Track your Canada PR from AOR to PR card.
You applied. Now the waiting starts. The GetNorthPath PR Tracker follows every IRCC milestone - biometrics, medical, background check, final decision, portal emails - and shows exactly where your file sits against applicants who got AOR the same month as you.
The 13 milestones between AOR and your PR card
Once IRCC confirms it has your complete application, every file moves through the same broad stages. Here is what each one means, in the order most applicants see them - so a status change never catches you off guard.
1 · Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR) Day 0
IRCC confirms your complete PR application has been received. For Express Entry, this follows your eAPR submission. Your AOR date is the starting line - IRCC's processing standards are generally counted from here, and it's the date your cohort in our tracker is built around.
2 · Biometrics Instruction Letter (BIL)
A letter asking you to give fingerprints and a photo. The biometrics fee is $85 CAD per person (max $170 for a family applying together), usually paid with your application. You typically have 30 days from the letter date to complete them at a collection point.
3 · Biometrics completed
Done at a Service Canada office (in Canada) or a Visa Application Centre (abroad). Your account usually updates to "completed" within a few days of your appointment.
4 · Medical exam passed Often upfront for EE
An immigration medical exam with an IRCC panel physician. Express Entry applicants often complete it before submitting; the tracker shows "medical results received / passed" once IRCC records it. Results are generally valid for 12 months.
5-8 · Background check Longest stage for many files
IRCC and partner agencies verify your admissibility. The official status tracker groups this under one line, but it covers three checks. It can flip between "Not applicable" and "In progress" more than once - that's normal, not a red flag.
9 · Eligibility review passed
An officer confirms you meet the requirements of your program - work experience, language, education, funds, NOC alignment. On the tracker this often shows as "Recommended" or "Passed".
10 · Final decision Approved
All checks complete, decision rendered. Inland applicants then get PR Confirmation Portal emails; outland applicants get a Passport Request (PPR) to submit their passport for visa and COPR issuance.
11 · PR Portal emails (P1 & P2) · or PPR
Inland: a first email confirms your details and that you're in Canada (P1), a second invites you to upload a photo and address (P2). Outland: PPR replaces this - you send your passport and receive a COPR (plus a visa if you need one) to land at a port of entry.
12 · eCOPR / landing
Inland applicants receive an electronic Confirmation of Permanent Residence through the portal - you become a PR without leaving Canada. Outland applicants complete landing at the border with their COPR. Either way, this is the day you officially become a permanent resident.
13 · PR card arrives By mail
Your first PR card is included in your application and mailed to your Canadian address after eCOPR or landing. It's your proof of status for re-entering Canada by commercial carrier.
Stages, fees and definitions summarized from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Verify anything that affects your file on official pages: after you apply - Express Entry, biometrics, and check your application status.
IRCC processing standards by PR pathway
IRCC publishes a service standard - the time it aims to process most complete applications in - and a live estimate that moves with volume. Both are counted from AOR. Here's the picture across the pathways our tracker supports.
| Pathway | IRCC target | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Express Entry - CECCanadian Experience Class | 6 months | Service standard for most complete applications after eAPR. Inland files with clean background checks often track close to it. |
| Express Entry - FSWFederal Skilled Worker | 6 months | Same standard; overseas police certificates and visa-office workload can add time for outland applicants. |
| Express Entry - FSTFederal Skilled Trades | 6 months | Same standard once you have an ITA; FST draws themselves are less frequent. |
| PNP via Express EntryEnhanced nomination (+600 CRS) | 6 months | Processed inside Express Entry after ITA, so the same standard applies to the federal PR stage. |
| PNP - paper-basedBase / non-EE nomination | Varies | Processed outside Express Entry and typically much longer. Check IRCC's live tool for the current estimate. |
| Spousal / family sponsorshipInland & outland Family Class | ~12 months | IRCC's longstanding target for most spousal files, counted from a complete application. Live estimates vary by stream and country. |
These figures change with IRCC's intake and policy. Before making plans, check the live number for your exact stream in the official Check processing times tool on canada.ca - and remember standards describe most complete applications, not a guarantee for any single file.
The IRCC status tracker tells you your status. Ours tells you what it means.
Always trust the official tracker for your file's status. Use ours to answer the question it can't: "is my timeline normal?"
IRCC application status tracker
- Authoritative status for biometrics, medical, eligibility, background check and final decision
- Covers Express Entry, some PNP and family sponsorship applications
- No day counts, no history of when each stage changed
- No way to know if your pace is typical for your cohort
GetNorthPath PR Tracker
- Days-since-AOR counter and an expected decision window for your pathway and stream
- Monthly cohorts - see how many people with your AOR month have hit each milestone
- Typical day markers for every milestone, adjusted for inland vs outland
- One page for every PR pathway - EE, PNP, spousal & family sponsorship
Three minutes to set up. Useful for the whole wait.
Enter your AOR & pathway
Pick your PR stream - Express Entry (CEC, FSW, FST), PNP, or spousal / family sponsorship - inland or outland, and your AOR date. No account needed.
Tick milestones as they happen
BIL, biometrics, medical, background check, portal emails, eCOPR, PR card - each with the typical day it lands for files like yours.
Compare with your cohort
See how many applicants from your AOR month have reached each stage, and where your file sits - ahead, on pace, or worth a follow-up with IRCC.
What "background check in progress" actually covers
"Background check in progress" means IRCC and partner agencies are still verifying your admissibility - criminality, security screening, and information sharing. It is the most-searched IRCC status in Canadian PR, and three separate checks run under that single line on the official tracker.
Criminality check
IRCC verifies you have no convictions that make you inadmissible, using your police certificates (required for any country you've lived in for 6+ months in a row since age 18) and database checks. For most applicants this is the fastest of the three.
Security screening
Conducted with Canadian security partners to rule out espionage, terrorism and organized-crime concerns. Most files clear it quickly and invisibly; a minority go to enhanced screening, which is the usual culprit behind very long background checks.
Information sharing
Canada exchanges immigration information with partner countries (including the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand) to confirm your identity and immigration history. Usually completes early and quietly in the background.
Heads-up: the sub-check statuses above are visible only inside your own IRCC status tracker login - community sites can't see them. In the GetNorthPath tracker they're self-reported milestones: you check your IRCC account and log them, which is exactly what makes our cohort data on background checks unique.
PR tracking, answered
This page is provided for general guidance and reflects publicly available IRCC information plus community-reported timelines. It is not legal advice and does not replace information in your official IRCC account.
Stop refreshing your IRCC account. Start understanding it.
Enter your AOR date, tick your milestones, and see exactly where your file sits against everyone who applied the same month as you.