Direct answer
The Parents and Grandparents Program, the PGP, is paused in 2026 under Ministerial Instructions 89: no new interest to sponsor form is accepted. The last intake took place in 2025 and consisted of inviting people who had submitted their interest to sponsor form in 2020, which tells you everything about the backlog. When the program runs, it requires the sponsor to meet a minimum necessary income equal to the low income cut-off plus 30 percent, met for each of the three consecutive tax years preceding the application, and a 20-year undertaking, reduced to 10 years in Quebec. For families who want to bring the generations together now, the concrete alternative is the super visa, which allows long stays without leading to permanent residence.
Let's start with the bad news, clearly
I would rather write this sentence plainly, because too many sites bury it in conditionals: in 2026, you cannot file a new sponsorship application for your parents or grandparents. The program is paused by Ministerial Instructions 89, and the interest to sponsor form, which is the mandatory entry point, accepts no new submissions.
I know what that information does to people, because I get those messages every week. People who waited years to become eligible, who finally obtained citizenship or stabilized their income, and who discover the door is shut for reasons that have nothing to do with them. There is no elegant way to say it. What I can do is explain precisely where the program stands, what remains possible, and how to prepare for the day it reopens.
My usual disclaimer: I am an independent writer, neither a lawyer nor a regulated immigration consultant. A program's status can change through a single ministerial instruction published on a Tuesday morning. Always check the PGP's status on Canada.ca before any decision, and be wary of middlemen offering early registration: it does not exist.
What the suspension means exactly
A suspension is not an abolition, and the nuances matter for your planning.
No new interest to sponsor forms
The PGP works in two stages. First, an interest to sponsor form, open for a given period, in which potential sponsors put their names forward. Then IRCC invites a certain number of people from among those who declared themselves, and only invited people may submit a complete application.
In 2026, the first stage is closed: no new interest to sponsor form is accepted. That means even a sponsor meeting every income and status condition cannot enter the pool. It is not a question of individual eligibility, it is an administrative closure.
The last intake, and what it reveals
The last intake dates from 2025, and it invited people who had submitted their interest to sponsor form in 2020. Hold on to that figure, because it says everything: five years between declaring interest and being invited. The pool assembled in 2020 was not yet exhausted, and that partly explains the closure of new submissions.
For you, that means two things. If you submitted an interest to sponsor form during a past opening, your name may still be in the pool, and you should watch your email, junk folder included, along with your online account. If you never submitted one, there is nothing you can do until the program reopens.
Files already submitted continue
An important point for those already in the pipeline: pausing new interest to sponsor forms does not stop the processing of applications already filed. If your file is in progress, it continues its course, with the usual medical, security and admissibility checks. Keep responding to document requests on time, and keep your contact details current.
Minimum necessary income: the condition that eliminates the most sponsors
When the program is open, the financial requirement is what disqualifies most candidates, and it is stricter than people assume.
How the threshold is calculated
The minimum necessary income equals the low income cut-off, often abbreviated LICO in English or SFR in French, plus 30 percent. That uplift is specific to the PGP: it does not exist for other forms of sponsorship, and it reflects the long-term burden of welcoming an additional generation.
The threshold depends on family size, and how that size is counted often surprises people. You count the sponsor, their spouse or common-law partner, their dependent children, anyone they have already sponsored whose undertaking is still running, the people they wish to sponsor, and those people's dependants, even if they are not accompanying. Sponsoring two parents with a dependent minor sibling therefore does not add two people to your household, it adds three.
Three consecutive years, no exceptions
Here is the rule that sinks otherwise solid files: the income must meet the threshold for each of the three consecutive tax years preceding the application, meaning 2023, 2024 and 2025 for an application filed in 2026.
If a single one of those three years falls below the threshold, the application is ineligible, whatever your current income. A sponsor earning very comfortably today but who had a difficult 2024 because of parental leave, illness, unemployment or starting a business does not meet the condition. It is mechanical, and it is not negotiable.
IRCC verifies these incomes with the Canada Revenue Agency, using notices of assessment. In other words, your tax returns speak, not your pay stubs or bank statements. One more reason to file every year, even on a low income, as I explain in my article on your first tax year in Canada.
Co-signing with a spouse
A sponsor may, under the conditions provided by the program, add their spouse's or common-law partner's income to reach the threshold, provided that person also signs the undertaking. The precise terms of that co-signature, its consequences and the required documents must be checked on the official page when the program reopens. <!-- TODO verify --> It is often the key that gets a household over the bar, but it commits the second person for the full length of the undertaking.
