The deadline for applications for the increasingly popular Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) is this Friday one minute before midnight.   

“If you received an invitation, you must submit your PGP application electronically through the Permanent Residence Portal or the Representative Permanent Residence Portal by the deadline,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) tweeted out on Tuesday.

In October, the PGP welcomed more new permanent residents to Canada than during the previous month, jumping in popularity by 27.2 per cent as the program continued to rebound from its lowest level in eight months in August.

Canada welcomed 2,525 new permanent residents under the PGP in October, up from 1,975 in September and the low of 1,515 seen in August.

After dropping from 3,760 new permanent residents under the PGP in May to 3,630 in June, the monthly number of new PGP arrivals fell to only 2,385 in July – and then to its lowest number of PGP arrivals in August since December last year.

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Based on the current trend in the PGP arrivals, the number of new permanent residents coming to Canada under that immigration program could hit 29,910 by the end of this year.

That would be 9.7 per cent more than the 27,270 new permanent residents under the PGP last year.

“We randomly select and invite potential sponsors to apply to sponsor their parents and grandparents,” explains Canadian immigration on its website. “For the 2023 intake, we invited potential sponsors from the remaining pool of interest to sponsor forms submitted in 2020.

“Between Oct. 10 and 23, 2023, we sent 24,200 invitations to apply. Our goal is to accept up to 15,000 complete applications.”

Those who wish to apply under the PGP – or their representatives – must apply online using the:

Fees under the PGP start at $1,080 and can include:

• processing fees;
• right of permanent residence fees;
• biometrics fees, and;
• third-party fees for such things as medical exams and police certificates.

In the first 10 months of this year, the PGP has welcomed three per cent more new permanent residents, or 24,925, than the 24,205 during the comparable period last year.

Among the several requirements which need to be met to determine eligibility to sponsor a parent or grandparent, are:

• a receipt of an Invitation to Apply;
• being at least 18 years old;
• Canadian residency;
• being a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act;
• sufficient funds to support the parent or grandparent;
• proof of income, although a spouse or common-law partner can co-sign to combine their income with that of the sponsor, and;
• meeting all other requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

All sponsors living outside of the province of Quebec, which has its own immigration system, must promise to financially support the sponsorees for a period of time.

This undertaking commits the sponsor to:

• providing financial support for sponsored family members for 20 years, starting when they become permanent residents;
• repaying any provincial social assistance (money from the government) sponsored family members get during that time, and;
• agreeing to certain responsibilities during the undertaking period in a sponsorship agreement.

That sponsorship agreement means that the sponsor will provide the basic needs of the sponsoree, including:

• food;
• clothing;
• utilities;
• personal requirements;
• shelter;
• fuel;
• household supplies, and;
• healthcare not covered by public health insurance, such as eye and dental care.

Sponsors Remain Financial Responsible For Relatives Even In Tough Times

The sponsorship agreement is not one to be entered into lightly as it obliges the sponsor to meet those requirements even in the case of:

• separation or divorce;
• family rifts;
• unemployment;
• change in finances, and even;
• death of the main applicant.

Sponsors who live in Quebec must meet that province’s immigration sponsorship requirements after the IRCC approves the sponsor. The length of the undertaking is 10 years for Quebec.

Due to the need for sponsors to accept responsibility for their parents and grandparents through sponsorship agreements under the PGP, past criminality and serious financial troubles can render a Canadian citizen or permanent resident ineligible for this program.

Applicants may not be eligible to sponsor their parents or grandparents if the sponsors:

• are in a jail, prison or penitentiary;
• didn’t pay back an immigration loan or performance bond;
• failed to make court-ordered family support payments such as alimony or child support;
• didn’t give the financial support specified under a sponsorship agreement to sponsor someone else in the past;
• declared bankruptcy and are not discharged;
• receive social assistance for a reason other than a disability;
• were convicted of a violent criminal offence, any offence against a relative or any sexual offence inside or outside Canada, or;
• can’t legally stay in Canada and must leave the country because they received a removal order.

The applicant cannot sponsor his or her spouse’s parents or grandparents, aka their in-laws, but can be a co-signer on that spouse’s application to bring to Canada his or her parents and grandparents.

The PGP program also does not allow a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to sponsor someone who is otherwise inadmissible to come to Canada.

The PGP is restricted to the applicant’s own parents and grandparents, related by blood or adoption.

IRCC Urges Applicants To Keep Their Information Current To Avoid Delays

“In case of divorce, you’ll need to submit separate applications if you sponsor divorced parents and grandparents,” notes the IRCC on its website.

“If your divorced parents or grandparents have a current spouse, common-law partner or a conjugal partner, these people become dependants on the application and can immigrate to Canada with your parents and grandparents, if approved.”

A PGP application can include the sponsor’s own brothers and sisters, half-brothers and sisters, or step-brothers and step-sisters – but only if they qualify as dependent children of the sponsor’s parents.

Delays in processing can quickly occur when the IRCC is faced with information which is no longer accurate and so Canadian immigration officials encourage applicants to keep their contact information and application details up to date.

Important information which must be updated includes:

• changes in relationship status;
• birth or adoption of a child;
• death of an applicant or dependant;
• contact information such as e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses.

The applicant is responsible for going into the application and updating it with this information him or herself.

“Don’t mail us changes to your contact or application information,” notes the IRCC. “If you do, we won’t acknowledge your request and we won’t update your application.”

Canadian immigration officials notify applicants under the PGP as soon as they begin to process the application, sending them both an application number and an acknowledgement of receipt of the application.

The IRCC then assesses both the applicant’s eligibility as a sponsor and the person being sponsored for permanent residence.

“If we refuse you as a sponsor, you can choose to have us keep processing the application for permanent residence for your family members,” notes the IRCC.

Choosing to have the IRCC continue processing the application at that point means the sponsor forgoes all fees which have been paid.

By choosing to withdraw the application in the eventuality of being deemed ineligible to sponsor, the applicant can get all of his or her fees back, minus the sponsorship fee.

Once Canadian immigration officials have approved a sponsor under the PGP, they then turn their attention to the people being sponsored to determine their eligibility under the program.