Parent Sponsorship

Parent sponsorship has become a highly competitive category as many new Canadians wish to sponsor their parents to join them in Canada. The number of sponsorships each year is capped and there is a minimum income requirement for sponsors which is based on the past three tax years.

The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents outside Quebec to sponsor their parents and/or grandparents to become permanent residents of Canada.

Parents and Grandparents Program: Process

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) operates a lottery system sponsoring parents whereby citizens and permanent residents must submit an Interest to sponsor form before being placed in a pool. IRCC makes random draws from the pool and issues Invitations to Apply. The sponsors and their parents and grandparents then have 60 days to submit a full application after being invited to apply.

Sponsors must:

• Be at least 18 years old.
• Live in Canada.
• Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act.
• Have enough money to support those they want to sponsor by meeting minimum income requirements for the previous three years. Income can include both spouses in the same household.

Parents and Grandparents Program: Who Can Be Sponsored?

• Parents and grandparents, related by blood or adoption to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
• In cases of re-marriage, spouses or common-law partners of parents and grandparents are also eligible.
• A sponsor’s full or half brothers and sisters are eligible if they qualify as dependent children.

Parents and Grandparents Super Visa

Those not successful in the parental sponsorship process should consider the Parents and Grandparents Super Visa, which allows a parent or grandparent to visit Canada for up to two (2) years at a time and allows multiple entries for up to ten (10) years.