Parents and Grandparents Program Update: What’s Actually Happening in 2026
Many posts on this site (and a lot of pages elsewhere online) still talk about “PGP 2025” as if a new intake is actively open or about to open. As of August 2026, that’s no longer accurate, and getting this wrong can waste months of a family’s planning. Here’s the current, verified status of the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP), how the system actually works, and what your realistic options are right now.
What the Parents and Grandparents Program Is
The PGP is IRCC’s dedicated permanent residence stream for Canadian citizens and permanent residents who want to sponsor their parents or grandparents (along with the sponsored person’s spouse/common-law partner and dependent children) to live in Canada permanently. Because demand has consistently and dramatically exceeded the number of spots available under Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan, IRCC doesn’t accept sponsorship applications first-come, first-served the way most family-class categories work. Instead, it uses a two-step model: an “interest to sponsor” pool, followed by randomly selected invitations to apply.
Current Status (as of August 2026): New Intake Paused
On July 15, 2026, IRCC announced it is pausing new PGP intake — it is not accepting new interest-to-sponsor forms and is not inviting any new potential sponsors to apply, until further notice (canada.ca, retrieved 2026-08-17). No date, target, or process for a future intake round has been announced.
This is not a shutdown of the program itself. IRCC has confirmed it will keep processing applications already in its queue, and plans to admit up to 15,000 new permanent residents through the PGP in 2026 under the current Immigration Levels Plan. The pause is specifically about new interest-to-sponsor submissions and new invitations — people with applications already in process are not affected.
For context: the most recent invitation round before this pause was in 2025, when IRCC sent roughly 17,800 invitations — drawn entirely from the pool of people who had submitted an interest-to-sponsor form back in 2020 — aiming for about 10,000 completed applications. IRCC did not open a new interest-to-sponsor window in 2025; it drew only from the existing 2020 pool. Whether the next round (whenever it resumes) will open a fresh interest-to-sponsor window or continue drawing from that older pool has not been announced.
Bottom line: if you have not already submitted an interest-to-sponsor form, there is currently no way to join the queue. Watch canada.ca for an official announcement rather than relying on any date circulating elsewhere.
How the “Interest to Sponsor” Pool Actually Works
When intake is open, it doesn’t work like a typical application. You submit a short interest-to-sponsor form during a specific window; IRCC then randomly selects a limited number of people from everyone who submitted one, and only those selected receive an invitation to submit a full sponsorship application, usually within a tight deadline. Submitting the form is not a guarantee of anything on its own — it only enters you into the random draw for that intake.
Sponsorship Eligibility
To sponsor a parent or grandparent, you generally need to:
- Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered Indian under the Indian Act, and at least 18 years old;
- Live in Canada, or intend to once your parent or grandparent becomes a permanent resident (if you’re a citizen currently living abroad);
- Not be receiving social assistance for reasons other than disability;
- Meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) requirement, described below.
The Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) Requirement
Sponsors must show they meet an income threshold, scaled to family size, for each of the three tax years immediately before they apply — verified through Notice of Assessment documents from the CRA. As a benchmark, the published minimum for a base household size was $47,549 (the 2024 tax-year figure used for the 2025 intake); exact current thresholds by family size are published on canada.ca and adjusted periodically, so check the live table rather than relying on this figure alone. If you fall short on your own income, a co-signing spouse or common-law partner can combine incomes with you to meet the threshold. Sponsors living in Quebec follow separate provincial income rules.
The Undertaking: A Long-Term Financial Commitment
If your parent or grandparent is approved, you sign an undertaking — a legally binding commitment to financially support them (and any dependents included in the application) so they don’t need to rely on government social assistance. Outside Quebec, this undertaking lasts 20 years; in Quebec, it’s 10 years. This is a serious, long-term obligation worth thinking through carefully, independent of whether or when the next intake opens.
If You Can’t Sponsor Right Now: The Super Visa Alternative
With new PGP intake paused indefinitely, many families are turning to the Super Visa instead to bring parents or grandparents to Canada sooner. It’s a long-stay visitor visa — not permanent residence — allowing stays of up to 5 years per visit and validity of up to 10 years, and its income and insurance requirements were eased somewhat in a March 2026 update. It’s a genuinely different product from PGP (temporary visitor status, not PR), so we cover it in its own dedicated guide rather than here; the short version is that it’s worth considering as a bridge while PGP intake is paused, not a substitute for permanent sponsorship. See our visitor visa and Super Visa page for the basics.
What to Do While You Wait
- Already submitted an interest-to-sponsor form (2020 or later)? There’s nothing further to do but wait — IRCC will contact you directly if you’re selected.
- Haven’t submitted one? Start organizing the documents you’ll need anyway — three years of Notices of Assessment, proof of relationship, identity documents — so you’re ready the moment a new window opens.
- Consider whether a Super Visa makes sense as a near-term bridge for visits while the PR route is paused.
- Talk to a licensed RCIC about your specific family situation — eligibility, income calculations, and the 20-year undertaking are easy to get wrong on your own, and the rules around this program change often.
For a broader look at economic and family immigration pathways, see our Immigration services page, and for related reading on B.C.’s other major program, see our BC PNP Skills Immigration Guide.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. For advice about your situation, book a consultation with Luning Chen, RCIC.
