Canada: Invitations to Apply For Parents and Grandparents Program Forthcoming

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that it will accept up to 20,500 applications for sponsorship for the Parents and Grandparents Program in 2024, allowing sponsoring Canadian citizens or permanent residents to bring their parents and grandparents to Canada as permanent residents. Starting May 21, 2024, IRCC will be sending out invitations to apply to 35,700 interested potential sponsors, selected randomly from the pool of those who submitted an interest to sponsor form in 2020 (but did not receive an invitation to apply in 2021, 2022 or 2023). IRCC will send invitations over the course of two weeks. Those who are invited to apply will be able to submit online applications using the Permanent Residence Portal or the Representative Permanent Residence Portal. As a reminder, those who are not invited to apply this year may consider having their parents or grandparents apply under Canada’s super visa program, which allows parents and grandparents to visit their Canadian or permanent resident children or grandchildren in Canada for up to five years per entry, renewable for up to two years at a time while in Canada.