Canada will now accept 17,000 applications under Parents and Grandparents Program in 2018

The Government of Canada is increasing the number of applications that it will accept for processing this year under its parents and grandparents sponsorship program, from 10,000 to 17,000.

The update was issued Thursday via Ministerial Instruction from Canada's Immigration Minister, Ahmed Hussen.

The news follows an announcement by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) earlier this week that it would resume inviting potential sponsors who had previously submitted an Interest to Sponsor form during that last Interest to Sponsor period between January 2 and February 1, 2018.

The instructions issued today state that increasing the number of applications processed this year to 17,000 "will best support the attainment of the immigration goals established by the Government of Canada by seeing families reunited in Canada."

The additional invitations will be issued using the same randomized selection process that IRCC employed to issue its earlier invitations this year.

Sponsors who receive an invitation to apply will have 60 days from the date they received their invitation to submit a complete application.

IRCC's Parents and Grandparents Program is one of Canada's Family Class sponsorship initiatives and allows successful applicants to apply for permanent residence for their parents and / or grandparents.

Who's eligible?

In order to be eligible to sponsor one’s parents and grandparents to become a permanent resident, applicants must be:

At least 18 years old; and
A Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.

If you sponsor your parents and grandparents to come to Canada as a permanent resident, you must:

Support that person and their dependants financially
Meet the minimum necessary income level for this program by submitting notices of assessment issued by the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) in support of their sponsorship.
Sponsors must also demonstrate they have met the minimum necessary income level for three consecutive years. If married or in a common-law relationship, the income of both persons can be included; and
The sponsor and the sponsored relative must sign a sponsorship agreement that commits the sponsor to provide financial support for the sponsored person for up to 20 years.

Potential sponsors who live in Quebec must also meet Quebec’s immigration sponsorship requirements after IRCC approves them as a sponsor.

Sponsors will have to prove that they meet the minimum income requirements by submitting notices of assessment issued by the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) in support of their sponsorship and they must also demonstrate they have met the minimum necessary income level for three consecutive years.

If you receive or have received an invitation to apply to the Parents and Grandparents Program, you may email us at pgp@canadavisa.com to learn about the next steps regarding your application.