Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has pressed the pause button on the intake of new Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) applications, triggering concern among Canadian citizens and permanent residents who were preparing to sponsor loved-ones living abroad. The decision—first signalled in a departmental notice on July 15 and explained in detail by immigration law firm Immigration.ca on July 22—reflects mounting pressure on family-class processing capacity as application inventories approach 51,000 files. Under the temporary suspension, no new PGP “interest-to-sponsor” forms will be accepted for the remainder of 2026. IRCC will instead continue to process files already in the queue, and will keep the annual admissions target at 15,000 permanent residents. Applicants selected in the October 2025 lottery who have not yet submitted their documentation may still do so, but they face a longer wait as quotas tighten. The pause has immediate implications for multinational companies and foreign assignees who routinely leverage family reunification streams to retain key talent in Canada. Without the PGP option, many families may pivot to the multi-entry Super Visa, which allows parents and grandparents to visit for up to five years at a stretch, renewable to ten. Employers may need to budget for additional travel costs or arrange extended leave so employees can visit aging relatives abroad. Immigration lawyers caution that would-be sponsors should use the lull to gather financial documentation, ensure they meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) for three consecutive tax years, and explore provincial nominee or humanitarian avenues where applicable. IRCC has promised to consult stakeholders this fall on longer-term reforms, including a possible cap-and-queue model similar to Australia’s contributory parent visa stream. For now, families must navigate a more restrictive environment. “Pausing intake is the only lever IRCC has left to keep processing times from spiralling past the current 28-month average,” says Quebec immigration attorney Colin Singer. “Planning ahead and looking at temporary alternatives is critical until the program reopens.”
Source: Immigration.ca
