Among Canada’s varied immigration options, the Parents and Grandparents (PGP) category has been a cornerstone of Canada’s family re-unification program for decades. However the PGP has had its ups and downs over the past couple of decades. The program has been suspended, re-opened, levels have gone up and gone down, it has occasionally transitioned to a lottery system and in October 2020 it evolved into a re-vamped lottery system where sponsors registered an expression of interest (EOI) and then were drawn and offered an invitation to apply (ITA). From that initial EOI program in 2020, there have been no further openings to the program while IRCC continues to make annual draws from the backlog of 165,000+ registered sponsors in the pool. There is little likelihood that the program will re-open any time soon nor in any way similar to what the program has resembled in the past 20+ years. Let’s review the numbers to understand why.
Section 3(d) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) sets out the objectives of the Act and specifically designates that family reunification is one of the fundamental objectives of Canada’s immigration laws to ensure that “families are re-united in Canada”. What section 3 doesn’t specify, is in what MANNER that families are to be reunified in Canada. Historically there has been an option for parents and grandparents to obtain permanent residency. Based upon recent trends in decreasing immigration levels, it is unlikely that the parent and grandparent permanent immigration stream will re-open any time soon.
To understand this probable new reality, it is necessary to look at the past and present immigration levels plans. Canada’s targeted immigration levels for permanent residents from 1990 to 2016 were approximately 250,000 immigrants per year. It was fairly steady. From 2017 to 2025 these numbers increased dramatically to a level of 480,000 immigrants in 2024 – nearly doubling in less than ten years. With an increased supply of new immigrants, all of whom would like their parents and/or grandparents to join them in Canada, it is simply not feasible to provide this as an option for Canada’s permanent family re-unification program. In the face of this reality, IRCC has introduced a temporary program – the Super Visa – which allows for parents or grandparents to come to Canada on a temporary basis as visitors for extended periods of time of up to seven years. It is not coincidental that this time period correlates to when children are of school age reducing the demands for at home childcare. As a condition of obtaining a Super Visa for their relatives, sponsors need to confirm their financial ability to provide for their senior family members and they must demonstrate private health coverage to ensure that their relatives won’t be a burden on the Canadian health care system.
What does this mean for Canadian citizens and permanent residents eager to bring their parents or grandparents to Canada? It’s time for a dramatic re-think. The option of bringing your elderly relatives to Canada on a permanent basis is now extremely remote. The creation of the Super Visa, which allows parents and grandparents to obtain a ten-year multiple-entry visa, along with their ability to stay in Canada for up to seven consecutive years during this period, is meant to alleviate some of the hardship of separation of families. It is a temporary solution for Canadians seeking to be reunited in Canada with family, to what is very likely a permanent closure of the program. Adam Smith’s laws of Supply and Demand are relevant to these circumstances. With a doubling of the immigrants arriving in Canada, it is totally predictable that the demand to be reunited with parents and grandparents will increase. Canada’s immigration program simply can’t accommodate this likely increased demand for the PGP program. Bringing your elderly relatives on a temporary basis and for longer periods of time is now your option.
For some of our previous blogs on the PGP program, please see these links:
- IRCC Relaxes Income Requirements for Super Visa Hosts – https://canadian-visa-lawyer.com/ircc-relaxes-income-requirements-for-super-visa-hosts/
- Alternative Options to the Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program – https://canadian-visa-lawyer.com/alternative-options-to-the-parents-and-grandparents-sponsorship-program/
- Sponsor Your Parents and Grandparents in 2019 – https://canadian-visa-lawyer.com/sponsor-your-parents-and-grandparents-in-2019/
- What Ever Happened to Speedier Processing Times for Parents and Grandparents? – https://canadian-visa-lawyer.com/what-ever-happened-to-speedier-processing-times-for-parents-and-grandparents/
