Canada has closed the acceptance of applications for the relocation of parents and grandparents

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has stopped accepting new applications under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP). The decision was announced on July 15, 2026, and will remain in effect until further notice. Applications already submitted will continue to be processed: in 2026, the department plans to grant permanent residence to no more than 15,000 people through this program in accordance with the 2026-2028 immigration plan.

In an official statement, the department explains this move as an effort to maintain a manageable and sustainable immigration system that works for both newcomers and Canadians themselves. According to IRCC, this approach will help reduce processing times and make the process more predictable for families.

What's changed for potential sponsors

The main practical consequence: until further notice, IRCC is not accepting new interest to sponsor forms and is not sending out invitations to apply to potential sponsors. This means that citizens and permanent residents of Canada who want to bring their parents or grandparents to live permanently now have no way to get in line.

Here's how the program worked before. The last time the department collected interest to sponsor forms was in 2020. All subsequent selections, from 2021 to 2025, were drawn from this same pool: IRCC randomly selected candidates from those who submitted the form in 2020 and sent them invitations. In 2025, the department planned to accept up to 10,000 complete applications and again invited people from the 2020 pool rather than collecting new forms. Now invitations from the old pool have also been paused.

Formally, this is a pause, not a cancellation of the program. However, no timeline for resuming has been announced, and the wording "until further notice" gives potential sponsors no guidance for planning.

How many spots are allocated to the program

The 2026-2028 immigration plan provides for 380,000 permanent residence admissions annually throughout all three years. The family reunification category gets 84,000 spots in 2026, and 81,000 spots in both 2027 and 2028. The family category's share remains between 21.3% and 22.1% of all admissions.

Within the family category, parents and grandparents get 15,000 spots in 2026 with an acceptable range of 13,000 to 19,000. The same 15,000 is allocated for 2027 and 2028. The remaining portion of the family category goes to spouses, partners, and children: 69,000 spots in 2026 and 66,000 in both 2027 and 2028.

In other words, the quota for parents and grandparents isn't growing over the next three years, while the economic category is actually expanding and by 2027 should account for 64% of all admissions. This ratio explains the decision on the PGP program: there simply aren't enough spots for new applications.

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IRCC directly states that interest in the program consistently exceeds the number of spots available under the immigration plan. To deal with this pressure, the department stopped accepting applications.

The scale of the problem is clear from data IRCC provided to Canadian media. There are already about 60,500 applications being processed, and the average processing time is approximately 33 months. For applicants whose cases go through Quebec, the wait reaches 66 months—more than five and a half years. Quebec's backlog is due to the province setting its own, narrower limits on the family category under the Canada-Quebec agreement.

For comparison: as of February 2025, those same processing times were around 24 months outside Quebec and 48 months for Quebec cases. The queue was growing faster than the department could process it, and continuing to accept new applications would only increase wait times for those who had already submitted documents.

What happens to applications already submitted

The pause doesn't affect those already in the process. IRCC confirms it will continue processing existing applications. The target for 2026: up to 15,000 permanent residence approvals under the PGP program.

Those who have submitted documents don't need to do anything additional. Standard requirements remain: the sponsor must be at least 18 years old, meet the income threshold, and sign an undertaking to financially support relatives for 20 years (for cases going through Quebec, the undertaking period differs). It's important to keep contact information up to date in your online account and respond promptly to requests from the department, since with such long processing times, some documents—including medical exams and police certificates—will need to be updated.

Super visa as the main alternative

The department emphasizes that family reunification remains one of the pillars of Canada's immigration system and suggests that those left out of the PGP program consider the super visa.

The super visa is a multiple-entry visitor visa designed specifically for parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents. It allows stays in the country of up to 5 years per entry, and the visa itself is issued for up to 10 years. If needed, the stay can be extended from within Canada. By comparison, regular visitor status gives no more than 6 months.

The fundamental difference from permanent residence: the super visa doesn't grant the right to work, doesn't provide access to provincial health insurance, and doesn't lead to citizenship. It's a tool for extended visits, not relocation. But given that it's currently impossible to submit a new application under the PGP program, for many families this is the only realistic way to live together.

Income requirements for super visa have been relaxed

IRCC specifically notes that it has recently made the super visa more accessible. The first change relates to how the host's income is calculated and took effect on March 31, 2026.

The host—that is, the child or grandchild in Canada—must confirm that their income is sufficient to support relatives during the visit. Now families have two additional ways to meet this requirement. First: income can be counted from either of the two tax years preceding the application, whereas previously the department only looked at the previous year. Second: if the host and co-signer together reach the established minimum portion of the required income, the shortfall can be covered by the income of the visiting parents or grandparents themselves.

The new rules apply both to applications submitted starting March 31, 2026, and to those already being processed. Families who qualified under the old criteria also qualify under the new ones. Those who want to use one of the alternative methods need to attach documents confirming income for their family size.

Insurance can be obtained outside Canada

The second relaxation concerns medical insurance and took effect on January 28, 2025. Super visa applicants must confirm they have private medical coverage, since they don't have access to provincial healthcare systems. Previously, only policies from Canadian insurers were accepted; now you can also buy one from a company outside Canada.

For a foreign company's policy to be considered valid, it must meet three conditions:

• be issued by a foreign insurance company that has permission from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) to provide accident and sickness insurance;
• the company must be listed on OSFI's list of federally regulated financial institutions;
• the policy must be issued as part of that company's Canadian insurance business.

You can check whether a foreign insurer has the appropriate permission on the OSFI website. Insurance coverage must be valid for the entire stay in Canada, and a policy is required for each entry. If coverage expires before departure, the insurance must be renewed while in the country.

What This Means for Applicants

If you've already submitted an application under the PGP program, there's no need to change your strategy: your case will remain in the queue and will be processed, with processing times estimated at around 33 months outside Quebec and up to 66 months for Quebec cases.

If you don't have an intent to sponsor form from the 2020 pool, there is currently no way to submit a permanent residence application for parents under any circumstances. There's no point waiting for the next intake until IRCC announces it will resume. The practical option for the next few years is the Super Visa, and it makes sense to prepare for it in advance: check your income for the two previous tax years, assess whether you'll need a co-applicant or to include your parents' own income, and select an insurance policy from approved companies.

The provincial factor is also worth considering separately. Cases sent to Quebec objectively take twice as long to process, and when choosing a city for family relocation, this circumstance is no longer a minor consideration.

Finally, those considering bringing parents over in the future should remember: only citizens and permanent residents of Canada have the right to sponsor. Therefore, decisions made now while studying or working on a temporary permit directly affect whether the family will even have this option when the program opens again.