Canada to allow immigrants bring in parents, grandparents

Canada is set to issue invitations to thousands of permanent residents who wish to sponsor their parents and grandparents for immigration.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that the intake process for 2025 will begin on July 28 and will continue for several weeks. During this period, the department aims to invite 17,860 individuals who had previously submitted an interest-to-sponsor form back in 2020.

“Our goal is to accept up to 10,000 complete applications under the federal Parents and Grandparents Program,” IRCC stated.

Those who are selected will be able to submit their applications digitally using either the Permanent Residence Portal or the Representative Permanent Residence Portal.

IRCC is urging individuals who submitted forms in 2020 but have yet to hear back to carefully monitor their email inboxes — including spam and junk folders. The agency emphasized, “IRCC will only send invitations to apply to potential sponsors from the 2020 pool of submissions and won’t be opening a new interest-to-sponsor form.”

Permanent residents who do not receive an invitation still have the option of applying for a super visa. This long-term, multiple-entry visa allows eligible parents and grandparents to visit Canada for up to five years at a time, with the possibility of a two-year extension while in the country. The visa remains valid for up to 10 years.

Although the federal government is currently working to scale back overall immigration numbers — including both temporary and permanent residents — IRCC reaffirmed its commitment to keeping families together, noting that family reunification accounts for 22 per cent of all permanent resident admissions.