Pakistan Work Permit Times Jump 14 Weeks: IRCC Updates Temporary Residence Processing Times for August 2026 | ImmigraCan

On August 5, 2026, IRCC (*Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada*, Canada's immigration agency) updated its official temporary residence processing times tool, and most categories — work permit, study permit, visitor visa, and super visa — registered an increase in wait times. The most notable jump was for work permit applications from Pakistan, which climbed 14 weeks — more than three additional months in this update alone. Anyone with a temporary residence application in progress, or planning to apply soon, should factor these new timelines into their travel, work, or study planning.

What the IRCC processing times tool is

IRCC maintains an official tool that estimates how long it takes to process each type of application, with numbers that vary by country of origin and change every week. It isn't a guaranteed timeline — it's an estimate based on the recent history of decisions — but it's the closest thing that exists to a "real" wait time, which is why it's worth tracking before making any decision that depends on a date, such as buying a plane ticket or confirming enrollment.

Work permit: increase driven by Pakistan

The category that drew the most attention in this update was the work permit:

• Pakistan: jump of 14 weeks in processing time — the largest increase among the tracked countries
• Applications processed inside Canada: a slight drop in wait time, bucking the trend in the rest of the category

For Brazilians, the work permit continues to be processed in a much shorter range than Pakistan's, but the shift confirms a pattern: temporary residence processing times don't move in a straight line — they rise and fall from update to update, sometimes significantly, and the country of origin of the application matters just as much as the type of visa.

Study permit: one-week increase for Nigeria and the Philippines

For the study permit, the increase was more modest, but still real:

• Nigeria: up 1 week, reaching 7 weeks
• Philippines: up 1 week, reaching 5 weeks
• Canada (in-country applications), India, Pakistan, and the United States: processing time was unchanged in this update

Visitor visa: up in India, Nigeria, and Pakistan; down for in-country applications

The visitor visa (used by people traveling for leisure or to visit family, without working or studying) also rose for several countries:

• India: 27 days
• Nigeria: 68 days
• Pakistan: 48 days
• Applications processed inside Canada: dropped to 21 days — one of the few decreases recorded in this round

Super visa: Philippines up nearly a month, Pakistan down

The super visa (a long-duration visa for parents and grandparents of citizens or permanent residents to visit Canada) had the most uneven movement of the update:

• Philippines: up 27 days, reaching 100 days
• Pakistan: down 11 days, falling to 185 days

Why processing times swing so much

IRCC processes temporary residence applications at a high volume — more than 1.2 million applications in just the first five months of 2026, with more than 404,000 still pending by the end of May. With that volume, each weekly update reflects the balance between how many applications came in, how many were decided, and how much staff IRCC allocated to each queue at that particular moment — there's no single explanation for each individual swing by country. That's why the practical recommendation is always the same: treat the official tool's number as an estimate that can change, not a guaranteed date.

What this means in practice for applicants

1. Confirm the estimated time for your specific country and category before planning anything around a fixed date — the numbers vary a lot by country, so the category's average time doesn't say much about your case
2. Apply with buffer time, especially if your work permit or study permit depends on a start date for work or enrollment — a delay of a few weeks could mean missing the deadline
3. Don't confuse work permit with permanent residence: this update is about temporary residence. Anyone pursuing permanent residence via Express Entry or a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is on a different queue, with its own processing times
4. Gather complete documentation before applying — an incomplete application is the most common cause of additional delay, on top of the standard queue time

If your ultimate goal is permanent residence and you're still not sure which path fits your profile, ImmigraCan's free eligibility quiz calculates your CRS score (*Comprehensive Ranking System*, Express Entry's points system) and matches it against the programs you qualify for today — without promising guaranteed approval, since the final decision always rests with IRCC. To compare the federal routes and the most active PNPs of 2026 side by side, ImmigraCan's immigration program catalog organizes each one's criteria. And to see how this same tool behaved last month, check out our July coverage of processing times.

What to take away from this update

None of the numbers in this round are cause for panic on their own — but together, they show that 2026 remains a year of volatile processing times for Canada, with increases and decreases sometimes happening in the same update, depending on the country and category. Anyone relying on a work permit, study permit, visitor visa, or super visa should review the specific number for their country before making any decision tied to a deadline — and keep checking the official tool regularly, since it changes every week.

*Data in this update is based on IRCC's official processing times tool, updated August 5, 2026, with reporting from CIC News. This content is informational and does not replace legal or immigration advice — ImmigraCan is not affiliated with the Government of Canada or IRCC. For your specific case, consult a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or specialized lawyer.*