Finally, after several months of waiting Canada announced the details of the Parents and Grandparents Program for 2021.
Same as in previous years, the Parents and the Grandparents Program or PGP will feature a lottery once again.
IRCC will accept up to 30,000 additional applications to give Canadians and permanent residents the opportunity to bring their parents and grandparents to Canada.
However, the random selection process as used in the previous years, IRCC will send invitations to potential sponsors WHO HAVE ALREADY SUBMITTED an interest to sponsor form in 2020. This means that if you did not submit the interest to sponsor form in 2020, then you won’t have the chance to get an invitation from IRCC.
The lottery will take place the week of September 20, 2021, after which invitations will be sent over the course of two weeks. Those who received the invitation will have sixty (60) days to submit their sponsorship applications to IRCC.
If you submitted an interest to sponsor under the PGP last year, I strongly suggest that you check your email (the email addresses you provided when you submitted the Interest to Sponsor) starting the week of September 20, 2021.
Receiving the invitation does not guarantee the approval of your application, both sponsor and the principal applicant must meet the program’s eligibility criteria. To be a sponsor, you must be 18 years of age or older, a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident or with status First Nations and have the financial ability to support the family member that you are trying to sponsor.
Sponsors must demonstrate and prove that they have sufficient income to support all family members for whom they will be financially responsible including themselves. All applicants are strongly advised to check how much money they will need to support the number of people for whom they will be responsible before submitting an application to the
PGP.
Please note that the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) is a critical eligibility factor under PGP. IRCC will assess the sponsor’s MNI for the three- year period namely 2020, 2019 and 2018 tax years. Applicants who are selected and invited to apply but do not meet the MNI requirement will expect a refusal of their application from IRCC.
Due to COVID-19, IRCC will assess the MNI only for the 2020 tax year, but it will not assess the usual MNI plus 30 %. Applicants may include Employment Benefits (EI) and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) towards their MNI for the 2020 tax year.
The length of undertaking for parents and grandparents is 20 years except for those who live in Quebec.
The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship during the announcement said “The importance of family has never been clearer than during the pandemic. That is why we are delivering on our commitment to help more families reunite in Canada. By strengthening the Parents and Grandparents Program, inviting a record number of sponsors to apply, and by adjusting our requirements to adapt to the current times, we are once again proving our commitment to helping Canadian families stay together, and thrive
together.”
If you have questions regarding the above article, you may contact Marjorie at [email protected]
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
A word of caution: You should not act or rely on the information provided in this column. It is not a legal advice. To ensure your interests are protected, retain or formally seek advice from a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) in good standing of ICCRC. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of RCIC’s.
