Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP): sponsor your parents for permanent residence
Sponsoring your parents for permanent residence is one of the most requested programs at our Brampton office, and one of the most limited in Canadian immigration. You can only apply when IRCC invites you, and the income bar is high. Star Immigration keeps your file ready for the invitation, and in the meantime gets your parents here on a Super Visa.
What is the Parents and Grandparents Program?
The PGP lets Canadian citizens and permanent residents sponsor their parents and grandparents for permanent residence. Unlike a Super Visa, it gives your parents PR status, provincial health coverage and a path to citizenship. In exchange, sponsors take on a 20-year financial commitment and must meet a high income test.
Permanent residence
Your parents can live in Canada permanently and later apply for citizenship.
Healthcare and work
Access to provincial health insurance and the right to work.
Limited by invitation
IRCC accepts a capped number of applications through periodic intakes.
Dependants included
Your parents' spouse and dependent children can be included.
PGP eligibility requirements
Sponsor requirements
- At least 18, and a citizen, PR or registered Indian living in Canada
- Invited by IRCC to submit a sponsorship application
- Income at least MNI + 30% for your family size, for each of the three tax years before applying
- Income shown through CRA notices of assessment
- Signs a 20-year undertaking (10 years in Quebec)
- A spouse or common-law partner can co-sign to combine income
Parent or grandparent requirements
- Biological or adoptive parent or grandparent of the sponsor
- Passes medical, criminal and security checks
- Police certificates from every country lived in 6+ months since 18
- Spouse and dependent children declared and examined
Family size includes past sponsorships
Anyone you sponsored whose undertaking is still active is added to your family size, raising your MNI.
How the PGP interest-to-sponsor intake works
IRCC doesn't accept PGP applications year-round. It collects interest-to-sponsor forms, then randomly invites a limited number of potential sponsors to submit complete applications. In recent intakes, invitations came from a pool of forms submitted years earlier, so not everyone who registered has been invited.
Once invited, the window to submit a complete application is short. That's why we prepare your file before the invitation arrives.
Prepare now
- File taxes on time every year
- Keep each CRA notice of assessment
- Confirm your family size
- Renew your parents' passports
- Collect your parents' civil documents
PGP document checklist
Sponsor documents
- Invitation to apply from IRCC
- Proof of citizenship or PR status
- CRA notices of assessment for three tax years (and co-signer's)
- Application to sponsor, undertaking and financial evaluation forms
- Your birth certificate naming your parents
Parent documents
- Passports and national identity documents
- Birth and marriage certificates
- Generic application form and Schedule A
- Police certificates
- Immigration medical exam
- Photos meeting IRCC specifications
How to apply for PGP sponsorship
The sequence starts long before IRCC opens an intake. Meeting the income requirement takes three years of tax filings.
Check your income history
MNI + 30% for three consecutive tax years.
Submit an interest-to-sponsor form
When IRCC opens the form.
Receive an invitation
IRCC randomly selects sponsors from the pool.
Submit the complete application
Sponsor and parent applications together, by the deadline.
Medical and biometrics
When IRCC requests them.
COPR and landing
Your parents become permanent residents.
PGP sponsorship vs Super Visa
Many families do both: a Super Visa now, permanent residence when an invitation arrives.
| PGP sponsorship | Super Visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Permanent resident | Visitor, multiple entry |
| Healthcare | Provincial coverage | Private insurance required |
| Work | Allowed | Not allowed |
| When you can apply | Only when invited | Any time |
| Income test | MNI + 30% for three years | LICO for one year |
| Commitment | 20-year undertaking | Support letter for the visit |
Be ready the week an invitation arrives
We'll check your income history and build your parents' file now.
Parents and grandparents sponsorship FAQs
Is the Parents and Grandparents Program open now?
It depends on IRCC's plans for the year. We check the current intake status before every consultation.
Can I sponsor my parents and my in-laws?
You sponsor your own parents or grandparents; your spouse sponsors theirs. Each sponsor must meet the income requirement for their family size.
Does Employment Insurance count as income?
EI and some other benefits can count. Social assistance can't.
My parents are visiting. Can they stay while PGP is processed?
A pending PGP doesn't give them the right to stay. A Super Visa or visitor record extension is the safer way.
Bring your parents to Canada for good
Book a consultation and we'll tell you where you stand on income and the next PGP intake.