PNP Processing Times and Draw Trends: January - May 2025

The next in line for our in-depth analysis series of Canadian immigration programs is the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) under Express Entry. In this post, we examine draw frequency, CRS cutoff scores and average processing times based on the data in our trackers. The timeline being reviewed is from January through May 2025. 

From the start of 2025, we can see that the Express Entry PNP has experienced noticeable fluctuations in average processing times. In January, the average time to Passport Request (PPR) was 137 days (4.5 months) and February saw an improvement with the fastest average of 113 days (3.72 months). However, this trend reversed in the subsequent months. March rose to 129 days (4.29 months) followed by a sharp increase in April with an average of 203 days (6.67 months). This upward trend continued through May with average wait time reaching 234 days (7.69 months). 

In 2024, Immitracker data showed variability in processing times with dips to 3–4 months early in the year followed by spikes to 9 months in May before returning to 6 months in June and July. In contrast, the first five months of 2025 have shown a clear upward trend in increasingly slower average processing times.

What is notable is that, although 2025 processing time started faster but then rapidly slowed down, 2024 started slower but stabilized in the middle of the year. The May 2025 average of 7.69 months is interesting since it roughly resembles the May 2024 peak of 9 months on Immitracker.

In the first half of 2025, individual PNP applicants from certain countries experienced significantly longer wait times to reach PPR. The longest delay recorded was an Iranian applicant who waited 629 days followed by a case from India with a wait of 483 days. Other individual cases among the longest wait times included applicants from Ukraine (349 days), Russia (282 days) and Nigeria (268 days). These represent some of the top five longest individual processing times recorded so far this year, not overall national averages.

In contrast, several applicants experienced remarkably fast PNP application processing. The shortest individual case was from Kazakhstan at just 27 days with additional quick cases from Pakistan, Nigeria, and India, each with a minimum reported wait of 55 days. Other swift timelines included applicants from the UK (59 days), China (63 days), and Sri Lanka (65 days). Again, these reflect some of the fastest individual cases tracked in the first half of 2025, and not average wait times by country.

When comparing the range between the fastest and slowest PPR processing times each month, January showed a gap between 483 days (India) and 68 days which highlights the wide disparity even within a single month. March had a high of 369 days and a low of 55, while April showed a more compressed range from 120 to 349 days. May recorded the largest maximum wait time of the year at 629 days (Iran) with the shortest case being 55 days. These differences highlight how variable PNP processing times may be with potential dependencies on administrative delays, application complexity, and country.

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws under the Express Entry system followed a consistent yet competitive trend. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off scores remained notably high throughout January and May 2025 which reflects a more selective approach.

January began with a CRS cut-off of 793 which increased slightly in early February to 802— the highest score recorded during the first 5 months of 2025. Although there was a temporary dip in early March to 667, the scores quickly climbed back up to 736 by mid-March and reached 764 in mid-April. By May, the scores eased slightly to 706 but still remained elevated compared to earlier months in previous years (Source: IRCC Express Entry Rounds of Invitations).

In terms of the number of invitations issued, the trend was relatively stable. For the first 5 months of 2025 we observed that the draw sizes ranged from about 421 to 825 invitations with no extremely large invitation rounds like those seen in mid-2024. The largest draw during this five-month span occurred on April 14 with 825 invitations issued. 

However, in 2024 the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw trends showed a more generous and accessible pattern compared to 2025. Between May and December, CRS cut-off scores were generally lower (ranging between 663 and 739) which allowed more candidates with lower PNP scores to receive invitations. 

Draw sizes in 2024 were also significantly larger with some rounds, such as the one on May 30 where nearly 3,000 invitations were issued. This period reflected a more open intake strategy which was likely aimed at meeting higher immigration targets. Towards the end of 2024, we can see CRS scores began to rise again, setting the stage for a more competitive environment in early 2025.

Overall, the pattern from January to May 2025 suggests a deliberate focus on admitting higher-scoring provincial nominees while keeping invitation volumes moderate.