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January 4, 2025

Canada pauses permanent residency sponsorship applications for parents, grandparents- 2025

Canada will not accept any new applications for sponsoring parents and grandparents for permanent residence in 2025. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that throughout 2025, the department will only process family sponsorship applications made under the Parents and Grandparents Program that were submitted in 2024.

The department intends to process a maximum of 15,000 sponsorship applications over the course of 2025.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents who wish to have their parents and grandparents join them for an extended period in Canada can still sponsor their relatives for a super visa, which can allow their relatives to visit them in Canada for up to five years at a time.

What is Parents and Grandparents Program?

The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) allows Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and registered Indians to sponsor their parents or grandparents for Canadian permanent residency.

Why the pause?

IRCC cut permanent resident targets by 20% for 2025. Part of this cut included a reduction in the allocation for landings under the PGP. The 2025 target is 24,500 landings for foreign nationals sponsored through the PGP.

In the earlier Immigration Levels Plan, published in 2023, IRCC had set targets of 32,000 for 2024, and 34,000 for 2025.