28,000 Start-Up Visa applications lie unopened: what's happening inside IRCC

An internal memo from an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) employee, released through an Access to Information request (file number 1A-2025-08985), explains why over 28,000 applications under the Start-Up Visa (SUV) program haven't actually been opened yet. The reason isn't case complexity or security checks. The applications simply haven't gone through a stage called promotion: they haven't been checked for completeness, entered into processing, or transferred to a decision-making office. As of 2026, no resources have been allocated to the program for this operation.

What Application Promotion Means

The memo is titled "RE: SUV Inventory — Unpromoted Applications." The author explains to a colleague that all permanent residence applications under economic programs must be checked for completeness before they enter processing. Only after an application is deemed complete under section R10 of the immigration regulations is it promoted and put into processing.

Before March 2020, before the pandemic, the approach was straightforward: check for completeness and promote the application as quickly as possible, first-come-first-served, then transfer it to a processing office. Since then, the memo's author admits, a lot has changed.

The key point is this: resources need to be used strategically, taking into account the department's current priorities and immediate processing needs. Several work streams never had caps on intake, which means more applications come in than there are spots in the annual admission plan for each program. Start-Up Visa was one of those streams almost until the very end.

2020: Closed Offices and Priority for Other Programs

The first disruption happened during the pandemic. For several months in 2020, paper applications weren't processed as they came in because the office was closed. When it reopened, workstations were limited, and remote work with paper files was still a new practice. Other work streams took priority, and within those, clients already in Canada were prioritized separately.

This is when, according to the memo's author, the backlog in promoting Start-Up Visa applications began. The problem being discussed as a disaster in 2026 started in 2020 as a side effect of pandemic-related operational restructuring.

2021: Program Excluded from Internal Service Standards

In 2021, the Senior Associate Deputy Minister ordered an internal service standard: for certain work streams, applications needed to be checked for completeness, promoted, and acknowledgment letters sent within a set timeframe. Start-Up Visa wasn't included on that list.

The consequence was predictable. Entrepreneur applications were only reviewed when there was spare capacity, and only to the extent needed to meet file transfer targets. The program had no assigned deadline, so it could always be postponed.

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In spring 2023, the decision-making unit (referred to in the memo as DN) ran into difficulties finalizing cases. Applications from all members of the same entrepreneurial team needed to be processed together. This meant that even at the intake stage, staff had to group applications rather than work strictly in order of receipt.

Grouping is done manually and takes longer than regular first-in-first-out processing. The memo's author writes plainly that this would have required sacrificing other commitments and file transfer targets. In other words, even a technical feature of the program—joint applications by startup teams—worked against processing speed.

2024: Priority Processing Moved Further from Queue Order

In April 2024, new Ministerial Instructions came into effect, introducing priority processing for certain categories of Start-Up Visa applications. Officially, the measure was presented as a way to fast-track the best projects. In practice, as the memo makes clear, it moved the department even further from first-come-first-served: older applications could only be reviewed after all priority ones were handled.

The focus shifted to fully complete teams that also met priority criteria. Everyone else was left waiting, without any clarity on what exactly they were waiting for.

The next part of the memo explains the whole logic. Completeness checks and promotion only happened when applications were needed for processing to meet admission targets. And for Start-Up Visa, more than enough cases had already been promoted and were ready for processing. So there was no need to check and promote additional applications.

For Start-Up Visa, there were already more than enough promoted applications ready for processing, so there was no need to check completeness and promote additional applications.

2025: No Transfer Targets for the Program Means No Staff

In January 2025, offices were asked to report how many resources they needed to meet the targets set in the operational plan. The answer for Start-Up Visa was disarming: for 2025 and 2026, the program has no file transfer targets, so no resources are being allocated at all for completeness checks and promotion of the prospective inventory.

The logic chain goes like this. There are no transfer targets because the unit that makes final decisions on the program (Economic Immigration Operations Division, part of Immigration Operations) already has enough cases in progress. It doesn't need to receive new applications from the Centralized Intake Office. And if there's nowhere to transfer them, there's no point opening the envelopes.

The memo's final point adds a finishing touch: in March 2025, the intake office lost a significant portion of its staff resources due to budget reduction measures.

