Canada will invite 23,100 Parents & Grandparents under PGP 2022

On October 11, Canada announced the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) 2022 application intake process.

Over the next two weeks, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will invite 23,100 potential sponsors to apply. According to IRCC, this figure is sufficient to accept up to 15,000 complete sponsorship applications under PGP 2022. Invitations will begin later this week.

IRCC will draw from those who expressed their interest in sponsoring their parents and grandparents in autumn 2020. IRCC says there are some 155,000 potential sponsors remaining in the pool.

In the past, potential sponsors were given three weeks to indicate their interest through IRCC’s website. A lottery was then conducted by IRCC, and approximately 10,000 applications were accepted for the PGP 2020. Last year, IRCC drew from the same pool to accept some 30,000 applications for the PGP 2021.

Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) eligibility:

The following conditions must be met before you can sponsor your parents and grandparents:

• Your interest to sponsor form was submitted between 12 p.m. ET on October 13, 2020 and 12 p.m. ET on November 3, 2020 on the IRCC website
• You must be at least 18 years old
• You live in Canada
• You are either a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or an Indian registered in Canada under the Canadian Indian Act
• You meet the Minimum Necessary Income requirement to sponsor the people you want to support.

The Minimum Necessary Income criteria is a key component of the PGP application process. Proof of necessary income has to be submitted after an interest in sponsorship has been expressed via the online form. If an applicant is selected and invited to apply, but does not meet the minimum income requirement, their application will be denied.

It is important that sponsors and their co-signers (if applicable) from across Canada (except Quebec) who are invited to apply and co-signers (if applicable) provide Notices of Assessment (NOA) from the Canada Revenue Agency for each of the previous three taxation years before they apply.

To confirm that they meet the minimum income requirements, interested sponsors must determine the size of their family including all persons for whom they will be financially responsible once they become sponsors, including:

• the interested sponsor;
• their spouse or common-law partner;
• their dependent children;
• their spouse’s or partner’s dependent children;
• any other person the interested sponsor may have sponsored in the past, for whom they’re still financially responsible;
• the parents and grandparents they want to sponsor and their dependents (spouse or partner and dependent children);
• any dependent children who won’t come to Canada with their parents or grandparents;
• their parent or grandparent’s spouse or partner, even if they won’t come to Canada;
• their parent or grandparents’ separated spouse.

Since many people have lost income due to the Coronavirus pandemic, IRCC is lowering its MNI thresholds by 30% compared with what they would normally be for the 2021 and 2020 calendar years. Also, IRCC allows sponsorship income to include regular Employment Insurance benefits as well as temporary COVID-19 payments (like Canada Emergency Response Benefits).

Under the current Immigration Levels Plan, Canada is hoping to bring in 25,000 parents and grandparents this year and then raise the target to 28,500 new permanent residents next year

Sponsors who live in Quebec:

Sponsors of parents or grandparents in Quebec have their income assessed by Quebec’s immigration ministry, according to the province’s income requirements.

Sponsors are required to sign an undertaking from both the IRCC and the Government of Quebec. This undertaking sets out how long the sponsor will be financially responsible for the family members they are sponsoring from the time they become permanent residents of Canada.

In all Canadian provinces except Quebec, parents and grandparents are required to fulfill the undertaking for 20 years. For residents of Quebec, the duration of that commitment is 10 years.

Parents and Grandparents Super Visa:

There is a super visa for parents and grandparents for candidates who are not invited to apply this year.

The multiple-entry visa is valid for up to 10 years and, as of July 2022, the length of stay for Super Visa holders increased to five years, with the option to request an additional two years while in Canada.

Regular multiple-entry visit visas have a maximum validity of six months.

In order to support the visa holder, the child or grandchild of the candidate in Canada must meet certain income requirements.

It is estimated that the IRCC issues approximately 17,000 Super Visas each year.