Canada Pauses Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Program Amid 50,900-Application Backlog

Key Takeaways

• Canada has paused new intake under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) as of July 15, 2026, with no new interest-to-sponsor forms or invitations issued until further notice.
• The government will keep processing the existing inventory of 50,900 PGP applications (40,400 outside Quebec, 10,500 in Quebec), aiming to finalize 15,000 permanent residence approvals in 2026.
• Sponsors shut out of the PGP are being pointed toward the super visa, which allows parents and grandparents to stay in Canada for up to five years per visit over a validity period of up to ten years.

A Pathway Put on Hold

Families hoping to bring a parent or grandparent to Canada permanently have run out of new options for now. In a notice dated July 15, 2026, the federal government confirmed it is "pausing the intake of new applications" under the Parents and Grandparents Program, commonly known as the PGP.

Per the announcement, the immigration department will not accept new interest-to-sponsor forms, nor will it issue fresh invitations to potential sponsors, "until further notice."

What Happens to Applications Already Filed

The pause does not affect files already in the system. The department says it will continue working through the applications it has on hand, with a stated objective of finalizing 15,000 permanent residence approvals under the program in 2026.

According to the department's processing-times page, the PGP inventory currently sits at 50,900 applications — made up of 40,400 files from applicants intending to live outside Quebec and 10,500 from those planning to settle in the province.

Timelines vary sharply depending on destination. Sponsors who filed in July 2025 and are heading outside Quebec should expect roughly 18 more months of processing, according to current estimates. Those bound for Quebec face a considerably longer wait — an estimated 54 months.

Annual Targets Hold Steady Through 2028

The pause does not signal a reduction in Canada's overall ambitions for the program. Under the government's current multi-year immigration levels plan, PGP admissions are targeted at 15,000 per year in each of 2026, 2027, and 2028.

How the PGP Lottery Has Worked Since 2020

The PGP last opened its doors to new interest-to-sponsor submissions in 2020, and no comparable intake window has occurred since. Eligible participants include Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and registered Indians.

Because demand for the program consistently outstrips the number of available spots, the department has relied on a random lottery to select sponsors from the pool of submissions. During the three-week intake window in 2020, it received 203,213 unique submissions from would-be sponsors.

From 2020 through 2025, the government held an annual invitation round, drawing at random from that same 2020 pool of interested sponsors. Recipients of an invitation were then given a chance to file a full sponsorship application. No new interest-to-sponsor forms have been accepted since that original 2020 intake.

The Super Visa as a Fallback

In its official notice, titled "Canada takes steps to responsibly manage the Parents and Grandparents Program," the government pointed sponsors who have been unable to access the PGP toward the super visa as an alternative route.

The super visa grants extended visitor status, letting a parent or grandparent remain in Canada for up to five years per visit, with the visa itself valid for up to ten years. That is a significant expansion compared to standard visitor status, which typically caps stays at six months.

To qualify, the visiting parent or grandparent needs a letter of invitation from their Canadian host and must carry health insurance for the length of their stay. The host, in turn, must commit to supporting the applicant financially and must meet minimum income thresholds set by the government. Applicants must also satisfy the standard entry requirements for temporary residents, including showing an officer that they intend to leave Canada once their authorized stay ends.

What This Means for Applicants

For families who missed the 2020 window, the immediate path to permanently reuniting with a parent or grandparent in Canada remains closed, and there is no indication of when — or whether — a new intake will open. Those already in the queue can expect the government to keep working through existing files, though the multi-year gap between filing and approval, especially for Quebec-bound sponsors, means patience will remain essential. In the meantime, the super visa offers a practical, though temporary, way to keep families together while the permanent pathway remains on pause.