The 20-year undertaking, 10 years in Quebec
The PGP's other heavy condition is the length of the undertaking, and it is nothing like spousal sponsorship.
By sponsoring a parent or grandparent, you commit for 20 years from the day that person obtains permanent residence. In Quebec, that period is 10 years. Throughout, you answer for the sponsored person's basic needs and must repay any social assistance they receive.
Twenty years is longer than most mortgages and than many marriages. The undertaking is not extinguished by a divorce, a job loss, a family falling-out or a move abroad. I do not say this to discourage anyone: reuniting your family is a legitimate and often essential project. I say it because a commitment of that length deserves a serious family conversation, budget in hand, rather than an enthusiastic signature at the end of a file. The general framework for these undertakings is set out in my guide to family sponsorship in Canada.
Who can be sponsored, when the program is open
The PGP's scope is wider than it looks, and that is good news for families.
You can sponsor parents and grandparents, biological or adoptive. The application can include their spouse or partner, their unmarried dependent children under 22, and dependants over 22 who cannot support themselves because of a disability. So you are not sponsoring an isolated person but a family unit, and that is precisely what inflates the household size used for the income calculation.
Parents-in-law, meaning your spouse's parents, cannot be sponsored by you: it is your spouse who must sponsor them, if they are a citizen or permanent resident. Brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts do not fall into this category, apart from the very narrow residual exception I describe in the pillar article.
The super visa: the concrete alternative during the pause
Since the permanent residence door is closed, let's talk about the one that stays open, and which is more useful than many people think.
The super visa is a multiple-entry visitor visa, valid for up to 10 years, allowing stays of up to 5 years per entry, with the possibility of requesting a 2-year extension from within Canada. In other words, it lets grandparents live near their grandchildren for years, without an administrative interruption every six months.
The main conditions are an invitation letter from the child or grandchild in Canada, proof that the host meets the required income threshold, private medical insurance of at least CAN$100,000 valid for at least one year, an immigration medical exam, and a demonstrated intention to return home. Observed timelines are often measured in weeks, nothing like sponsorship.
The limit is clear, and I will say it plainly: the super visa does not lead to permanent residence. It is not a disguised route to PR, and presenting it as one would be misleading you. It is a family-life solution, not a status solution. Many families in fact run both in parallel: a super visa to live together now, an interest to sponsor form the day the PGP reopens. I detail the conditions, the insurance traps and the border crossing in my article on the super visa.
Preparing intelligently during the closure
The wait is not dead time. Here is what I advise the families concerned.
First, secure your three years of income. Since the threshold is assessed over the three tax years preceding the application, every year that falls below the bar potentially costs you an extra year of waiting, even after reopening. File your returns on time, keep your notices of assessment, and if you are planning unpaid leave or a change in employment status, measure its effect on your future eligibility.
Second, prepare your parents' documentary file now: valid passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, proof of the parent-child link, certified translations where documents are in neither English nor French. Those papers take months to gather in some countries, and PGP windows are short. My documentary reflexes are in immigration documents for Canada.
Third, set up serious monitoring. The program's status is verified on the official PGP page, and any reopening comes through an announcement and a ministerial instruction. My monitoring method, with the hierarchy of sources, is in following IRCC news. And remember the golden rule: nobody can register you in advance or guarantee you a spot. Any such offer is a scam, as I explain in avoiding immigration misinformation.
Fees, timelines and realistic expectations
Two words of caution to finish, because these are the two subjects where the most outdated figures circulate.
On fees: the amounts applicable to sponsorship were affected by the indexation that took effect on 30 April 2026, and most schedules published online predate it. So I quote no sponsorship amount. <!-- TODO verify --> The only stable figure I can restate is the $600 right of permanent residence fee per adult. Consult the official schedule on the day you pay.
On timelines: when the program runs, observed durations for a PGP file are often between 18 and 36 months, depending on the processing office and the complexity of the case. Those are observed orders of magnitude, not official commitments, and they apply only to applications actually filed after an invitation. Check the official processing times tool, keeping in mind my warning in IRCC processing times.
Once your parents arrive: what the sponsor should anticipate
Suppose the best case: the program reopens, you are invited, your file succeeds, and your parents become permanent residents. This section covers what few articles address, namely the life that follows, because it determines whether a twenty-year undertaking is lived well or badly.
Health coverage and the waiting period
This is subject number one. Health insurance is provincial, and several provinces impose a waiting period on new residents before coverage begins. For older people, that gap is a major financial risk, and it lands precisely when the move, the jet lag and the stress are straining their health.
