Rally held outside Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada office in Winnipeg on Friday

A group of people who say they've been stuck waiting for months — and in some cases years — for permanent residency applications to move through the security verification process gathered for a rally in downtown Winnipeg on Friday. 

The protesters outside Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) office on Main Street called on federal immigration authorities to provide clearer timelines and more transparency about the application and screening process. 

Huaji Jin, who moved to Canada from China, said his life has been in limbo for 15 months as his permanent residency application remains in the background verification step. He hasn't received any updates, he said. 

"This process has been frozen for me for 15 months," said Jin, who applied for the express entry system for skilled workers.

"My life has been frozen," he said, adding he's felt depressed and stuck as a result.

Jin, who works at a local Chinese restaurant, said he sees Canada as a "new promised land." He wants to continue building his life here and travel across the country.

Qian Cao, one of the rally's organizers, said demonstrators want the federal government to take action on long wait times. She said one of the longest waits highlighted at the rally was 62 months — that's more than five years. 

"That's a very, very long time," Cao said.

"We just hope the government — the IRCC — will take action," she said, adding she'd like to see "a clear timeline" from federal officials on processing times.

Hengyu (Jason) Guan, whose application has been at the security screening step for 15 months, believes the screening process is necessary and supports it, "but it makes no sense for us to wait for so long."

Being without his permanent residency has made it hard to make any significant life choices, both personally and professionally. 

"You can't make any important decisions in your life," he said. 

Yunhong Ye said processing delays are affecting her ability to pursue postdoctoral work in Canada.

It feels as if she submitted her paperwork into a "black hole," she said. 

"It's heartbreaking," Ye said.

IRCC spokesperson Anahita Beladi said in a statement to CBC News that the agency is grappling with "unprecedented demand" and is processing a high volume of applications, but officials understand that waiting for a decision is stressful for applicants. 

Beladi said about 63 per cent of permanent residence applications are actively being processed, while remainder are waiting for admission space under annual targets. 

Processing times may depend on whether an application is complete, case complexity, if additional information is needed and the number of applications in the system. Some parts of the process, like security screenings, are done by IRCC's security partners and the agency doesn't control the timing for those assessments, Beladi said. 

Since May 31, just over half of all new permanent residents were approved within 12 months of submitting a complete application, the spokesperson said. Between June 2025 to May 2026, nearly eight in 10 people who applied via express entry for skilled and experienced workers got a decision within the six-month service standard, Beladi said.

Mehrafarin Ashiri came to Canada as a graduate student and wants to get her permanent residency so that she can further her education and career. 

She says she's been waiting for more than a year and a half, with no results or decision on her express entry application. 

"After 19 months, I'm still waiting for a decision," she said, adding that she hopes Friday's rally will spur action. 

"It's so heartbreaking to see families falling apart, people not being able to achieve their goals, people who claim Canada [as] their home and now they have to wait and suffer for prolonged processing times and not get any clear answers," Ashiri said.

'My life has been frozen': Permanent residence applicants want more transparency on processing times