About the Parents and Grandparents Program
The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) lets Canadian citizens and permanent residents sponsor their parents and grandparents for permanent residence. It’s the second-largest Family Class category, representing about 26% of Family Class admissions.
How Intake Works
Unlike spousal sponsorship, the PGP does not accept applications on a continuous, first-come-first-served basis. IRCC periodically opens an interest to sponsor intake, and invites a limited number of people to submit a full application — driven by the annual Immigration Levels Plan allocation for the category. Demand consistently and significantly exceeds the number of invitations issued each cycle.
Sponsor Requirements
- Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered Indian, and at least 18 years old
- Meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) requirement for each of the 3 taxation years before you apply — assessed against your Canada Revenue Agency Notices of Assessment
- Sign an undertaking to financially support your parent(s)/grandparent(s) for a set number of years after they become permanent residents
Alternative: The Super Visa
Because PGP invitations are limited and competitive, many families use the Super Visa as a practical alternative — a multi-entry temporary visa letting parents and grandparents visit for up to 5 years at a time (extendable), without going through the PGP lottery. See our Super Visa page for details.
How We Help
We help you register interest when the PGP intake opens, prepare the Minimum Necessary Income documentation, and build out the full sponsorship application if invited — or set up a Super Visa application as a faster interim option.