The Canadian government has confirmed that the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) will not accept new applications in 2025. This decision enables Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to focus on processing the 15,000 applications received in 2024. The permanent resident target for the PGP has been reduced to 24,500 landings for 2025, reflecting a shift in priorities.
Despite the pause, the super visa remains an option, allowing parents and grandparents to visit and stay in Canada for extended periods. This alternative aims to address family reunification needs temporarily.
Eric Katz’s comments on the recent halt of applications For Parent, Grandparent PR Sponsorships
“This Ministerial Directive is effective immediately and will be a major disappointment to many Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents who have been legally eligible to sponsor their parents and grandparents to Canada.
It appears no IRCC program is immune from the aggressive restrictions our Government is making. The reference of the 2024 annual report to Parliament on immigration indicates the average processing time for a sponsorship application was 24 months and that the Government will only process 15,000 applications for 2024. This is even though they also state that there were 40,000 applications in the inventory. What happens to those cases that are not processed? Do they have to wait three years, four years or more to be processed? Many questions. Not enough answers.”