receipt (AOR) to check the status of four components of their applications: eligibility, medical exam completion, background verification, and biometrics.
Each component can have one of the following statuses:
- Not started: IRCC has not begun reviewing that portion of the application.
- Waiting on you: More information or documentation is required from the applicant.
- In progress: IRCC is still reviewing that portion of the application.
- Completed: IRCC has finished reviewing that portion of the application.
- Exempted: The applicant is not required to complete that section of the application.
There is also an “overall status,” note available for an applicant’s submission, which may read “received,” “in progress,” or “closed.”
According to the web page, the information in an applicant’s account is updated daily.
To check the status of an application, individuals can sign in with their bank if it is supported on the platform or with their GCKey username and password.
An application number and Unique Client Identifier (UCI) number are required to check an application’s status.
Only principal applicants, sponsors, representatives, and designated individuals with written authorization to access another person’s application may use the tool.
Those still waiting for an AOR will be unable to check their application status through the ATS tool until after their AOR has been issued, confirming IRCC’s receipt of a complete application.
IRCC disabled the old ATS tool on May 14, 2026.
In a ministerial briefing note published in late September 2026, IRCC indicated that the tool had been taken offline to fix issues with outdated information and potential security vulnerabilities.
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