diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli/cdk-toolkit.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli/cdk-toolkit.ts
index b31baf547..ba797c62c 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli/cdk-toolkit.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli/cdk-toolkit.ts
@@ -294,6 +294,11 @@ export class CdkToolkit {
       return this.watch(options);
     }
 
+    // set progress from options, this includes user and app config
+    if (options.progress) {
+      this.ioHost.stackProgress = options.progress;
+    }
+
     const startSynthTime = new Date().getTime();
     const stackCollection = await this.selectStacksForDeploy(
       options.selector,
@@ -760,6 +765,11 @@ export class CdkToolkit {
   public async import(options: ImportOptions) {
     const stacks = await this.selectStacksForDeploy(options.selector, true, true, false);
 
+    // set progress from options, this includes user and app config
+    if (options.progress) {
+      this.ioHost.stackProgress = options.progress;
+    }
+
     if (stacks.stackCount > 1) {
       throw new ToolkitError(
         `Stack selection is ambiguous, please choose a specific stack for import [${stacks.stackArtifacts.map((x) => x.id).join(', ')}]`,
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/test/cli/cdk-toolkit.test.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/test/cli/cdk-toolkit.test.ts
index abb39a346..dace50c48 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/test/cli/cdk-toolkit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/test/cli/cdk-toolkit.test.ts
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ import {
   restoreSdkMocksToDefault,
 } from '../util/mock-sdk';
 import { asIoHelper } from '../../../@aws-cdk/tmp-toolkit-helpers/src/api/io/private';
+import { StackActivityProgress } from '../../lib/commands/deploy';
 
 markTesting();
 
@@ -615,7 +616,6 @@ describe('deploy', () => {
     expect(mockSynthesize).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-
   describe('readCurrentTemplate', () => {
     let template: any;
     let mockCloudExecutable: MockCloudExecutable;
@@ -1009,6 +1009,36 @@ describe('deploy', () => {
       );
     });
   });
+
+  test('can set progress via options', async () => {
+    const ioHost = CliIoHost.instance();
+
+    // Ensure environment allows StackActivityProgress.BAR
+    ioHost.stackProgress = StackActivityProgress.BAR;
+    ioHost.isTTY = true;
+    ioHost.isCI = false;
+    expect(ioHost.stackProgress).toBe('bar');
+
+    const toolkit = new CdkToolkit({
+      ioHost,
+      cloudExecutable,
+      configuration: cloudExecutable.configuration,
+      sdkProvider: cloudExecutable.sdkProvider,
+      deployments: new FakeCloudFormation({}),
+    });
+
+    // check this hasn't changed yet
+    expect(ioHost.stackProgress).toBe('bar');
+
+    await toolkit.deploy({
+      progress: StackActivityProgress.EVENTS,
+      selector: { patterns: ["**"] },
+      hotswap: HotswapMode.FALL_BACK
+    });
+
+    // now expect it to be updated
+    expect(ioHost.stackProgress).toBe('events');
+  });
 });
 
 describe('destroy', () => {