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What Is GCKey and How Do You Track Your Application?

GCKey is a Government of Canada username and password. It signs you in to your IRCC secure account, where you track Express Entry, work permit and many other applications. GCKey is only the sign-in, not the account. If you signed in with an email address instead, your file sits in the IRCC Portal. PR card applications go through the Permanent Residence Portal.

Sign in to your IRCC account (opens in a new tab)

What is GCKey and how do you sign in?

GCKey is the Government of Canada’s secure credential service, a username and password that signs you in to Government of Canada online accounts, including your IRCC secure account. Once you sign in, you land inside the IRCC secure account, where your application status, messages, and documents sit.

The secure account takes exactly two sign-in credentials. One is a GCKey username and password. The other is an Interac Sign-In Partner, which is your existing Canadian online banking login.

The credential you register the account with stays tied to that account and your user profile. To use the other method you have to register for it, and your application may not show in the new account until you link it. If you already created one credential, IRCC says to use the option you registered with every time you sign in.

The rule

GCKey is only a sign-in credential, a username and password.

IRCC, canada.caVerify on canada.ca(opens in a new tab)

How do you create an account and link your application?

  1. Go to the IRCC website

    Visit ircc.canada.ca and select the option to sign in to or create an account.

  2. Create your credential

    For GCKey, choose a username, a password and recovery questions, which you need if you forget the password. For a Sign-In Partner, sign in with your existing Canadian online banking credentials.

  3. Access the IRCC secure account

    Once authenticated, you enter your IRCC secure account. Here you can start a new application or link an existing one.

  4. Link an existing application

    If you applied on paper, or online but in a different account, you can link the application to your account. Your application number and UCI (client ID) are on your acknowledgement of receipt (AOR).

  5. Set up two-factor authentication (GCKey)

    GCKey asks you to choose a second authentication method, such as your email or an authenticator app, to use each time you sign in. Save the recovery codes it gives you somewhere safe.

What do the status messages mean?

Your account shows the status of your application and any requests from IRCC. IRCC’s application status tracker, a separate account you create with your UCI and application number, can show a timeline with more detail than your main account.

Received
IRCC got your application and is checking whether it is complete. Status updates show up only after you get your acknowledgement of receipt (AOR).
In progress
IRCC is still reviewing your application.
Closed
IRCC approved or refused your application, or you withdrew or abandoned it. IRCC says it will contact you before it closes an application.
Waiting on you
A section status meaning IRCC needs more information or documents from you. The tracker’s "Your next steps" section says what. Answer by any deadline in the request.
Returned
IRCC returns an application that is incomplete, comes without the fees, or arrives after a program pauses, closes or reaches its application limit. You cannot check the status of a returned application.

The tracker shows a status for four sections (eligibility, medical exam, background verification and biometrics), each marked Not started, Waiting on you, In progress, Completed or Exempted. It does not show the officer’s notes.

How do you check processing times?

IRCC publishes current processing time estimates through its official "Check processing times" tool. For some application types IRCC publishes a forward-looking estimate, based on how many applications it has, how many people process them and how many it expects. For others it publishes a historical figure, how long it took to process 80% of that type of application in the past.

IRCC updates some lines weekly and others monthly, and the tool shows each line’s last update.

  • IRCC says processing times are not a maximum or a guarantee, and your application may take longer than the time shown.
  • IRCC counts from the day it receives your complete application. Online, that is the day you submit it. On paper, it is the day your application arrives in IRCC’s mailroom.
  • IRCC posts a separate time for each application type.
  • IRCC says the posted time includes the time it takes you to give biometrics.

What can you do when the processing time has passed?

  1. Use the IRCC web form

    IRCC offers a web form for inquiries, including applications that are outside normal processing time. Submit it once the posted processing time for your application type has passed, with your application number and UCI ready. IRCC publishes no reply time.

  2. Contact your Member of Parliament (MP)

    Your local MP’s constituency office can make parliamentary inquiries to IRCC on your behalf. Find your MP at ourcommons.ca. An MP inquiry does not change the decision or the rules.

  3. Request your GCMS notes

    You can request the notes on your IRCC file through the online Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) service. The next section explains how.

