Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has placed an immediate freeze on new applications under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) for 2026. The move, first signalled in a departmental notice on July 15 and reiterated in media briefings today, means no fresh “interest-to-sponsor” forms will be accepted and no new invitations to apply will be issued until further notice. IRCC will instead focus on clearing an inventory of roughly 50,000 pending files, aiming to land 15,000 parents and grandparents as permanent residents this calendar year in line with the Immigration Levels Plan 2026-28. The PGP has long been one of Canada’s most oversubscribed immigration streams. When the last lottery opened in 2020, more than 203,000 Canadians submitted interest forms for just 10,000 spots. Since then, IRCC has repeatedly drawn from the same pool, leaving families who missed the 2020 window with no pathway to sponsor relatives. Officials say the latest pause prevents the backlog from ballooning and will improve processing predictability, but advocacy groups argue it extends family separation and disadvantages naturalised Canadians from high-demand source countries such as India and China. The suspension does not affect temporary options. The multi-entry Super Visa—recently updated to allow five-year stays per entry—and standard visitor visas remain available, although both require proof of private medical insurance and a demonstrated intent to leave Canada at the end of the authorised stay. IRCC has encouraged sponsors to consider these avenues while permanent-residence processing catches up. From a mobility-management standpoint, employers should anticipate an uptick in Super Visa extension requests from foreign staff hoping to host parents in Canada. Global mobility teams may also field questions about employer-paid health insurance, as Super Visa holders must carry medical coverage with a minimum of CAD $100,000. Companies should review their policies to clarify what, if any, family-reunification costs they cover. Longer term, practitioners expect IRCC to overhaul PGP intake rules—potentially by increasing the age limit for dependants or shifting to an expression-of-interest points grid similar to Express Entry—to balance demand with annual targets. Until then, families and their counsel will need to monitor departmental bulletins closely for any reopening announcement.
Source: Business Standard
