Parent and grandparent sponsorships are open for 2025

by Michael Scott

Beginning in July 2025, Canada’s Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) will open with the processing of selected applications from the 2020 interest to sponsor pool. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will send invitations to 17,860 applicants from the 2020 pool. It is not open to any new sponsorship submissions, only existing inventory. The intention of the department is to process 10,000 applications from those invited, allowing for refusals and those inadmissible, including those whose applications have expired, or are infirmed, or those whose sponsors are not eligible, especially because of their failure to meet minimum income requirements. The process is not easy but after waiting five years in the inventory, they have a real chance of success.

The application process commences with the selection of the 17,000 plus potential applicants from the 2020 inventory. The invitations were based on the submission of intentions to sponsor who applied online five years ago and who were not invited from 2020 to 2024. Some will judge the applicants fortunate to be still under consideration while many others have long ago ended any hope for selection. If you were one of the applicants selected after July 28, that’s good news. If you were not selected, it would appear that your chances are over, but this same warning has been heard several times before. It is now time for the fortunate applicants to attend to the requirements and to be aware of admissibility questions as well as the eligibility of the sponsors.

The next step is for the applicants and their sponsors to provide complete sponsorship applications and permanent resident applications. Note that requirements for sponsors are not the same as the online submissions entered in 2020 but based on the three-year income requirements for 2024, 2023, and 2022. If more than one parent or grandparent is applying, each must create their own portal account and submit an individual account.

Special accommodation can be requested if the applicants can apply online. Consider that each principal applicant must complete digital forms to be completed in the portal. PDF forms can be downloaded such as the General Application Form for Canada (IMM0008), Document Checklist (IMM5771; Schedule A – Background/Declaration (IMM5669), Additional Family Information (IMM5406), and Supplementary Information – Your Travels (IMM5562). Any dependent over the age of 18 must submit their own IMM5669 and IMM5406. A dependent child cannot be married or have a common law partner. If the principal applicant has a partner, they must complete a Statutory Declaration of Common Law (IMM5409). It is important to note that the Parents or Grandparents are subject to admissibility requirements and must meet requirements such as medical admissibility under section 34. Excessive demand can become grounds for inadmissibility. Other potential grounds for inadmissibility include criminality or serious criminality and enhanced checks for former police officers or military service members. These admissibility questions explain why 10,000 places were declared but over 17,000 potential applicants were invited.

There is also a question about the eligibility of sponsors. The sponsors must demonstrate that they have sufficient income for the three tax years right before the 2025 taxation years. In other words, if the sponsors are a married couple with one child and they sponsor a single parent, they must meet the income requirement for a family of four (including the principal applicant) for the income tax years of 2024, 2023 and 2022. The sponsors may have met the initial requirements when they submitted the interest to sponsor a parent or grandparent back in 2020, but their situation may have changed with the birth of another child.

A word of caution to applicants. You are lucky to have been selected, but it is important to ensure that the application is complete and up to date. You may be challenged on your submission, so keep complete records and provide what the department requests in a timely and complete fashion. You can use the department’s web form to inform IRCC of changes to your application.

Michael Scott is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC, R525678) who has 30 years of experience with Immigration Canada and the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program. He currently works as a licensed consultant with Immigration Connexion International Ltd. Contact him at 204-691-1166 or 204-227-0292. E-mail: mscott.ici@gmail.com.