  4. Judicial review (mandamus)

    If your application has been delayed for a long time, a lawyer can advise whether to ask the Federal Court for an order (mandamus) compelling IRCC to make a decision. Judicial review in the Federal Court starts with an application for leave to the Court (IRPA s.72(1)).

What are GCMS notes and how do you request them?

The notes on your IRCC file are often called GCMS notes. IRCC’s Privacy Act request page does not list what a release contains, but the notes may include:

  • The officer’s assessment of your application documents.
  • Any concerns or flags noted by the processing officer.
  • Where in the workflow your application currently sits.
  • Dates of officer reviews and actions.
  • Background and security check status (sometimes).

Submit an Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) request through the official ATIP Online Request service at atip-aiprp.apps.gc.ca. Select "Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada" as the institution, request your personal information, and give details that identify you and your file.

A request for your own personal information is made under the Privacy Act, with no fee. The $5 fee applies to Access to Information Act requests, which are a different stream.

The Privacy Act gives IRCC 30 days after it receives the request to answer, and it can extend that by up to 30 days in the cases the Act lists. If someone else (such as a representative) requests on your behalf, IRCC needs a Consent for an Access to Information and Personal Information Request form (IMM 5744) for each person on the file who is 16 or older.

Which free tool checks your own case?

Free, with no account. What you enter in a tool stays in your browser.

What do people ask?

What is GCKey?

GCKey is a Government of Canada username and password that signs you in to Government of Canada online accounts, including the IRCC secure account. It is only the sign-in credential, not the account, and it needs no Canadian bank account. The other way into the same account is an Interac Sign-In Partner, which is your Canadian online banking login. Our glossary entry on GCKey sums up the terms.

What is the difference between GCKey and the IRCC Portal?

They are separate accounts with separate sign-ins. IRCC says that if you signed in with a GCKey username and password or a Sign-In Partner, you used the IRCC secure account. If you signed in with an email address, you used the IRCC Portal or its new version. PR card applications go through a separate Permanent Residence Portal. Our Contact IRCC guide covers the next step if you still cannot find your file.

GCKey or IRCC Portal: which one for a visitor visa or study permit?

Use the account you applied in. IRCC lists three possible accounts for a visitor visa: the secure account, the IRCC Portal and the IRCC Portal new version. For a study permit applied for online it lists one: the secure account. A GCKey or bank sign-in means the secure account, and an email sign-in means a portal. If unsure, IRCC says to try each or check your email. Our Visitor Visa Canada guide covers the application.

What is an AOR in Canada immigration?

An AOR, or acknowledgement of receipt, is the letter or email IRCC sends once it has received your application and checked that it is complete. It carries your application number and your client ID (UCI), which you use to link the application to your account. It confirms receipt, not a decision, and status updates start only after it arrives. Our glossary defines the AOR and the other terms on your file.

What is a UCI number?

A UCI, or unique client identifier, is the client ID number IRCC gives you, and the same number follows you across every application. It is different from the application number, which belongs to one application and usually has one letter followed by nine digits. Both appear on your AOR. If you have never dealt with IRCC, you have no UCI yet. Our glossary explains both numbers side by side.

My IRCC status has said 'In progress' for 8 months. Is that normal?

It can be. IRCC says 'In progress' means it is still reviewing your application, so on its own it does not signal a problem. Whether 8 months is normal depends on your application type. Compare your wait with IRCC's current processing time for that type. Our IRCC Processing Delays Explained guide covers what a long wait can mean and the steps that follow.

IRCC refused my application. Do I still need GCMS notes to see the reasons?

Not always. Since July 29, 2025, IRCC has sent the officer decision note with refusals of most temporary resident applications (not eTAs or temporary resident permits), and since May 26, 2026 with refusals of most permanent residence applications (not humanitarian and compassionate applications). If your refusal is one of these, the reasons may already be attached. For other application types, or a fuller record, a Privacy Act request for the notes on your file (often called GCMS notes) is the way to see them. Our Visitor Visa Refused guide explains the next steps.

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Official sources

This page is based on law and policy published by the Government of Canada.

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