Canada is delaying the opening of its 2020 Parents and Grandparents Program due to its ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The launch of the call for expressions of interest to apply for the popular program was anticipated in the coming weeks, according to an Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) media release.

The temporary deferral of the call for applications is not expected to impact when parents and grandparents will arrive in Canada, and IRCC will still process these applications.

The Parents and Grandparents Program enables Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their parents and grandparents to obtain permanent resident status.

The program is so popular that the federal government has sought various ways over the past decade to manage its intake since 2011.

Sponsor a loved one for Canadian immigration

Last year, some 100,000 Canadians expressed their interest in sponsoring a parent or grandparent even though there were only 21,000 permanent residence spots available.

Similarly, Canada is targeting the admissions of 21,000 immigrants under the PGP each year through its 2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan.

IRCC has tried numerous approaches to manage the PNP in recent years and continues to identify ways to refine its approach. These have included using a first-come, first-served model, whereby it processed applications in the order in which they were submitted. It has also tried a lottery model, whereby sponsors were randomly selected.

It remains to be seen what the PGP intake process will look like once IRCC launches it later in 2020.

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