On March 7th, Canadian authorities announced that they will open sponsorship invitations for the Parents and GrandParents program (PGP). This program will allow sponsors to invite their parents and grandparents to be permanent residents of Canada.
WHAT IS PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS PROGRAM?
This is a family reunification pathway to permanent residence. This program allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to invite their parents and grandparents to live and work with them. The intent of this program is to reunite as many families as possible.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) aims to accept 10,000 applications under the PGP program. IRCC hasn’t announced the dates when the invitations will be sent.
SPONSOR ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
- Must be Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident
- Age must be 18 years or above
- Must meet minimum income requirements for the last three taxation years
- Must be in canada at the time of applying for sponsorship and during the processing of application
- Agree to financially support the sponsoring person for a minimum of 20 years
Eligible candidates can submit a form to sponsor from the federal government website. The sponsors will receive an invitation to apply from the government before proceeding further.
HOW PGP PROGRAM WORKS
PGP is a lottery system. The sponsors will add their applications in the pool. System will randomly select the required number of applications and send invitations to them.
The sponsorship forms were last open in 2020 and received huge sponsorship requests from the residents. During 2020 to 2024, ITA had sent to the people in the pool. There are a few applications remaining in the 2020 PGP intake. Thus, IRCC is going to use the same approach and send random invites to the persons in 2020 pool.
As of February 2025, processing time for the PGP program is approximately 24 months outside Quebec. It increases to 48 months for Quebec based applications due to the province’s less family based admission targets.
ALTERNATIVE OF PGP PROGRAM
PGP has not opened since 2020. Thus, the alternative is to apply for a Super Visa if a resident wants their family to stay for an extended period.
This visa can be issued for up to 10 years. It provides visa holders temporary residence. They can stay in the country for up to 5 years in a single entry. Sponsors must meet minimum income requirements and foreign nationals must purchase health insurance for the duration of their stay in Canada.
IRCC has recently loosened the health insurance requirements to provide applicants more options to purchase insurance coverage.
You can read more information from this website.
