In a significant move affecting thousands of families, including many with Indian connections, Canada has officially put a hold on accepting new sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents. The pause under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) is effective from January 1, 2026, and will remain until further notice.
Why Canada Has Taken This Decision
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced the suspension as an administrative step. The primary reasons are to manage extensive application backlogs and to align new intakes with the revised targets set in Canada's 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan. The latest plan has reduced overall permanent resident targets, citing pressures on housing, infrastructure, and public services.
The decision was formalized through Ministerial Instructions 89, which came into force on New Year's Day 2026. These instructions explicitly prohibit the intake of new sponsorship and permanent residence applications under the PGP. However, IRCC will continue processing up to 10,000 complete applications that were received during the limited 2025 intake window, working through them over the course of 2026.
A Look Back at the 2025 Intake and Current Processing Times
The pathway for sponsoring parents and grandparents had already narrowed significantly in 2025. That year, IRCC conducted a restricted intake, drawing invitations solely from the remaining pool of 'interest to sponsor' forms submitted back in 2020. From July 28, 2025, the department issued 17,860 invitations over approximately two weeks, aiming to accept a maximum of 10,000 complete applications by October 9, 2025. That intake is now firmly closed.
For those with applications in the system, patience is still required. Processing times are notably lengthy. Currently, it takes about 24 months to process PGP applications for destinations outside Quebec. For those destined for Quebec, which has its own provincial admission caps, the wait can extend up to 48 months.
The Super Visa: A Viable Alternative for Families
While the PGP is on hold, IRCC is actively promoting the Super Visa as a key alternative for family reunification. This visa allows parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens or permanent residents to visit Canada for extended periods.
Key benefits of the Super Visa include:
- Stays of up to five years per entry.
- Multiple entries permitted over a 10-year validity period.
- Recent regulatory changes have made it easier by easing the requirements for mandatory private health insurance.
This option provides families with a flexible way to keep their loved ones close for long visits, even as the permanent residency pathway undergoes recalibration.
The pause on the PGP marks a strategic shift in Canada's immigration policy, prioritizing the management of existing applications and infrastructure capacity over new intakes in the family reunification stream. For the large Indian diaspora in Canada, this underscores the importance of exploring all available options, like the Super Visa, to maintain family connections.
