Canada, January 6, 2025 :The Canadian government has temporarily closed new applications for Permanent Residency sponsorship for parents and grandparents. The Canadian Immigration Department has announced that no applications will be accepted under the Super Visa program this year, although the program will continue. According to the department, efforts will be made to process 15,000 applications from previous years that are currently on the waiting list by the end of this year.
It is worth mentioning that the Canadian government had previously allowed foreign nationals with permanent residency to invite their parents, grandparents, and other close relatives permanently under the family reunification program. The department has advised Permanent Residents waiting to submit applications to prioritize keeping their parents with them under the Super Visa, which has already been extended to a five-year validity period.
The department has also reduced the PR quota for skilled workers from abroad under the Post-Graduation Program by 20%, bringing it down to 24,500. Although the department has mentioned this year specifically, internal sources suggest that this move is a step towards permanently closing this program.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller stated that this action would be the most suitable to meet the government’s immigration and family reunification goals. Additionally, to clear the backlog of old applications, new sponsorships in other immigration categories have also been temporarily halted.
According to the government’s three-year immigration plan, overall immigration will decrease, but through parent and grandparent sponsorship, over 24,000 people are targeted for entry this year. Under the new directives, a maximum of 15,000 applications will be processed through the family reunification program in 2024. The program had initially targeted 35,700 applications for 2024. Of these, the government aimed to accept 20,500 applications. However, by the end of 2023, more than 40,000 sponsorship applications were still pending.
Summary: Canada has temporarily halted parent and grandparent sponsorship applications, reduced skilled worker PR quota by 20%, and aims to process 15,000 family reunification applications in 2024