Parents and Grandparents Program 2026: Intake Paused, Super Visa Is the Active Path
The Parents and Grandparents Program 2026 is closed to new applications. IRCC paused intake through ministerial instructions effective January 1, 2026, and no interest-to-sponsor form is open. The 2025 round drew from the 2020 pool. IRCC is not accepting new forms or issuing invitations until further notice. This guide covers who is still being processed, the income requirements, the 20-year undertaking, and why the Super Visa is the practical path for most families right now.
Last reviewed by Narek Mirzoyan, RCIC # R1005184, on 2026-05-30.
TL;DR
There is no 2026 Parents and Grandparents Program intake. IRCC paused new applications through ministerial instructions effective January 1, 2026, with no announced reopening date. The 2025 round drew 17,860 invitations from the 2020 interest-to-sponsor pool. IRCC is not accepting new forms or issuing invitations until further notice. The active path for parents and grandparents this year is the Super Visa, a multi-entry visa valid for up to 10 years rather than permanent residence. This page covers the 2026 status, the income math by family size, the 20-year undertaking, the refusal patterns I see most, and how to choose between PGP and the Super Visa.
The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) is the family-class pathway that lets a Canadian citizen or permanent resident sponsor a parent or grandparent for permanent residence, and for 2026 it is closed to new applications. IRCC paused intake through ministerial instructions, effective January 1, 2026, with no reopening date announced. No interest-to-sponsor form is open. The 2025 round, the most recent draw, issued 17,860 invitations from the leftover 2020 pool toward a 10,000-application target, and the application window closed October 9, 2025. If your name was not in that 2020 pool, there is no way into PGP in 2026.
For the full family-class framework around this page, see our guide to spousal sponsorship in Canada.
Table of Contents
Is PGP open in 2026?
No. IRCC paused new PGP intake effective January 1, 2026, and no interest-to-sponsor form is open. The 2025 round was the most recent draw and used the 2020 pool. IRCC is not accepting new forms or issuing invitations until further notice.
The pause comes from a ministerial instruction, not a program cancellation. What this means is that the legal framework for PGP still sits in the IRPR family-class regulations. IRCC simply chose not to open a new intake window this year. The program could return with new instructions, which the 2026 instructions leave open, but no date has been set.
There is a real difference between paused and cancelled. Cancelled would mean the regulation is gone. Paused means the regulation stays and the intake is closed. For sponsors who were invited in 2025 and filed complete applications before the October 9 deadline, IRCC keeps processing those files. For everyone else, the practical reality is plain: you cannot file a new PGP application in 2026.
The 2020 interest-to-sponsor pool supplied the 2025 round. IRCC's July 15, 2026 notice says it is not accepting new forms or issuing invitations until further notice. The notice does not say every name in the 2020 pool was exhausted. There is no open pool to join today.
What the Parents and Grandparents Program actually is
PGP is a family-class sponsorship stream. It lets a Canadian citizen or permanent resident sponsor a parent or grandparent for permanent residence. That leads to PR, which is the line that separates it from the Super Visa. The Super Visa grants visitor status, not permanent residence. Some authorized visitor days may count toward citizenship after permanent residence is obtained.
The mechanism is the part most families misread, so it is worth stating directly. PGP is not first-come, first-served. IRCC sets an annual sponsorship target under the Immigration Levels Plan, opens a short window for prospective sponsors to file a free interest-to-sponsor form, and then randomly draws names from that pool to invite. Demand outruns the cap by a wide margin every cycle, which is exactly why the program runs as a lottery and not a queue. Refreshing the IRCC page at midnight does nothing. The selection is random.
For the 2025 round, the cap was 10,000 complete applications, and IRCC issued 17,860 invitations from the 2020 pool to reach it. The invitation count runs higher than the cap on purpose, because not every invited sponsor files a complete application inside the window. That gap between invitations and the target is itself a planning signal: an invitation is permission to apply, not an approval.
The program covers parents and grandparents only. It does not reach siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, or nephews. Sponsoring one of those relatives runs through the narrow "lonely Canadian" exception, which is a separate question with its own conditions.
Who can sponsor a parent or grandparent under PGP?
A Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered Indian aged 18 or older, living in Canada, who meets the Minimum Necessary Income plus 30 percent for the three most recent tax years and is not barred from sponsoring. A spouse or common-law partner can co-sign to combine incomes.
