Want to Bring Your Parents to Canada? First, You Have to Win the Lottery
Imagine telling your parents they could finally move to Canada permanently. No more airport goodbyes. No more counting down the days until their next visit.
Then comes the catch: before you can even apply to sponsor them, you need an invitation. And that invitation depends on a lottery you cannot enter right now.
Welcome to Canada's Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP).
The program allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their parents and grandparents for permanent residence. But demand far exceeds available spots, and the invitation system is still tied to a pool created in 2020.
Here's how the lottery works, what income you need, why the program is paused and what families can do instead.
How Intake Works: A Pool, Not a Queue
In fall 2020, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited potential sponsors to submit a short online interest to sponsor form.
Those forms created a pool. Every selection round since has randomly drawn potential sponsors from that pool.
No new interest to sponsor form has opened since 2020. And if you submit a sponsorship application without an invitation, it will be returned.
The Most Recent Round: 2025
The latest intake ran in 2025.
Starting July 28, 2025, IRCC sent 17,860 invitations over about two weeks, aiming to accept 10,000 complete applications.
The last day to apply was October 9, 2025.
If you entered in 2020 and were not invited, you are still in the pool — but there is no guarantee IRCC will draw from it again.
Where the Program Stands Now: Paused
As of late 2026, the PGP is paused.
IRCC is not accepting new interest to sponsor forms or inviting new sponsors, until further notice.
That does not mean every application has stopped. Previously submitted applications continue to be processed — IRCC plans to approve up to 15,000 people in 2026 from its existing inventory.
No reopening date has been announced.
So if you're wondering when you can sponsor your parents, the answer is simple: nobody has an official reopening date.
In the meantime, the best strategy is to prepare.
Who Can Sponsor
When you are invited, the rules are strict.
To qualify, you must be at least 18 years old and be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or person registered under the Indian Act.
You must live in Canada.
That last requirement matters. Unlike spousal sponsorship, Canadian citizens living abroad cannot sponsor a parent or grandparent.
Certain circumstances can also make you ineligible, including being in default on a previous sponsorship undertaking, in prison, an undischarged bankrupt, or receiving social assistance for a reason other than a disability.
And unlike sponsoring a spouse, sponsoring a parent comes with a real income test.
The Income Test: LICO Plus 30%, Three Years Running
The PGP requires sponsors to meet the minimum necessary income (MNI), calculated using Statistics Canada's low income cut-off (LICO) plus 30%.
Your required income depends on your total family size. That includes you, your own family, the people you are sponsoring, and anyone covered by undertakings you have already signed.
Here's the difficult part: you must meet the income requirement in each of the three tax years immediately before you apply.
One weak year can disqualify you.
A spouse or common-law partner can co-sign and combine incomes.
And IRCC wants official proof: only income shown on your Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessment counts.
For the 2025 intake, which assessed the 2024, 2023 and 2022 tax years, a family size of four needed at least $70,972 in 2024.
That figure is a benchmark, not a permanent threshold. IRCC publishes updated income tables for each intake.
Government fees are $1,260 per parent or grandparent under IRCC's current fee list, including the right of permanent residence fee.
The 20-Year Undertaking
Sponsoring a parent or grandparent means signing a 20-year undertaking, the longest commitment under family sponsorship. (10 years in Quebec.)
Starting the day your sponsored parent or grandparent becomes a permanent resident, you are responsible for their basic needs.
You must also repay any social assistance they receive during that period.
It cannot be cancelled early — not for divorce, job loss or family conflict.
Sign it with your eyes open.
The Super Visa: The Alternative That Is Open Now
For most families, the practical route today is the super visa.
Canada's super visa allows eligible parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents to apply for a multiple-entry visitor visa.
Its key features, as IRCC states them:
- Up to 10 years of visa validity, with stays of up to 5 years per entry, extendable from inside Canada
- Private medical insurance with at least $100,000 in emergency coverage, valid for at least one year from entry, covering health care, hospitalization and repatriation
- A host income requirement based on LICO and family size. Since March 31, 2026, IRCC allows hosts to qualify using either of their two most recent tax years
- An immigration medical exam is required
The super visa is visitor status, not permanent residence: no provincial health coverage, no right to work, no path to citizenship from the visa itself.
But for families separated by borders, a stay of up to five years can make an enormous difference.
Instead of waiting for a lottery invitation just to spend extended time together, eligible families can use the super visa to be together now.
The Twikup Take
Canada's parent sponsorship system has an unusual twist: you can meet every eligibility requirement, and still not be able to apply.
The PGP rewards two kinds of preparation: being in the pool when a round opens, and having three clean tax years when your invitation lands.
You cannot control the first.
The second — filing properly and keeping every Notice of Assessment — is in your hands, starting now.
Keep your tax filings accurate, save every Notice of Assessment and understand the 20-year commitment before you sign.
And while the PGP remains paused, consider whether the super visa could bring your family together sooner.
Immigration rules and program status change, and the PGP is currently paused. This explainer reflects IRCC's published information as of November 2026 — always confirm current status and requirements on canada.ca.
Image: AI-generated illustration.