Family reunification plays a significant role in attracting, retaining and integrating immigrants who contribute to our success as a country. Canada has an extremely generous family sponsorship program, which allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents the option to bring their parents and grandparents to Canada as permanent residents.
Today, Member of Parliament Sonia Sidhu, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced that, this year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will continue to reunite families by accepting up to 15,000 complete applications for sponsorship under the Parents and Grandparents (PGP) Program. This week, IRCC will begin sending invitations to apply to 23,100 interested potential sponsors—enough to make sure we receive our goal of 15,000 applications. Invitations will be sent over the course of two weeks.
MP Sidhu said, “Family reunification is important to Canadians and plays a key role in our immigration system. We recognize that reuniting parents and grandparents with their families in Canada provides immense contributions to our communities. Parents, their children, and their grandchildren want to be together and our Government has made significant progress toward that. Today’s announcement will help reunite more families in Canada and is an important step in the right direction.”
Due to the number of interest-to-sponsor forms remaining in the pool of submissions from 2020, IRCC will send invitations to apply to randomly selected potential sponsors from that pool instead of opening a new interest-to-sponsor form. This is the same approach taken for the 2021 intake. Anyone who submitted an interest to the sponsor form in 2020 but did not receive an invitation to apply in January 2021 or September 2021 is encouraged to check the email account they provided when they submitted their interest.
Those who wish to reunite with their parents and grandparents in Canada, but who are not invited this year may consider having their parents or grandparents apply for a super visa, a multiple entry visa that is valid for 10 years. Enhancements to the super visa, implemented in Summer 2022, allow super visa holders to stay in Canada for five years at a time, extending their visits by up to two years without leaving the country. These changes make it easier for Canadian citizens and permanent residents to reunite with their parents and grandparents in Canada for longer periods of time.
“Family reunification is an essential part of Canada’s immigration system. Building on recently-announced enhancements to the parents and grandparents super visa, opening a PGP sponsorship intake and accepting up to 15,000 applications in 2022 demonstrates the government’s commitment to reuniting families while strengthening Canada’s immigration system,” Immigration Minister Fraser.