The headline rule is short. The complications sit underneath it, and they are where files fail.
Your primary residential address must be in Canada when you apply and until IRCC decides your application. That is different from spousal sponsorship, where an outland sponsor with a spouse abroad can sometimes sponsor from outside Canada. PGP is a Family Class application. A parent or grandparent may be visiting Canada while the application is processed.
The sponsorship bars apply in full: undischarged bankruptcy, default on a previous sponsorship undertaking, default on a court-ordered support payment, receipt of social assistance other than for disability, certain criminal convictions, removal orders, and detention. Our guide to who can sponsor in Canada walks through each bar and how to clear it.
Two PGP-specific obligations make this stream the strictest in the family class. The income rule is the first. Most spousal sponsorships have no minimum income threshold, while PGP requires MNI plus 30 percent in each of three tax years. The 20-year undertaking is the second. A spouse carries a 3-year undertaking and a dependent child’s undertaking varies with age, but a parent or grandparent carries a 20-year undertaking, or 10 years in Quebec.
What income do I need to sponsor my parents under PGP?
Minimum Necessary Income plus 30 percent for each of the three most recent tax years. The 2025 round used tax years 2024, 2023, and 2022. You had to meet the threshold in all three years, not on average. A short year in any one of the three sinks the file.
The income test is the single largest reason PGP files fail at the eligibility stage. Three variables drive it: which three tax years apply, who counts in your family size, and whether a co-signer is on the file.
The three-tax-year window, with current figures
For the 2025 round, IRCC required the sponsor, plus any co-signer, to meet MNI plus 30 percent in each of tax years 2024, 2023, and 2022. All three count independently. The table below sets out the thresholds by family size. These are the figures published for the 2025 round for sponsors outside Quebec.
When PGP reopens, the relevant three tax years shift forward by one for each year that passes between intakes. The dollar thresholds also rise each year with the underlying Low Income Cut-Off, so treat any saved figure as a snapshot, not a fixed target.
Who counts in family size
Family size for PGP is not just your household. IRCC counts the sponsor, the sponsor's spouse or common-law partner, the sponsor's dependent children whether or not they live with the sponsor, the dependent children of the sponsor's spouse or partner, anyone the sponsor or co-signer has previously sponsored who is still under an active undertaking, the parents and grandparents being sponsored on this application, and the dependants of those parents and grandparents, including dependants who are not coming to Canada.
That last category is the one I see miscounted most often. A parent in Pakistan with an unmarried adult dependent son who has a continuing medical condition counts that son in the sponsor's family size, even though the son is staying behind. The file looks like a family of four to the sponsor and a family of five to IRCC. The threshold jumps a bracket, and the income that looked sufficient no longer is. If you are also weighing a dependent child sponsorship, that child's status and any earlier undertaking for them feed into this same count.
The co-signer rule
A spouse or common-law partner may co-sign the undertaking to combine incomes across the same three tax years. The combined income must clear MNI plus 30 percent in each of the three years, not on average.
Co-signing is not a free pass, though. It carries joint-and-several liability, so both signers take on the full 20-year undertaking. If the sponsored parent ever draws social assistance during that period, IRCC can pursue either signer for the entire amount, regardless of who earned what. Our who can sponsor in Canada guide sets out that liability in detail.
| Family size | Tax year 2024 | Tax year 2023 | Tax year 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 people | $47,549 | $44,530 | $43,082 |
| 3 people | $58,456 | $54,743 | $52,965 |
| 4 people | $70,972 | $66,466 | $64,036 |
| 5 people | $80,496 | $75,384 | $72,935 |
| 6 people | $90,784 | $85,020 | $82,259 |
| 7 people | $101,075 | $94,658 | $91,582 |
| Each additional person | +$10,291 | +$9,636 | +$9,324 |
The Super Visa: the no-lottery alternative while PGP is paused
The Super Visa is the part of this page most families can actually act on in 2026. It is a temporary-resident visa for parents and grandparents that allows multiple entries for up to 10 years, with stays of up to 5 years per entry. There is no lottery, no random draw, and no pool to wait in. You apply when you are ready, and processing turns on the visa office, not on an annual cap.
