Canada Expands Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) Intake for 2025

The Canadian federal government has decided to increase the number of applications it will accept under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP). In 2025, up to 25,000 sponsorship applications will be processed. Some of these will be from the 2024 intake, while others will be from the 2025 intake, as outlined in the Ministerial Instructions published in the Canada Gazette on March 22, 2025.

This marks a shift from earlier this year, when the government announced in January that no new applications would be accepted for 2025, and that only a maximum of 15,000 applications from the 2024 intake would be processed.

The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) is a pathway to permanent residence aimed at family reunification. Due to high demand, a lottery system is used to select sponsors for the program. The PGP only opened for intake once before, in 2020, and since then, all invitations to sponsor have been sent to individuals who expressed interest in sponsoring in the 2020 intake.

In addition to the PGP, the Canadian government also offers the Super Visa program, which allows parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and registered Indians to visit their relatives in Canada for extended periods. Super Visas are valid for up to 10 years and permit holders to stay in Canada for up to five years at a time, with the possibility of two-year extensions.

Super Visa holders must purchase private health insurance for the duration of their stay, and they are granted visitor status. Without the Super Visa, visitors can typically stay in Canada for only six months.

On March 7, the government confirmed that it would indeed send invitations for the PGP in 2025 but did not announce a revised cap. Canadian citizens and permanent residents who submitted interest to sponsor forms in the 2020 intake but have not yet received an invitation will have the opportunity to apply when the PGP intake reopens this year. Successful PGP applicants are granted Canadian permanent residence.

For more information and personalized advice regarding the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) and Super Visa, feel free to contact our expert team at Uniland.

 

Reference: Click