Work permit · all countries
Canada work permit processing times by country
A work permit lets you work in Canada. This figure is for work permits applied for from outside Canada.
Typical wait across 61 countries
49 days
about 7 weeks
Half of the countries wait less than this, and half wait longer.
IRCC figures, update of October 21, 2026. Check IRCC's tool
Find your country
Arrows compare with about three months earlier.
- A
- Algeria12 weeks▲ 5 weeks
- Argentinano figure
- Australia7 weeks▲ 2 weeks
- B
- Bangladesh49 weeks▲ 35 weeks
- Belgium2 weeks▼ 1 week
- Brazil3 weeks▼ 1 week
- C
- Cameroon9 weeks▲ 2 weeks
- Canada16 weeks▲ 9 weeks
- Chile7 weeks▲ 3 weeks
- China (People’s Republic of)5 weeks▼ 3 weeks
- Colombia5 weeks▼ 1 week
- Costa Ricano figure
- Côte d’Ivoire12 weeks● Steady
- D
- Dominican Republicno figure
- E
- Ecuador7 weeks▲ 2 weeks
- Egypt8 weeks▼ 3 weeks
- El Salvadorno figure
- F
- France3 weeks● Steady
- G
- Germany7 weeks▲ 1 week
- Ghana21 weeks▲ 6 weeks
- Guatemala1 week● Steady
- H
- Haiti5 weeks▼ 1 week
- Honduras2 weeks▼ 1 week
- Hong Kong SAR16 weeks▲ 5 weeks
- I
- India10 weeks▲ 1 week
- Indonesia12 weeks▼ 3 weeks
- Iran57 weeks▲ 5 weeks
- Irelandno figure
- Israel5 weeks● Steady
- Italy9 weeks▲ 2 weeks
- J
- Jamaica7 weeks▲ 4 weeks
- Japan3 weeks● Steady
- K
- Kenya5 weeks▼ 2 weeks
- Kuwaitno figure
- L
- Lebanon6 weeks▼ 1 week
- Libya2 weeks● Steady
- M
- Madagascar38 weeks▼ 9 weeks
- Malaysia10 weeks▲ 3 weeks
- Mauritius11 weeks▼ 30 weeks
- Mexico2 weeks▼ 1 week
- Moldova6 weeks● Steady
- Morocco7 weeks● Steady
- N
- Nepal10 weeks▲ 5 weeks
- New Zealandno figure
- Nicaragua4 weeks▼ 1 week
- Nigeria10 weeks▲ 4 weeks
- P
- Pakistan9 weeks▼ 1 week
- Peru5 weeks▲ 1 week
- Philippines9 weeks▲ 2 weeks
- Polandno figure
- Q
- Qatar11 weeks● Steady
- R
- Republic of Korea7 weeks▼ 25 weeks
- Romaniano figure
- Russia5 weeks
- Rwanda10 weeks▼ 13 weeks
- S
- Saudi Arabia4 weeks▲ 1 week
- Senegal13 weeks▲ 6 weeks
- Singapore9 weeks▼ 9 weeks
- South Africa16 weeks● Steady
- Spain2 weeks● Steady
- Sri Lanka9 weeks▲ 2 weeks
- Switzerlandno figure
- T
- Taiwan5 weeks▲ 1 week
- Thailand10 weeks▲ 4 weeks
- Trinidad and Tobago3 weeks● Steady
- Tunisia4 weeks▼ 1 week
- Türkiye10 weeks▲ 4 weeks
- U
- United Arab Emirates7 weeks▼ 30 weeks
- United Kingdom4 weeks▼ 2 weeks
- United States of America6 weeks▲ 3 weeks
- V
- Vietnam5 weeks● Steady
- Z
- Zimbabweno figure
No country matches. Try another spelling.
Shortest and longest right now
Longest waits
- Iran57 weeks
- Bangladesh49 weeks
- Madagascar38 weeks
- Ghana21 weeks
- South Africa16 weeks
Biggest changes in the latest update
Compared with IRCC's update of October 14, 2026.
▼ Shorter waits
▲ Longer waits
- Bangladesh44 → 49 weeks
- Chile5 → 7 weeks
- Hong Kong SAR14 → 16 weeks
- Jamaica5 → 7 weeks
- China (People’s Republic of)4 → 5 weeks
- Germany6 → 7 weeks
Is the typical wait getting shorter?
The middle figure across all countries at each IRCC update, in days.
What do these numbers mean?
It looks back, not forward
IRCC's figure is how long it took to decide 8 in 10 of the applications of this kind that it finished recently. The other 2 in 10 took longer.
The clock starts with a complete application
It counts from the day IRCC had a complete application to the day it made a decision.
It changes often
IRCC revises the figure regularly, usually every week. A single application can be faster or slower.
Common questions
How long does a work permit application take?
It depends on where you apply from. In IRCC's update of October 21, 2026, the typical figure across 61 countries was 49 days. The shortest was Guatemala (1 week) and the longest was Iran (57 weeks). Find your country above.
Is the work permit wait getting shorter?
Compared with about three months ago, work permit figures are shorter for 19 countries, longer for 26 and about the same for 12. The typical figure went from 42 days to 49 days.
Is this an official government website?
No. Canada Visa Wait is an independent site and is not affiliated with the Government of Canada. The figures are IRCC's own. Before you rely on a date, check IRCC's official processing-times tool.