Canada in 2025 will stop accepting new applications for permanent residence under the Parents and Grandparents sponsorship programme. IRCC has said they will only process family sponsorship applications submitted in 2024 under the Parents and Grandparents Program.
For 2025, IRCC aims to process no more than 15,000 sponsorship applications.
For those Canadian citizens and permanent residents wanting their parents and grandparents to stay longer in Canada, the super visa option remains available, permitting visits lasting up to five years per stay.
Parents and Grandparents sponsorship programme: What is it?
The Parents and Grandparents Program enables Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their parents or grandparents for permanent residency in Canada.
The programme uses a lottery system for sending application invitations, as interested sponsors significantly outnumber available positions. IRCC sent invitations to sponsors who submitted their interest forms during the 2020 intake period, continuing this process from 2020 through 2024.
Reason for suspension
IRCC has reduced permanent resident targets by 20% for 2025, affecting the PGP allocation. The 2025 target for PGP landings is now 24,500 foreign nationals.
This represents a significant reduction from the previous Immigration Levels Plan published in 2023, which had established targets of 32,000 for 2024 and 34,000 for 2025.
