Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Canada: PGP and Super Visa Guide 2026

1. Is Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Open?

The PGP is a permanent-residence sponsorship program, not a continuously open application stream. Preparing documents or meeting income requirements does not create a right to submit during a pause.

A Super Visa may offer an extended temporary visit for an eligible parent or grandparent. It is a separate application and does not replace permanent residence. This guide explains both options without promising an intake date or approval.

For other family categories, start with the Family Sponsorship Canada guide.

2. PGP Versus Super Visa: Two Different Outcomes

Choose the intended outcome first. A longer visit is not permanent immigration, and a temporary visa's validity is not an unlimited right to remain.

3. Who Can Sponsor Parents or Grandparents?

PGP sponsor requirements include an invitation under the applicable intake, age 18 or older, residence in Canada and qualifying status as a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or person registered under the Canadian Indian Act. The sponsor must also meet the financial and other eligibility conditions.

The primary residential address must remain in Canada through the required application and decision period. The citizen-abroad exception used for some spouse or child sponsorships should not be imported into parent sponsorship.

Review possible bars involving imprisonment, relevant convictions, a removal order, non-disability social assistance, undischarged bankruptcy and defaulted obligations. Quebec-specific treatment must be checked where applicable.

An eligible spouse or common-law partner may co-sign to combine income, but co-signing is an obligation, not merely permission to use another person's salary. Read the sponsor eligibility and undertaking guide.

4. Which Relatives Can Be Included?

The principal applicant must be your own qualifying parent or grandparent by blood or adoption. Eligible accompanying family can include their spouse or partner and qualifying dependent children.

You cannot use your invitation to sponsor your partner's parents as your own principal applicants. Your partner needs the appropriate invitation and sponsorship basis; you may be a qualifying co-signer on their application.

Adult siblings cannot simply accompany your parents because the family wishes to reunite. They must meet the dependent-child definition. Divorced parents generally require separate applications, while married parents who are separated require careful use of IRCC's family-structure instructions.

Identify the principal applicant correctly before submitting. Do not assume the designation can be changed later. See the dependent child guide for dependency rules.

5. PGP Income Requirements and Family Size

Outside Quebec, the ordinary PGP framework requires qualifying income for each of the three tax years before applying. Assess each year separately; a strong current salary does not automatically cure a deficient earlier year.

Family size is more than the number of people living in your home. Follow the rules for the sponsor's family, the sponsored relatives and their family members, and existing sponsorship obligations. Non-accompanying relatives may still count.

The currently published income table is expressly for the 2025 intake and uses 2024, 2023 and 2022. It should not be relabelled as a new 2026 intake table. If intake resumes, confirm the applicable years and thresholds before deciding eligibility.

Organize CRA notices of assessment and a year-by-year family-size worksheet. In Quebec, use the provincial financial assessment instead of copying the outside-Quebec table.

6. The 20-Year Undertaking Outside Quebec

Outside Quebec, parent and grandparent sponsorship ordinarily creates a 20-year undertaking from permanent residence. It requires basic support and repayment of applicable social assistance during the commitment.

The responsibility does not simply disappear if finances deteriorate, the relationship changes, the sponsored person becomes a citizen or the family moves. Co-signers also accept enforceable responsibility.

Consider the long-term budget before relying only on a minimum-income calculation: accommodation, care arrangements and costs not covered by public services may affect the household. Insurance or a private agreement with the parent should not be treated as cancelling the government undertaking.

A withdrawal request must be handled before permanent residence under the applicable instructions. Do not assume sending a request is confirmation that the application or commitment has ended.

7. Quebec Undertaking and Current Intake Rules

Quebec sponsors need the provincial undertaking and financial assessment, following IRCC and MIFI instructions. Quebec's parent and grandparent undertaking is 10 years, rather than the ordinary outside-Quebec 20-year period.

As checked October 10, 2026, MIFI's July 2, 2026 to June 30, 2028 reception framework has a 2,400-application category covering parents, grandparents and specified other relatives. It is not 2,400 places reserved exclusively for parents.

