The Liberal Government announces new intake process for sponsorship of parents and grandparents

Ottawa: The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced the Parents and Grandparents (PGP) Program. To those that are interested, the sponsor form will be available to potential sponsors starting at noon EST on January 28.

The Government of Canada has taken past feedback to make this application process simple and efficient, while remaining an easy-to-access electronic method for applicants. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will accept interest to sponsor submissions for a limited time and then invite potential sponsors to submit a complete application, in the order their submissions were received, until the 2019 cap of 20,000 complete applications is reached. Potential sponsors should submit an interest to sponsor form as soon as possible once it’s available online.

Given the continuing interest in the program, IRCC has increased the annual cap on applications it will accept in 2019 to 20,000 – 4 times the number of applications accepted in 2015.

This increase was made possible by an over 80% reduction of the application backlog and processing times that have been shortened from 7 to 8 years, to about 2 years.

Mr. Sarai commented, “I’m glad our government is giving importance to family reunification. It supports economic benefits and helps build better communities. I encourage those that are interested to apply to the Parents and Grandparents program.”