---
title: How do the IEC pools and nominations work?
description: IEC pools usually open on a Monday and we nominate every Tuesday evening. Processing is usually quoted as 6�8 weeks, though many approvals come sooner.
---
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# How do the IEC pools and nominations work?
## When pools open, when we nominate, and how long approvals take.
Once the IEC pools open (usually on a Monday), we nominate applicants every Tuesday evening for the whole program season. After that, the timing of your approval is up to the Government of Canada.
**Getting into the first week of nominations:** You need to complete two steps once the pool opens to be nominated in our first week. It's best to prepare ahead, pay your program fee, and attend our optional advising session on the application process, so you're ready to move quickly when the pools open.
## What past years looked like
- **2022:** Our first nominations to the pool were 1/11/23, and a handful of the first approvals came the week of 1/20�1/27.
- **2023:** Our first nominations were 1/18/23, with a handful of approvals early the following week (1/24 through 1/26).
- **2024:** Our first nominations were 1/11/23.
From those same first-week batches, many other approvals came throughout February and into March. We can't tell you why some approvals come back sooner than others, and we can't intervene. It's entirely up to the government.
## Processing times
IRCC evaluators assess each application individually, so processing times vary. We advise applicants to expect the general 6�8 week processing timeframe, although we often see much shorter times, like the examples above.
The government may ask you for follow-up documents or more information while your application is processing. That can make it take longer, though in our experience it seldom goes past 8 weeks.
We haven't seen any sign that the usual timeline is changing, but IRCC can change the annual pool timing at any time.
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