Staged intake uses the date of the qualifying IRCC sponsor eligibility letter. The current stage permits letters dated on or before January 31, 2025; the announced November 1 stage advances this to June 30, 2025. Capacity and mailing requirements also apply.

A provincial reception window does not reopen federal PGP intake. Existing eligible federal cases and new federal applications are different situations; verify both levels before sending an undertaking.

8. PGP Documents and Application Process

For an application authorized under the applicable intake, follow its invitation, deadline, current package and portal instructions. Sponsorship and permanent-residence components are submitted together. An interest form is not a permanent-residence application.

Typical evidence addresses identity, the parent or grandparent relationship, family structure, sponsor status, income, signatures and translations. Applicants must also respond to relevant medical, police and biometrics requests.

• Map the family relationships and identify the correct principal applicant.
• Reconcile names and dates across civil records and forms.
• Prepare the required income evidence for the applicable intake years.
• Explain unavailable documents with evidence rather than omitting required facts.
• Retain the exact submitted package and confirmation.

These preparation steps are not permission to submit during the current pause. Instructions from an earlier intake may remain relevant to an existing case without opening a new one.

9. Medical Requirements and Existing Applications

Existing PGP applications continue to be assessed during the intake pause. Keep contact details current and respond to requests within the stated deadline. Published processing estimates are not a promise of arrival by a particular date.

Parents and grandparents should not assume they have the spouse or child exemption from excessive-demand medical inadmissibility. Medical assessment may involve public health, public safety and excessive demand, depending on the facts and applicable law.

A diagnosis does not itself establish the result. Where IRCC raises a concern, assess the specific reasons and requested response rather than relying on a general assertion that family sponsorship removes medical requirements.

Plan visits separately while permanent residence is pending. A sponsorship application does not grant temporary status or authorize entry.

10. Super Visa Eligibility for Parents and Grandparents

A Super Visa applicant must have a qualifying child or grandchild host in Canada who is at least 18, has the required Canadian status, meets the financial requirements and provides an invitation. The relationship can be biological or adoptive.

The parent or grandparent applies from outside Canada and needs the required medical examination and qualifying private health insurance. Temporary-entry requirements still apply, including whether the person is a genuine visitor who will leave at the end of the authorized stay.

A pending PGP application does not necessarily prevent a separate Super Visa application, but it does not guarantee one. Explain the visit honestly, including family circumstances, finances and relevant home-country ties.

11. Super Visa Income Rules Updated in 2026

Super Visa financial evidence is not the PGP three-year test. Under the current IRCC instructions, one option is to demonstrate the required host income, including a qualifying co-signer where applicable, in either of the two tax years before submission.

The second option requires host income of at least 75% of the applicable minimum in the preceding year and permits the applicant's documented income to cover the balance. The combined amount must meet the full requirement, with evidence that the applicant's income continues while in Canada.

Calculate family size carefully, including relevant existing undertakings and earlier Super Visa invitations. Use the current official threshold and evidence instructions rather than a PGP income chart or an outdated article.

The host's qualifying spouse or common-law partner may co-sign; other relatives are not interchangeable co-signers.

12. Super Visa Health Insurance and Documents

Required insurance must be valid for at least one year from entry, cover health care, hospitalization and repatriation, and provide at least CAD 100,000 in emergency coverage. A quote alone is not accepted; the policy must be paid in full or in instalments with a deposit.

Insurance can come from a Canadian insurer or a qualifying foreign insurer meeting the current approval requirements. Not every overseas policy qualifies: check the insurer's authorization and the required statement about issuance while doing insurance business in Canada.

Carry valid policy evidence for each entry and maintain coverage during the stay. Also prepare the invitation, host status and relationship documents, medical evidence and any local visa-office requirements.

Review exclusions and renewal terms before purchasing; the immigration coverage minimum is not a guarantee that every medical expense is covered.

