Notice – Parents and Grandparents Program: Second round of application intake

Ottawa, September 1, 2017— This year, the Government of Canada introduced a new application intake process for the Parents and Grandparents Program. This change improves access to the application process and makes it more fair and transparent.

Under this new process, people who want to sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada first have to complete an online form. Earlier this year, 10,000 individuals were randomly selected from the forms received and invited to submit an application to sponsor their parents and grandparents. They were given 90 calendar days to submit their applications, meaning that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) needed to receive complete applications by August 4, 2017.

IRCC did not receive 10,000 complete applications by August 4, 2017. A second round of emails will be sent to invite additional potential sponsors to submit an application. These additional potential sponsors will be selected using the same randomized list that was prepared to identify the first 10,000 potential sponsors invited to submit an application.

Emails will be sent to the additional potential sponsors inviting them to submit an application to sponsor their parents and grandparents. These potential sponsors will have until December 8, 2017, to submit their complete sponsorship applications to IRCC. The second round of invitations will mean a second chance for many potential sponsors who were not invited in the first round.

The potential sponsors who were invited in the first round, but did not submit applications, will not have another chance to apply in 2017.

Those who are not selected to submit applications in 2017 will have the opportunity to show their interest to sponsor their parents and grandparents again in early 2018.

It is important to note that:

• invitations will be sent to potential sponsors beginning on September 6, 2017
• this process will continue over a few days. Check your email and junk mail carefully throughout that week
• in this second round of invitations, only those who have been randomly selected to submit an application will receive an email

As of September 6, potential sponsors can confirm whether or not they have been selected by looking up their unique Confirmation Number to compare it with the list of numbers that were randomly selected.

• if their number appears, they have been invited to submit their sponsorship application
• if their number doesn’t appear, they have not been selected

If potential sponsors are not sure what their unique confirmation number is, and want to confirm whether or not they were selected to submit an application, they can:

• complete the Check If You Were Selected web form – we’ll respond to potential sponsors within 10 business days to let them know if they were selected or not

Those who have a child or grandchild in Canada, and who wish to spend an extended period of time with their families in Canada, also have the option to apply for the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa, whether they are being sponsored for permanent residence or not. The Super Visa offers holders the option of staying in Canada for up to two years for their initial visit, whereas the regular visa provides a six-month maximum.