IRCC refreshed its temporary residence processing times on July 28, 2026, and the direction flipped for two countries that had just caught a break. Pakistan and Nigeria both saw their work permit and study permit estimates rise by one week, while in-Canada work permits improved to exactly 120 days — landing precisely on the service standard for the first time this year.
Work permits — Pakistan and Nigeria both add a week
| Applying from | July 28 | July 22 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada (in-Canada) | 120 days | 122 days | −2 |
| India | 9 weeks | 9 weeks | — |
| Pakistan | 11 weeks | 10 weeks | +1 week |
| Nigeria | 7 weeks | 6 weeks | +1 week |
| United States | 3 weeks | 3 weeks | — |
| Philippines | 6 weeks | 7 weeks | −1 week |
Service standard: 120 days for in-Canada submissions (initial and extensions), 60 days from outside Canada.
The in-Canada figure is the good news this week: at 120 days, work permits filed from inside Canada now sit exactly on the service standard — the first time in 2026 this line has matched the target rather than trailed it. Applicants extending or changing a permit without leaving the country are the clear winners here.
Everyone else got a mixed result. Pakistan and Nigeria both moved a week in the wrong direction, continuing a pattern where these two countries swing further and more often than India or the US. The Philippines was the one bright spot outside Canada, dropping a full week to 6 weeks.
Study permits — a four-week stretch of calm ends
| Applying from | July 28 | July 22 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 7 weeks | 7 weeks | — |
| India | 5 weeks | 5 weeks | — |
| Pakistan | 7 weeks | 6 weeks | +1 week |
| Nigeria | 6 weeks | 5 weeks | +1 week |
| United States | 5 weeks | 5 weeks | — |
| Philippines | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | — |
Service standard: 120 days for in-Canada submissions (initial and extensions), 60 days from outside Canada.
Study permit estimates had been flat for four straight weeks. That streak broke this update, and it broke in the same two countries as work permits: Pakistan and Nigeria, both up a week. Every other country on this list — Canada, India, the US, the Philippines — didn't move at all. With the fall intake approaching, a one-week bump in only two countries is still a mild update by 2026 standards, but if you're applying from Pakistan or Nigeria, build the extra week into your timeline now rather than assuming the old flat trend continues.
Visitor visas — Canada improves, most other countries inch up
| Applying from | July 28 | July 22 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 24 days | 29 days | −5 |
| India | 22 days | 21 days | +1 |
| Pakistan | 43 days | 40 days | +3 |
| Nigeria | 64 days | 63 days | +1 |
| United States | 26 days | 27 days | −1 |
| Philippines | 17 days | 16 days | +1 |
Service standard: 14 days (outside Canada); no published standard for in-Canada submissions.
In-Canada visitor visa applicants got the sharpest improvement of this whole update — 5 days faster, down to 24 days. Everywhere else, the moves were small: most countries added a day or two, none more than three. Nigeria remains the slowest at 64 days, more than 4.5 times the 14-day outside-Canada standard that's applied since 2018–2019.