Super Visa for Parents and Grandparents: 2026 Income and Insurance Guide
With Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) still paused to new intake, the Super Visa has become the main practical option for Kelowna families who want their parents or grandparents to visit for an extended stay. IRCC also changed how it calculates the income requirement, effective March 31, 2026, making the Super Visa a little more reachable for some families. Here’s exactly what’s required, in plain language, verified against IRCC’s current rules.
What Is the Super Visa?
The Super Visa is a long-stay, multiple-entry visitor visa for the parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or registered Indians. Unlike a regular visitor visa (which typically allows stays of up to 6 months), a Super Visa lets your parent or grandparent stay in Canada for up to 5 years at a time, and the visa itself is valid for multiple entries over as long as 10 years. It is not a path to permanent residence — it’s a way to spend meaningful time together while a PGP sponsorship (if and when it reopens) or another option is considered separately (source: canada.ca, “Super visa for parents and grandparents,” retrieved 2026-08-25).
Who Can Apply
Both the host (the child or grandchild in Canada) and the applicant (the visiting parent or grandparent) have to meet requirements.
The host must:
- Be the applicant’s biological or adopted child or grandchild
- Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered Indian, at least 18 years old, living in Canada
- Meet or exceed the Minimum Necessary Income requirement (see below)
- Write and sign a letter of invitation
The applicant (parent/grandparent) must:
- Be outside Canada when the application is submitted
- Be admissible to Canada
- Show proof of private health insurance meeting IRCC’s requirements (below)
- Complete an immigration medical exam
(Source: canada.ca, “Super visa for parents and grandparents: Who can apply,” retrieved 2026-08-25.)
The Minimum Necessary Income Requirement
The host’s income must meet or exceed a threshold set by family size — this is based on Canada’s Low Income Cut-Off (LICO), and IRCC updates the dollar figures periodically. As of this writing (figures updated July 29, 2025, still current at retrieval on 2026-08-25):
| Family size | Minimum income required |
|---|---|
| 1 | $30,526 |
| 2 | $38,002 |
| 3 | $46,720 |
| 4 | $56,724 |
| 5 | $64,336 |
| 6 | $72,560 |
| 7 | $80,784 |
| Each additional person | + $8,224 |
“Family size” counts the host, their spouse/common-law partner, their dependent children, the visiting applicant(s), and anyone else the host has previously sponsored or invited whose obligation is still active — so it’s often a larger number than people expect. A spouse or common-law partner can co-sign the letter of invitation and add their income; other relatives (like siblings) cannot.
What Changed on March 31, 2026
IRCC formally changed how the income requirement can be demonstrated, effective March 31, 2026 (source: canada.ca notice, “Changes to how the parents and grandparents super visa income requirement is calculated,” published 2026-03-20, retrieved 2026-08-25). Two new options were added:
- A two-year look-back. Previously, IRCC only assessed the host’s income from the single most recent tax year. Now, the host (and co-signer, if any) can qualify using either of the two tax years before the application — helpful for anyone with a lower-earning year due to a layoff, parental leave, or seasonal/commission-based work.
- The applicant’s own income can help. If the host and co-signer’s income covers at least 75% of the required minimum, the visiting parent or grandparent’s own income (including pensions) can be added to make up the difference.
This applies to every application already in processing as of March 31, 2026, as well as anything submitted after that date — families who already qualified under the old rules continue to qualify; these changes only open up additional ways to qualify.
A note on accuracy: IRCC’s own notice describes this change as being about the income requirement specifically. We could not confirm, from IRCC’s official pages, that the medical insurance requirement itself changed on March 31, 2026 — the insurance rules below reflect what’s currently posted on canada.ca as of this article’s retrieval date, and should not be assumed to be a “new March 2026” rule.
The Mandatory Medical Insurance Requirement
Every Super Visa applicant must show proof of private health insurance on each entry to Canada. Per IRCC’s current published requirements (retrieved 2026-08-25), the policy must:
- Provide a minimum of $100,000 CAD in emergency medical coverage
- Be valid for at least 1 year from the date of entry
- Cover health care, hospitalization, and repatriation
- Be paid in full or with a deposit (a quote alone isn’t accepted)
- Come from a Canadian insurance company, or an insurance company outside Canada that is authorized by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) to provide accident and sickness insurance in Canada and appears on OSFI’s public list
If the insurance will expire before the visit ends, it needs to be renewed to maintain continuous coverage. Border services officers can ask to see proof of the policy at any entry.
Super Visa vs. the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP)
These are two different tools for the same underlying goal — having your parents or grandparents in Canada — and it’s worth being clear about which one does what:
- PGP is a path to permanent residence for a sponsored parent or grandparent, but IRCC paused new PGP intake in July 2026 with no reopen date announced (see our PGP 2026 update for the current status).
- Super Visa is a long-stay visitor visa — no permanent residence, but no intake pause either, and it’s available right now to families who meet the income and insurance requirements above.
For many Kelowna families, the practical answer while PGP intake is closed is to bring parents or grandparents over on a Super Visa now, and revisit PGP sponsorship once (or if) a new intake round opens.
Getting Started
The income and insurance requirements are the two places applications most often run into trouble — an under-counted family size, a tax year that doesn’t quite clear the threshold, or an insurance policy that’s missing one of IRCC’s specific conditions. A licensed RCIC can review your documents before you submit, confirm your family-size calculation, and make sure your invitation letter and proof of income meet IRCC’s exact format. Visit our visitor and Super Visa services page or our immigration services page to learn more, or book a consultation to go through your specific numbers.
No outcome can be guaranteed — IRCC makes the final decision on every application.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. For advice about your situation, book a consultation with Luning Chen, RCIC.
