Government is making further changes to the application intake process

AHMED Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, on Monday announced that Canada will accept up to 20,000 applications for the sponsorship of parents and grandparents in 2019.

This is four times the number of applications accepted when the program reopened in 2014, when the cap was set at 5,000 applications.

This decision to increase the number of applications that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will accept for processing is a result of continually high demand in the Parents and Grandparents (PGP) Program and the fact that the government has significantly reduced the inventory of applications. The inventory has dropped from a peak of 167,000 people in 2011 to just under 26,000 people, in June 2018.

After increasing the 2018 cap to 17,000 complete applications, the IRCC sent a second round of invitations to randomly selected potential sponsors who submitted an Interest to Sponsor form in early 2018. Those invited to the second round have until October 5, 2018, to submit a complete application.

Hussen also announced that, as a result of listening to stakeholders and closely examining the PGP Program, the government is making further changes to the application intake process that will streamline access to the program and improve client experience.

Using this modified intake process will give the government more flexibility in the application process, ensuring that it receives as many applications as possible.

In 2019, as in previous years, the Interest to Sponsor form will be available online, at the beginning of the year, so eligible potential sponsors can let IRCC know they wish to sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada. However, instead of randomly selecting the sponsors to apply, the IRCC will invite them to submit an application to sponsor their parents and grandparents based on the order in which it receives their Interest to Sponsor forms. This process will continue until the 2019 cap of 20 000 complete applications is reached.

Further details of these improvements to the system will be announced this fall.

Hussen said: “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.”

Quick facts

· IRCC will accept for processing 17,000 applications for sponsorship of parents and grandparents, in 2018, and 20,000 applications, in 2019.

· The number of parents and grandparents to be admitted to Canada in the coming years are as follows:

o In 2018, the government plans to admit 20,000 parents and grandparents in its immigration levels plan.

o Parents and grandparents admission levels will increase to 20,500, in 2019, and 21,000, in 2020.