Parents and Grandparents Program

Sponsor Your Parents or Grandparents for Permanent Residence

Individuals wishing to sponsor their parents or grandparents for Permanent Residence (PR) must enter the yearly IRCC lottery draw and wait to be selected to apply. The quota each year is approximately 20,000 invitations. IRCC began issuing invitations to sponsor on May 21, 2023.

Once an invitation is issued, applicants have 60 days to submit a complete application to IRCC. It is extremely important to submit a fully completed application. If the application is incomplete, IRCC will return it after about 4 months — and the 60-day deadline will have already passed. The applicant then loses their opportunity to sponsor using that invitation and must re-enter the draw in future years.

All PR applications must now be submitted electronically to IRCC.

Eligibility Requirements to Sponsor

• You must be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident.
• You must be 18 years of age or older.
• You must meet or exceed the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) requirement for Family Sponsorship.
• You must sign an undertaking agreement committing to provide financial support for your parents or grandparents and repay any provincial social assistance benefits paid to them for 20 years.
• Sponsors living in Quebec must sign an additional undertaking agreement with the Quebec government.

Income Requirements

Sponsors must provide three (3) Notices of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to IRCC to demonstrate that they meet the MNI for the past three years.

If you do not meet the 3-year MNI requirement for PR sponsorship, you may still be able to bring your parents or grandparents to Canada through the Super Visa program. The Super Visa requires proof of income for only 1 year and the income requirement is approximately 30% lower.