August 20, 2018 – Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), announced that the Government of Canada will accept up to 20 000 applications for sponsoring parents and grandparents in the upcoming year.

The new decision by the IRCC to increase the number of applications regarding the Parent and grandparent Program (PGP), has resulted in the application inventory to reduce from the 167 000 applicants in the year 2011 to 26 000 applicants in the current year.

To ensure to receive as many applications as possible the PGP Program has modified and made further changes to the application intake process, by removing the ‘lottery system’ and inviting applicants on a first come first serve basis. The IRCC increased the cap in 2018 to 17 000 complete applications by sending a second round of invitations to randomly select potential sponsors.

The IRCC will open the ‘Interest to Sponsor form’ online in the year 2019; however, they will invite the applicants to submit an application to sponsor their parents and grandparents based on the order in which they receive the applications in lieu of random selection.

The 2019 cap of complete applications is 20 000, and this new modified system will continue until this number has been achieved.

This is a great change in the process for applicants many of whom were frustrated by the lottery system! It also opens the door to many more applicants to bring their loved ones to Canada for family reunification purposes!