Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship

Finally, after waiting for almost a year finally Canada announced the parents and grandparents sponsorship program (PGP) for 2020. Last year PGP program was a huge challenge and had its own challenges. The 2020 PGP program is like lottery-based system unlike the first come first serve experiment last year. This year, Canada will invite 10,000 applicants to apply for a PR for their parents and grandparents. 

Here are the highlights of the 2020 program

Open on October 13, 2020 at 12 EDT | Close on November 3, 2020 at 12 EST

Eligibility criteria:

  • you’re at least 18 years old 
  • you live in Canada 
  • you’re a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act
  • you have enough money to support the persons you want to sponsor
  • To show that you have enough, you’ll have to provide your proof of income

You may apply to sponsor your parents and grandparents by yourself or have a co-signer for this sponsorship. Only your spouse or common law partner can co-sign this sponsorship. Your co-signer must meet the same criteria and need to provide 3 (three) years of notice of assessments. You and the co-signer are equally responsible for this sponsorship.

Canada has set the income requirements for this as the minimum necessary income + 30%. Considering the financial impact of COVID-19, for 2020 only the minimum necessary income needs to be met. This exception does not apply to the year 2018 and 2019.

Below is the income table showing the income requirements based on the family size:

Income Requirements for Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship

based on the family size
Total number of people you’ll be responsible for 2020 2019 2018 
2 people $32,899 $41,007 $40,379 
3 people $40,445 $50,414 $49,641 
4 people $49,106 $61,209 $60,271 
5 people $55,695 $69,423 68,358 
6 people $62,814 $78,296 $77,095 
7 people $69,935 $87,172 $85,835 
If more than 7 people, for each additional person, add: $7,121 $8,876 $8,740 

 

$0 (no cost to submit interest to sponsor form)

How to apply

You need to complete the interest to sponsor form here.

It is a very small to the point form that asks the below details

Sponsor details:

  • Immigration Status in Canada 
  • Name 
  • Date of Birth 
  • Country of Birth 
  • Primary Residential Address 
  • Mailing address (if different than primary residential address) 
  • Email address 
  • Upload a copy of one of the below listed documents
    • Canadian birth certificate 
    • Canadian citizenship certificate or card 
    • Passport 
    • Confirmation of permanent residence (IMM5292 or IMM5688) 
    • Permanent residence card (PR card) 
    • Record of landing (IMM1000) – If you did not receive a PR card 
    • Secure certificate of Indian status 
  • Document number of the uploaded document

Parent/Grandparent details for each parent and grandparent:

  • Name 
  • Date of birth

After you apply

You will receive a confirmation code and if you are selected, you will receive an email from IRCC. You will then need to submit the PR application for parents/grandparents and pay the applicable fees. Current processing times for these applications are 20-24 months. 

If you are not invited to submit your application through this program, you could still invite your parents to come to Canada through the super visa program. Under super visa, they can stay for 2 years and you could extend their status by one year at a time.