Ottawa, Canada: Canada Stops Accepting New Sponsorship Applications for Parents and Grandparents
Canada’s Ottawa New applications for sponsorships of parents and grandparents for permanent residency under the Family Class stream have been temporarily suspended by the Canadian government.
Addressing the substantial backlog of applications for processing is the goal of this action, which was detailed in a ministerial directive published in the Canada Gazette. The government reiterates its commitment to family reunification while giving priority to processing applications filed in the preceding year.
This strategy is in line with the government’s larger immigration and family reunification goals, said Immigration Minister Marc Miller. Other immigration streams have similarly stopped new sponsorships to clear the backlog.
Until Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller gives fresh orders, the suspension will be in effect indefinitely.
The Gazette announcement specifies, “These instructions are intended to ensure that, as of January 1, 2025, no new permanent resident visa applications made by parents or grandparents of a sponsor, nor sponsorship applications related to these, will be processed until further Instructions are issued.”
Parents and grandparents can still apply for the super visa, a long-term, multiple-entry visa, even while new applications for permanent residency are on pause.
The government plans to admit more than 24,000 people through the parent and grandparent program this year as part of its immigration levels strategy, which aims to lower overall immigration over the next three years.
The regulation caps the number of applications that can be handled under the family reunification program to 15,000 until 2024. In 2024, however, 35,700 individuals were chosen at random to apply, with a goal of accepting 20,500.
Minister Miller’s 2024 annual immigration report revealed that over 40,000 parent and grandparent sponsorship applications were still in the system at the close of 2023, with an average processing time of 24 months.
The government has also announced plans to reduce its permanent residency target for 2025 from 500,000 to 395,000—a cut of 105,000. Further reductions are planned, with the target decreasing to 390,000 in 2026 and 365,000 by 2027. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau supported the change, stating that “now is the time to make adjustments to stabilize the immigration system and get it right for Canadians.” This planned reduction of over 120,000 immigrants over the next three years marks a departure from last year’s proposal to increase the permanent residency intake to 500,000 by 2025.
