On October 11, 2022, the Government of Canada announced that it will accept up to 15,000 complete applications for sponsorship under the Parents and Grandparents Program this year to reunite families.
Family reunification plays a significant role in attracting, retaining, and integrating immigrants who contributed to Canada. The family sponsorship program allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents the option to bring their parents and grandparents to Canada as permanent residents.
Due to the number of interest to sponsor forms remaining in the pool of submissions from 2020, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will send invitations to apply to randomly selected potential sponsors from that pool instead of opening a new interest to sponsor form. From the day of the announcement, IRCC will begin sending invitations to apply to 23,100 interested potential sponsors.
Recognizing that because of the pandemic, many potential sponsors may have experienced financial difficulties in recent years, IRCC will once again use a lower income requirement for the sponsorship of parents and grandparents. For the 2020 and 2021 tax years, the income requirement for sponsors will be the minimum necessary income, instead of the minimum necessary income plus 30%, and regular Employment Insurance benefits and temporary COVID-19 benefits (such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit) will be allowed to be included toward the sponsor’s income. These measures will ensure that sponsors and applicants are not unfairly penalized for a temporary loss of a sponsor’s income during the pandemic.
For those who wish to reunite with their parents and grandparents in Canada, but are not invited this year, super visa, a multiple-entry visa that is valid for ten years, is an alternative. Enhancements to the super visa, implemented in the summer of 2022, allow super visa holders to stay in Canada for up to 5 years at a time, with the option to extend their visit by up to 2 years at a time without leaving the country. These changes make it easier for Canadian citizens and permanent residents to reunite with their parents and grandparents in Canada for longer periods of time.
A copy of this announcement can be found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2022/10/reuniting-families-across-the-country.html.