The trade-off is the status it grants. A Super Visa holder is a long-stay visitor, not a permanent resident. That means no provincial health coverage in most provinces, which is why qualifying private medical insurance of at least 100,000 dollars is a hard requirement, and no direct route to citizenship. Eligible visitor days can count as half-days later, up to 365 credited days within the citizenship eligibility period. For many families the Super Visa is the right tool for the next several years even when PR remains the long-term goal.
The income test is different from PGP, and it changed recently. The Super Visa uses the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO), which is lower than PGP's MNI plus 30 percent. Since March 31, 2026, hosts and eligible co-signers can meet the threshold in either of the two preceding tax years. Alternatively, their income in the preceding year must reach at least 75% of the threshold. The visiting parent’s or grandparent’s income can then cover the remaining amount. That last change opens the door for families whose Canadian income alone fell short under the old rule.
Three reader situations cover most decisions.
Your parent needs a long stay in Canada now. Think medical care for a chronic condition, caregiving for a young grandchild, or extended family time. The active path is the Super Visa. Filing a PGP interest-to-sponsor form is not possible in 2026, and waiting an unknown number of years for the program to return does nothing for a parent who needs to be here this year.
Your parent eventually wants PR. Get the Super Visa now and stay ready for the next PGP intake whenever IRCC opens one. The two run in parallel. Your parent can be living in Canada on a Super Visa when a PGP window opens, and you can file the interest-to-sponsor form at that point. A Super Visa does not disqualify a later PGP application.
Your family income is below the PGP threshold. The Super Visa is still the route, because LICO sits below MNI plus 30 percent, and the 2026 income-supplement change may close a gap that PGP never would have. To hire a super visa consultant for the application and the insurance and invitation-letter requirements, start with a consultation.
Book a Family Sponsorship consultation with Mirzoyan Immigration Services
Reach a Licensed Immigration consultant Today
Book a consultation, or call 1-888-636-2122.
Every consultation is with Narek Mirzoyan, RCIC # R1005184, or Vahe Mirzoyan, RCIC # R514223. Not an intake coordinator.
How long does PGP take to process?
PGP processing takes years in many cases. Check IRCC’s current processing-times tool for the destination province; the estimate does not include waiting for an invitation. For new sponsors there is no current intake, because the program is paused for 2026.
PGP is a Family Class application. A parent or grandparent may be visiting Canada while the application is processed. The inland-versus-outland choice that shapes spousal cases does not arise here. The only timeline variable is the visa office handling the file and whether the application meets a medical, security, or background-check delay.
For comparison, IRCC’s service standard for overseas spousal sponsorship is 12 months. This is a target, not a current processing estimate. PGP can take substantially longer at the application stage, before counting the years a sponsor typically spends in the interest-to-sponsor pool waiting for an invitation that may never come.
When the program reopens, the historical pattern has been a short interest-to-sponsor window of one to three weeks, then a months-long window for selected sponsors to submit, then multi-year processing. Plan around that shape, not around a single deadline.
What does a PGP application cost?
PGP fees follow the same family-class schedule as other PR sponsorships: the sponsor processing fee, the principal-applicant processing fee, the Right of Permanent Residence Fee, and biometrics. Sponsoring both parents on one application doubles the per-person components.
For the current dollar amounts, our spouse sponsorship fees guide holds the verified family-class fee schedule the firm updates each year. The fee structure is shared across the family class, so that page carries the live numbers.
IRCC's fees do not cover the medical exam, police certificates from every country a parent has lived in for six months or more since age 18, document translation, courier, photographs, or representation. Budget for those separately, because they land outside the IRCC fee line and add up.
The Internal Logic of an IRCC Officer
An officer assessing a PGP file is not reading for romance or relationship genuineness, the way a spousal officer does. The PGP relationship is proven by a birth certificate, and the parent-child link is rarely in dispute. The officer is reading for two things instead: income that holds across all three tax years, and admissibility, especially medical admissibility for an applicant who may be older and carrying a chronic condition.
That changes what convinces. On the income side, the officer is not impressed by a strong current year. They are checking each of the three required Notices of Assessment against the threshold for the family size as IRCC counts it, which is often larger than the sponsor assumed. A sponsor who budgeted against their household of four, but whose file counts as five once a parent's overseas dependant is added, has not met the test, no matter how comfortable the raw income looked.
