It's only mid-August 2025 but many Canadian citizens and permanent residents are already looking ahead to 2026 to see if they'll be fortunate enough to be invited by the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to sponsor their parents or grandparents (PGP) for Canadian permanent residence. The 2025 sponsorship intake process has just concluded following a two-week period during which IRCC sent invitations to eligible Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their loved ones. IRCC began sending invitations out on July 28, 2025 and, unfortunately, those who did not receive one this year will have to try their luck next year or consider alternative immigration options to achieve their goals of reuniting in Canada. In this blog, I will provide a brief history of the PGP sponsorship program and explain what the alternative options are.
The current iteration of the PGP sponsorship program was launched in the fall of 2020. Over the course of three weeks between October 13 and November 3, 2020, Canadians and permanent residents were invited to submit an online form to express their interest in sponsoring their parents and grandparents for Canadian permanent residence. IRCC's concept was to create a lottery system where they would create a large inventory of expressions of interests from which they could randomly invite Canadian citizens and permanent residents to submit a sponsorship application. In hindsight, however, the government probably bit off more than it could chew because IRCC ended up receiving a staggering 203,213 expressions of interest. This massive inventory has not been exhausted even though IRCC has randomly drawn from the same pool of potential sponsors since 2020, creating serious frustrations and a sense of hopelessness around the entire program.
IRCC's lottery model has long been maligned and, frankly, most of the criticism has been well deserved. Notably, the current system was launched almost five years ago, and it has completely excluded new potential sponsors from entering the existing inventory. That means that new Canadians and permanent residents are barred from using the program under current rules and it also punishes those who were eligible to sponsor in the fall of 2020 but were not aware of the short three-week intake period and those who decided not to enter the inventory having no clue that they would be locked out of the PGP sponsorship programs for years to come. The lottery model is also ‘blind' in that it shows no preference at all – potential sponsors in the inventory have the same chance of being invited to sponsor regardless of whether they are citizens, long-term permanent residents, or someone who only recently met the sponsorship criteria. The lottery model also fails to effectively scrutinize whether potential sponsors met the income eligibility criteria associated with the program. As an immigration lawyer, I am personally aware of several clients who did not meet income criteria but submitted sponsorship applications anyway. Rightly or wrongly, these factors contribute to the overall dissatisfaction with IRCC's administration of the PGP sponsorship program. So, what are the alternatives?
The most well-known alternative to the PGP sponsorship program is Canada's Super Visa program, which allows parents and grandparents to visit their Canadian loved ones for up to five years at a time without having to leave the country and refresh their temporary resident status. There is also an option to further extend the five year stay from inside Canada. I often describe the Super Visa program as a kind of ‘olive branch' offered by IRCC to placate those in the 2020 inventory who have not won the lottery and those who have been excluded from it. To be fair, the Super Visa offers a lot to families who want to reunite in Canada. Having the peace of mind of a five-year uninterrupted stay in Canada is nothing to scoff at, but it is also not a permanent resident visa, and there are many reasons why clients don't view the Super Visa as positively as IRCC may hope. For instance, many clients worry about the declining health of their parents and whether they'll be able to qualify for permanent residency in the future. The cost of acquiring private health insurance, which is a requirement of the Super Visa program, can be a huge detractor, especially if there are multiple parents and grandparents in the picture. Many clients are also concerned about the likelihood of getting a renewal of the Super Visa, and this can be exacerbated in uncertain times like these when unexpected and protracted conflicts arise in various parts of the world.
Those who want to look beyond the Super Visa will have to consider unorthodox strategies to bring their family members to Canada. Depending on the age of the family member(s), one or more of them may be able to qualify for permanent residency on their own merit, without the benefit of a sponsorship. Other options might include Canada's humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) program, an exceptional immigration stream applicable to cases where there are strong H&C factors that justify the granting of permanent residency, even when an applicant doesn't meet standard criteria for immigration. Examples of relevant H&C factors would include: the length of time the parent or grandparent has already spent in Canada, their level of establishment in Canada outside of the family home, hardships that may be experienced if they cannot remain long-term in Canada, and the best interests of any children that may be affected by the decision. However, potential applicants should be aware that simply being unable to enter the PGP inventory or having waited for years to be invited to apply does not in itself constitute sufficient hardship to justify an approval of an H&C application. For more information on H&C applications, please see our previous blogs on the subject:
https://canadian-visa-lawyer.
https://canadian-visa-lawyer.
Though the administration of the current PGP lottery system can be frustrating for Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are eager to sponsor their loved ones to Canada, the reality is that there are still tens of thousands of potential sponsors in the 2020 inventory and, therefore, the current system is likely here to stay. While the Super Visa offers a good temporary solution for families waiting on their chance to participate in the PGP program, those who wish to proactively consider alternative options should obtain proper legal advice to canvass all the possible avenues that are available. This is especially important in the current immigration environment where rules have changed dramatically, making it more difficult for everyone to qualify for permanent residency in Canada.