13. Length of Stay, Extensions and Temporary Status

Under the current Super Visa framework, eligible parents and grandparents can be authorized to stay up to five years per entry. The visa may provide multiple entries over a validity period of up to 10 years, but visa validity and authorized stay are different.

Eligible visitors can apply for an extension while in Canada; IRCC describes possible two-year extensions. Apply under the relevant status rules and do not treat an extension as automatic.

Check the actual entry record, passport limits and any visitor record. Older entries may have different authorized periods. A new policy announcement should not be assumed to rewrite an earlier stay automatically.

A Super Visa does not itself authorize employment or confer permanent residence. A visitor must continue to meet the applicable temporary-status conditions.

14. PGP and Super Visa Fees

On October 10, 2026, the federal PGP fee is CAD 1,260 for a parent or grandparent including the right of permanent residence fee, or CAD 660 without that CAD 600 fee. An accompanying spouse or partner is listed at CAD 1,260 including RPRF; an included dependent child is CAD 180.

The visitor visa fee, including Super Visa, is CAD 100 per applicant. Biometrics, where required, are CAD 85 per person or up to CAD 170 for an eligible family applying together.

Medical examinations, insurance, translations and Quebec undertaking fees are separate. Recheck fees at payment time. A PGP fee payment does not overcome the intake pause, and Super Visa costs should include continuing insurance rather than only the application charge.

15. Refusal: Sponsorship Appeal or Court Review?

Distinguish a PGP sponsor eligibility decision from refusal of the parent's permanent-residence application. An eligible Family Class sponsor may have an Immigration Appeal Division appeal, subject to statutory restrictions; the notice ordinarily must be received within 30 days of receipt of the PR refusal.

Not every refusal is appealable. In particular, the misrepresentation exception to the section 64 appeal bar covers a spouse, common-law partner or child, not parents and grandparents.

A Super Visa refusal does not have the Family Class sponsorship appeal merely because the host is a relative. Reapplication, reconsideration and Federal Court judicial review are distinct possibilities requiring assessment of the decision.

Court review requires leave and applicable appeal exhaustion. IRPA section 72 ordinarily provides 15 days for a Canadian matter or 60 days for an outside-Canada matter from notification or awareness. Neither requesting notes nor reconsideration suspends the deadline.

See sponsorship refusal and appeal options and the Federal Court immigration pillar.

16. Frequently Asked Questions

Can I submit a new PGP application now?

New intake is paused as checked October 10, 2026. Eligibility or document preparation alone does not authorize submission.

Are existing parent sponsorship applications cancelled?

No. IRCC states that existing applications continue to be processed.

Does a Super Visa give permanent residence?

No. It supports extended temporary visits, not permanent-resident status.

Can a Canadian citizen abroad sponsor parents from abroad?

Do not apply the spouse-and-child residence exception to PGP. Parent sponsorship requires the relevant residence-in-Canada conditions.

Can I sponsor my in-laws using my invitation?

No. Your partner needs their own applicable sponsorship basis; you may qualify as their co-signer.

Can my adult sibling accompany my parents?

Only if the sibling meets the applicable dependent-child requirements. Being related is not enough.

Is one good income year enough for PGP?

The outside-Quebec framework assesses each of three required tax years. Super Visa has a different financial test.

Can a parent's income help meet the Super Visa threshold?

Potentially under the current second financial-evidence option, with the minimum host contribution and continuing-income evidence required by IRCC.

Is Super Visa insurance restricted to Canadian insurers?

No. Qualifying foreign insurers may be used, but the current authorization and policy requirements must be met.

Does Quebec's undertaking window reopen federal PGP intake?

No. Federal intake and provincial undertaking reception are separate requirements.

Can a Super Visa holder work without a permit?

The Super Visa itself does not authorize work. Any employment requires a separate lawful basis.

Does asking for reconsideration extend an appeal deadline?

No. Identify the available remedy and its deadline immediately.