On the admissibility side, the officer applies the excessive-demand test in section 38 of the IRPA. They are estimating the projected cost of the applicant's health condition against a published annual threshold, 28,878 dollars per year for 2026. A response should address the diagnosis, expected services and costs identified by IRCC. A mitigation plan is available only where IRCC permits one for the particular services.
This is where the firm's role earns its keep. When you hire Mirzoyan Immigration Services, the consultant who builds your file is the consultant who answers your questions, and the family-size count gets run first, before the income numbers, because the count decides which threshold the officer will apply. I have helped hundreds of families assemble these files, and the income math is almost never the hard part. The family-size count is.
Red Flags & Procedural Fairness Letters (PFL)
A Procedural Fairness Letter (PFL) is IRCC's formal notice that an officer has a concern serious enough to refuse the file, giving you a short window to respond before they decide. On PGP files, three patterns trigger them more than any others. Each names a specific failure, not a vague warning.
Excessive-demand medical concern. A parent or grandparent with a high-cost condition, such as dialysis, certain cancers needing expensive specialty drugs, or advanced cognitive decline requiring continuous care, can draw a PFL proposing medical inadmissibility. The letter explains the concern and gives you an opportunity to respond. A file that ignores a known condition until this stage is reacting late. Gather current medical evidence early. A promise to pay privately cannot generally replace publicly funded health services such as hospital care.
Income shortfall in the earliest of the three tax years. Sponsor and co-signer clear the threshold in 2024 and 2023 but fall short in 2022, often because one of them was on parental leave or between jobs that year. The officer fires a fairness letter on the income ground, because all three years count independently and the regulation gives no averaging relief. The fix happens before filing, by confirming all three Notices of Assessment against the correct family-size threshold, not after the letter arrives.
Undertaking-default history under the sponsorship bars. A sponsor who defaulted on a prior undertaking, for example a previously sponsored spouse who received provincial welfare, is barred until the default is repaid. An officer who finds the prior default issues a fairness letter, because the bar is on the sponsor, not the application. The fix is to identify and clear the default before filing. If a file is refused on this ground, the route forward runs through the Immigration Appeal Division process.
Book a family sponsorship consultation with Mirzoyan Immigration Services
Reach a Licensed Immigration consultant Today
Book a consultation, or call 1-888-636-2122.
Every consultation is with Narek Mirzoyan, RCIC # R1005184, or Vahe Mirzoyan, RCIC # R514223. Not an intake coordinator.
What is the 20-year sponsorship undertaking for PGP?
A legal obligation to repay any social assistance your sponsored parent or grandparent receives from a Canadian government during the undertaking period. The duration is 20 years outside Quebec and 10 years inside Quebec. The clock starts the day your sponsored relative becomes a permanent resident.
Sponsors routinely misread the undertaking as a deposit or a short-term promise. It is neither. It is a binding commitment that follows you for two decades. If your sponsored parent draws provincial welfare, certain federal income-support payments, or other listed social assistance inside that 20-year window, the issuing province or department can pursue the sponsor, and any co-signer, for the full amount.
"Social assistance" here means provincial welfare programs and a narrow set of federal benefits. It does not include Old Age Security (OAS) or the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for the purpose of triggering undertaking-default. Those are governed separately, although OAS eligibility itself turns on residence rules that matter for a parent who arrives late in life and has few Canadian residence years.
What if the sponsor goes bankrupt or loses their job mid-undertaking? The obligation survives. Bankruptcy can affect an existing sponsorship debt, but the undertaking can continue and new debt may arise afterward. A co-signing spouse who later separates from the sponsor stays liable too, under joint-and-several liability. The undertaking also covers accompanying family members included in the sponsorship.
