Canada to issue 23,100 Parents and Grandparents Program ITAs in 2022

Vimal Sivakumar - 11 October, 2022

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that the selection process the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) 2022 will follow a similar selection format as they did for PGP 2021. This year, IRCC will be conducting a lottery again and sending invitations to apply(ITAs) to 23,100 sponsors who submitted an expression of interest (EOI) in 2020.

ITAs will be sent out over the course of the next two weeks with the goal of accepting up to 15,000 completed PGP applications.

PGP Eligibility

The eligibility criteria for the PGP requires that the sponsor: 

• Had submitted an interest to sponsor form online through IRCC in fall 2020
• Receives an ITA
• Is 18 years old, living in Canada and is either a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act
• Meets all requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
• Is willing to sign an undertaking (more on that below)
• Has enough money to support the people they want to bring to Canada
  

Pertaining to the final bullet above, eligibility for the PGP largely relies on a sponsor's ability to meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI). 

Regarding MNI, sponsors will be assessed to prove that they have the necessary income to support the people they are bringing to Canada. A Canadian sponsor with a spouse or common-law partner may combine their incomes to meet MNI requirements. 

Sponsors (and their co-signers, if applicable) outside of Quebec will have to provide Notices of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) — once they receive an ITA — for each of the three taxation years immediately preceding the date of their application.

Note: If an applicant is selected by IRCC and given an ITA but the sponsor does not meet the MNI requirement, the application will be rejected.

Slight difference in income assessment for the PGP in Quebec 

Canadians living in Quebec and wishing to sponsor a parent or grandparent must have their income assessed by Quebec’s immigration ministry based on that province's specific requirements. 

What is an undertaking?

Both IRCC and Quebec's government require sponsors to sign an undertaking that will outline how long the sponsor will remain financially responsible for the dependant(s) they are sponsoring, starting from when they become Canadian permanent residents. 

Throughout most of Canada, the length of an undertaking through the PGP is 20 years. However, in Quebec, an undertaking is a 10-year commitment.

Sponsor your parents and grandparents for Canadian immigration