Increased cap on parent sponsorship applications
There is new hope for Canadian immigrants who have been struggling to sponsor their parents and grandparents to Canada under the existing lottery system. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen announced that the Government of Canada will accept up to 20,000 applications for the sponsorship of parents and grandparents in 2019, four times the number of applications that were accepted when the program reopened in 2014.
For 2018, the cap was set for 17,000 but IRCC sent a second round of invitations to a random selection of potential sponsors who submitted an Interest to Sponsor form. Those invited to the second round have until October 5, 2018, to submit a complete application.
Continual high demand in the parents and grandparents program prompted Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to increase the number of applications for 2019. As well, the government has significantly reduced the inventory of applications, from a peak of 167 000 people in 2011, to just under 26,000 people in June 2018.
“Over the last few years, we have made substantial improvements to the parents and grandparents sponsorship process and eliminated the backlog of applications. Now, by accepting even more applications this year and next as well as enhancing the intake system, the Government of Canada is demonstrating its commitment to helping families live, work and thrive together, in Canada.”
Hussen also announced that the government is making further changes to the application intake process that will streamline access to the program and improve client experience.
Interest to Sponsor form
The Interest to Sponsor form will be available online at the beginning of 2019. Different for 2019, however, is a move away from randomly selecting the sponsors to apply. Instead, the government will invite applicants to submit an application for sponsorship based on the order in which the Interest to Sponsor forms were received, until the cap of 20,000 complete applications is reached.
By 2020, the plan is to increase parent and grandparent admission levels to 21,000.
Find out more on sponsoring your parents and grandparents.