Strategic Trade-off Matrix: PGP vs Super Visa
The two pathways are not ranked. They answer different questions. PGP delivers permanent residence but is closed for 2026 and gated by a lottery when open. The Super Visa delivers long-stay visitor status, is open now, and turns on no draw. The matrix below sets them against each other on the dimensions that actually decide a family's call.
| Dimension | Parents and Grandparents Program | Super Visa |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic risk | Closed for 2026; entry depends on a random draw from a pool you must already be in. No way to enter now. | Open now; no lottery. Risk sits in the income and insurance proof, both of which are fixable before filing. |
| Appeal rights | A refused sponsorship can be appealed to the Immigration Appeal Division. Full merits review. | A visa refusal has no IAD appeal. The remedy is to reapply or seek Federal Court judicial review. |
| Financial timeline | 20-year undertaking outside Quebec (10 in Quebec); MNI plus 30 percent across three tax years. | No undertaking. LICO in either of the two preceding tax years, or the eligible combined-income option, plus private medical insurance of at least 100,000 dollars per year. |
| Processing trajectory | Check the current IRCC estimate; waiting for an invitation is separate. New intake remains paused. | Months, not years, and you control when you file. |
| Status granted | Permanent residence: provincial health coverage, a path to citizenship, no stay limit. | Long-stay visitor: up to 5 years per entry over a 10-year visa; no PR, no most-province health coverage. |
Key Takeaways
The Super Visa is the active path for parents and grandparents this year, a multi-entry visa valid for up to 10 years with stays of up to 5 years per entry, rather than permanent residence.
Minimum Necessary Income plus 30 percent applies in each of the three most recent tax years, met independently and never averaged. The 2025 round used 2024, 2023, and 2022.
The sponsorship undertaking runs 20 years outside Quebec, 10 years in Quebec, from the day your parent or grandparent becomes a permanent resident.
Mirzoyan Immigration Services' RCICs handle PGP eligibility assessments, Super Visa applications, and the family-size income math, serving clients across Canada in English, Russian, and Armenian.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the PGP lottery work in 2026?
IRCC is not accepting new interest-to-sponsor forms or inviting potential sponsors to apply until further notice. It continues to process existing PGP applications. The 2025 intake drew from people who submitted interest forms in 2020; this does not establish that the entire pool was exhausted. Read the current IRCC PGP notice for any reopening announcement.
What income do I need to sponsor my parents under PGP?
Outside Quebec, sponsors and any eligible co-signer must meet IRCC’s published income threshold for each of the three required tax years, based on the family size in that year. Income is not averaged across the years. The 2025 intake used 2024, 2023 and 2022. Use the amounts in IRCC’s table directly; do not add another 30 percent to those published figures. Quebec assesses income under its own rules. Follow the instructions for the intake in which you are invited.
Can I use a Super Visa instead of PGP for my parents?
Yes, and in 2026 it is the active federal pathway. The Super Visa is a multi-entry visa valid for up to 10 years that allows stays of up to 5 years per entry. It requires meeting the Low Income Cut-Off, holding qualifying private medical insurance of at least 100,000 dollars, passing a medical exam, and providing a signed invitation letter from the inviting child or grandchild. It leads to visitor status, not permanent residence.
Do my parents need medical exams before the PGP invitation arrives?
No. The medical exam comes after IRCC invites you to apply and you submit the complete application. After the complete application is submitted, IRCC sends instructions for the medical examination. Follow those instructions before arranging the exam. The medical assessment is where excessive-demand inadmissibility is evaluated, so families with serious chronic conditions should gather medical records and seek advice about the applicable assessment.
Can my spouse and I combine incomes for PGP sponsorship?
Yes. An eligible spouse or common-law partner may co-sign the undertaking. Outside Quebec, your combined income must meet the applicable threshold in each of the three required tax years, not as a three-year average. Both people must provide the required income evidence. A co-signer shares responsibility for the undertaking and can be liable if its obligations are not met. The PGP undertaking lasts 20 years outside Quebec and 10 years in Quebec; Quebec also assesses income under its own rules.
Conclusion
The 2026 pause does not stop your family from bringing a parent or grandparent here. It changes the route. If your parent needs to be in Canada this year, the Super Visa is the realistic move, and the firm files it on a transparent flat fee. If PR is the long-term goal, the right play in 2026 is to file the Super Visa now and stay ready for the next PGP intake whenever IRCC opens one. Mirzoyan Immigration Services’ RCICs handle both pathways, in English, Russian, and Armenian, in person, online, or by phone.
Book a consultation with a licensed RCIC, or call 1-888-636-2122. Which parent are you hoping to bring over first, and on which timeline?
This article is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal or immigration advice. Individual circumstances vary, and PGP rules and IRCC's processing posture can change. Book a consultation with a licensed RCIC for advice on your specific case.