What This Means for Applicants

For someone who submitted a Start-Up Visa application, here's what the picture looks like. Their case isn't being processed slowly. Their case isn't being processed at all, and this isn't a glitch—it's a deliberate allocation of resources, documented in the department's internal correspondence.

Practical takeaways for those in the queue are as follows. First, the processing times published by IRCC don't reflect the real situation for unpromoted applications, because actual work on the case hasn't started for many people. Second, the absence of an acknowledgment letter and no movement in application status doesn't mean there's something wrong with the documents—it's more likely a sign that the case is part of the unpromoted inventory. Third, since priority is structured in tiers, teams have better chances of movement if at least one member is in Canada on a work permit issued under the program and has support from a designated organization with investment commitments.

Fourth, and most importantly, waiting should not be your only strategy. Applicants whose businesses are actually operating in Canada should start gathering evidence now: payroll records, company bank statements, proof of revenue and hiring. These documents will be needed under any scenario for processing the backlog. For those outside Canada who don't fall into the top priority levels, it's worth considering parallel paths: provincial entrepreneur programs, work permits based on significant benefit to Canada, and building Canadian work experience followed by applying through Express Entry.

What the numbers tell us

The scale of the problem is clear from official statistics. In October 2024, the program had a backlog of 36,572 applications with stated processing times of 38 to 48 months. By the end of 2025, the backlog exceeded 43,000 cases, and estimates for 2026 put it over 45,000. The published processing time for new applicants has grown to more than 10 years.

At the same time, admission plans collapsed. The 2024 plan allocated about 6,000 spots for federal business immigration in 2026. A year later, that number was reduced to roughly 1,000. The 2026 plan and beyond left just 500 spots per year with a range of 250 to 1,000. In two years, the stated capacity shrank by a factor of 12, even as applications kept coming in.

If you compare 45,000 waiting applicants with 500 spots per year, the queue stretches out for decades. That's why the internal memo about non-advanced applications reads not as bureaucratic correspondence, but as an explanation of why the department has stopped even opening some files: there's nowhere to put them within approved plans.

Program on pause, new pilot ahead

On December 19, 2025, IRCC closed applications for work permits under the Start-Up Visa, leaving only extensions for those already in Canada. As of January 1, 2026, the program was put on pause: commitment certificates from designated organizations dated after December 31, 2025, are no longer accepted. Those who had a valid 2025 certificate were given until June 30, 2026, to submit complete applications. That deadline has now passed.

According to the department, applications already submitted will continue to be processed. The processing order is set by ministerial instructions and divided into three levels. Top priority goes to teams where at least one member holds a valid work permit under the program and has a letter of support from a venture capital fund committing to invest $200,000 CAD, from an angel investor group committing $75,000 CAD, or from a qualified business incubator. The second level includes those who meet the investment and letter of support requirements but don't have a member with a program work permit. The third level covers everyone else. Within each level, applications are processed in order of receipt.

In its planning document for 2026 and 2027, IRCC stated its intention to create a new high-impact pilot to replace the current program and address the problems identified in it. As of mid-2026, no name, selection criteria, or application guide has been published. Industry assessments suggest the new mechanism will be significantly more selective, focusing on critical technology sectors and targeting a processing time of around 12 months.

Why this matters beyond Start-Up Visa

The story of non-advanced applications shows a pattern that could repeat in any Canadian program without intake caps. As long as you can submit unlimited applications while plan allocations shrink, the gap gets closed not with refusals but with silence. Files simply don't get opened because there's nothing and no one to open them with.

For those planning immigration to Canada, there's a practical lesson here. Judge a program not by its published processing time, but by the ratio between the backlog size and the number of spots in the three-year admission plan. If the backlog is tens of times larger than the annual quota, the stated processing time has no connection to reality, no matter how official it looks.

If you're in the Start-Up Visa queue, considering alternative paths to Canadian permanent residence, or want to understand which programs in 2026 actually work versus those that only exist on paper, it makes sense to review your situation with a professional. Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) Ivanna Pavlenko provides eligibility assessments and helps build strategies based on current rules and real timelines. You can book a consultation here.