The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) allows eligible Canadians and permanent residents to sponsor their biological or adopted parents and grandparents for permanent residence. Because demand is high, the program operates through an invitation-based intake process when IRCC opens a round.
If you want your parents or grandparents to become permanent residents, the process can involve invitations, sponsor eligibility, income documents, family size, and careful timing. You may also be considering a Super Visa while waiting for sponsorship opportunities.
This service is for families who want help understanding the sponsorship process and preparing documents clearly when the opportunity to apply is available.
The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) allows eligible Canadians and permanent residents to sponsor their biological or adopted parents and grandparents for permanent residence. Because demand is high, the program operates through an invitation-based intake process when IRCC opens a round.
If IRCC opens a new round, you generally need to be invited before you can submit a complete PGP application. The sponsor must show the required income for the relevant tax years and the parents or grandparents being sponsored must still meet medical, criminal, and security requirements.
| Program Step | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Invitation to apply | You must usually be invited by IRCC before submitting a full PGP application. |
| Income review | Your income is assessed against the current sponsor requirements for your family size and the applicable tax years. |
| Undertaking | You commit to financially support your parents or grandparents for 20 years outside Quebec. |
| Admissibility | Your parents or grandparents must pass medical, criminal, and security screening. |
If the PGP intake is closed or you are not invited, the Super Visa is often the best alternative. It currently allows eligible parents and grandparents to visit Canada for up to 5 years at a time and can be valid for up to 10 years. Learn more about the Super Visa.
Parent and grandparent sponsorship files require careful attention to sponsor eligibility, family composition, income documents, civil status evidence, and deadlines. RA Migration helps families prepare in an organized way when sponsorship is possible.
We help review sponsor and applicant documents, identify missing records, organize forms, and explain what should be prepared before submission. Where a Super Visa may be more practical, we help clients understand that option too.
If reuniting with your parents or grandparents is your goal, RA Migration can help you plan the process with care and realistic expectations.
IRCC invites sponsors from a pool rather than accepting applications on demand. In recent years invitations have gone to people who previously submitted an interest-to-sponsor form, selected at random.
This is the single most important thing to understand about the program: being eligible does not mean you can apply. You must be invited. The size of each intake, and whether a new interest-to-sponsor window opens at all in a given year, is decided by IRCC and announced with limited notice, which is why many families wait years without ever receiving an invitation.
You must meet the minimum necessary income, which is the Low Income Cut-Off plus 30 percent, for three consecutive taxation years.
Two details cause most problems. The figure depends on your family size, counting the people you are sponsoring and anyone you already have an undertaking for. And it is assessed on your Notices of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency, not on your current salary, so a recent raise does not help if the preceding three years fall short. A co-signing spouse or partner can combine income to meet the threshold.
Twenty years from the date they become permanent residents, which is the longest undertaking in the family class.
During that period you are financially responsible for their basic needs, and if they receive social assistance you are liable to repay it. The undertaking survives changes in your circumstances, including divorce, job loss or a move to another province. It is a serious, long-term commitment and does not end if the relationship does.
The Super Visa is the practical alternative, and many families use it while remaining in the pool for a future invitation.
It is a multiple-entry visitor visa allowing stays of up to five years at a time, with validity up to ten years. It does not lead to permanent residence and requires private medical insurance and proof that you meet an income threshold, but it is available now rather than dependent on a lottery, and it does not prevent you from pursuing sponsorship later.
Yes. Both Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor parents and grandparents, provided they meet the other requirements.
Permanent residents must be residing in Canada when they apply and until a decision is made, whereas citizens have somewhat more flexibility about living abroad during processing. Persons registered under the Indian Act may also sponsor. The income and undertaking requirements are the same either way.
Your own step-parent can generally be sponsored where the relationship meets the definition of a parent. Your spouse’s parents cannot be sponsored by you directly.
In-laws fall outside the category you can sponsor. The usual route is for your spouse, if they are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, to sponsor their own parents. Where that is not possible, a Super Visa may be the realistic option instead.
RA Migration serves clients across Ontario and Quebec, online and in person from our Burlington office, with Arabic-speaking service.
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Each of these has its own page with the specifics, the evidence required, and the mistakes that cause refusals.
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