2021 Parents and Grandparents Program: Canada increases application intake

Wish to bring your loved ones to Canada? The details of the 2021 Parents and Grandparents Program are out and there’s good news for Canadians and permanent residents! Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that it will accept a record number of applications.

Up to 30,000 additional people will be invited to apply under the 2021 intake of the sought-after PGP Program. Also, those who submitted an Interest to Sponsor form in 2020 will get another chance to be selected to apply.

The PGP Program opens once a year. It lets citizens and permanent residents sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada.

Potential sponsors to be randomly selected and invited to apply

IRCC aims to receive up to 40,000 complete applications in 2021—10,000 from the 2020 intake process and 30,000 from 2021. Using the same random selection process as used in previous years, it will send invitations to potential sponsors who have already submitted an interest to sponsor form in 2020.

Invitations to Apply (ITA) will be sent over the course of 2 weeks, starting the week of September 20, 2021.

If you are invited to apply…

You will have 60 days to submit the application. You can use Canada’s new Permanent Resident Digital Intake tool to submit your applications electronically.

If you are NOT invited to apply…

You may consider applying for a super visa, which allows a parent or grandparent to visit you in Canada for up to 2 years at a time, without the need to renew their status. A super visa allows multiple entries for up to 10 years.

“The importance of family has never been clearer than during the pandemic. By strengthening the Parents and Grandparents Program, inviting a record number of sponsors to apply, and by adjusting our requirements to adapt to the current times, we are once again proving our commitment to helping Canadian families stay together, and thrive together,” says the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marco Mendicino.

2021 Parents and Grandparents Program: Income requirements

For the 2020 tax year, the income requirement will continue to be the minimum necessary income, instead of the minimum necessary income plus 30%, and will allow regular Employment Insurance benefits and temporary COVID-19 benefits, such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, to be included towards the sponsor’s income. This measure will ensure that applicants are not penalized for losing income during the pandemic.

Selected potential sponsors will have their income assessed for tax years 2020, 2019, and 2018. This is the same as those who applied as part of the 2020 intake.

How do you know if you have been selected?

To confirm whether you’ve been selected, IRCC recommends potential sponsors to check the email account they used to submit their 2020 interest to sponsor form. Or, check the status online using the 2020 confirmation number.

To know more, go through this list of frequently asked questions about the sponsorship of parents and grandparents.

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