The fix is simple and often neglected: arrange temporary private insurance covering the waiting period, exactly as I recommend to every newcomer in preparing your arrival in Canada. Check the exact length of the waiting period in your province before arrival, not after.
Retirement benefits do not follow automatically
The second reality to absorb early: Canadian public retirement programs carry residency conditions, and someone arriving in Canada at an advanced age is not entitled to them immediately or in full. The precise conditions, the residence periods required and the social security agreements signed with certain countries must be checked case by case. <!-- TODO verify -->
In practice, that means your parents will probably depend on you, on their own foreign pension if it is exportable, and on their savings. That is exactly the logic of the twenty-year undertaking, and it is why the family budget calculation must not stop at the plane ticket.
Housing and daily life
Welcoming your parents under your roof feels natural in many cultures, and it often works very well. But anticipate the concrete questions: space, autonomy, transport once driving becomes difficult, linguistic isolation if your parents speak neither English nor French, access to services designed for seniors.
Settlement organizations run programs for newly arrived seniors, adapted language classes and community activities that break isolation. It is one of the most underused resources, and I describe it in newcomer services.
What comes next: permanent residence, then citizenship
Once they are permanent residents, your parents are subject to the residency obligation of 730 days within any 5-year period, and they can, if they wish, aim for citizenship under the 1,095-day physical presence rule. One point that reassures families: the knowledge of Canada and language requirements apply only to applicants aged 18 to 54, which exempts most parents and grandparents from the test and from language proof. I set out that path in becoming a Canadian citizen.
Frequently asked questions
Is parent sponsorship open in 2026?
No. The Parents and Grandparents Program is paused in 2026 under Ministerial Instructions 89, and no new interest to sponsor form is accepted. The last intake took place in 2025, inviting people who had submitted their interest to sponsor form in 2020. Applications already filed continue to be processed normally. No advance registration exists, and nobody can reserve you a place for a future opening: any offer of that kind is fraudulent. Watch the program's official page, which shows its status in real time.
What income is needed to sponsor your parents?
The sponsor must meet the minimum necessary income, meaning the low income cut-off plus 30 percent, for each of the three consecutive tax years preceding the application, that is 2023, 2024 and 2025 for an application filed in 2026. The threshold depends on family size, which includes the sponsor, their dependants, the sponsored people and those people's dependants. IRCC verifies these incomes with the Canada Revenue Agency using notices of assessment. If a single one of the three years falls below the threshold, the application is ineligible, whatever the current income.
How long is the undertaking for a parent?
Twenty years from the day the sponsored person obtains permanent residence, and ten years if you live in Quebec. During that period you answer for their basic needs and must repay any social assistance they receive. The undertaking does not end on divorce, job loss, a family falling-out or a move. It is the program's heaviest counterpart, and it deserves a serious family discussion before signing, including about the scenario where your financial situation deteriorates.
Can you sponsor your parents-in-law?
Not directly. Your spouse's or common-law partner's parents cannot be sponsored by you: it is for your spouse, if they are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, to sponsor them when the program is open. On the other hand, an application to sponsor your own parents can include their spouse or partner, their unmarried dependent children under 22 and their dependants over 22 with a disability. That inclusion widens the family scope, but it also increases the household size used to calculate the required income.
Does the super visa replace sponsorship?
No, they are totally distinct, and confusing them is the most frequent error on this subject. Sponsorship leads to permanent residence, with a twenty-year undertaking and an income requirement across three years. The super visa is a multiple-entry visitor visa, valid up to ten years, allowing stays of up to five years per entry with a possible two-year extension, and it leads to no permanent status. It is an excellent way to live together during the program's suspension, but it gives neither a permanent resident card nor access to citizenship.
What if my income dropped in only one year?
Unfortunately the rule is mechanical: all three tax years preceding the application must meet the threshold. A single year below makes the application ineligible, even if your current income is more than sufficient. Two strategies exist. The first is to wait until the deficient year falls out of the rolling three-year window, which means choosing your filing year carefully. The second, where the program's conditions allow, is to have your spouse or common-law partner co-sign the undertaking so their income can be added. Check the exact terms on the official page when the program reopens.
Official sources
The Government of Canada's page on sponsoring parents and grandparents shows the program's status, the conditions and the minimum necessary income: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/sponsor-parents-grandparents.html. Ministerial instructions, including Ministerial Instructions 89 which frame the suspension, are published on the department's site. Fees are on the official fee schedule and durations on the processing times tool. A program's status can change through a single instruction: always check the official page before spending money or changing your family plans.