Family Sponsorship Update — May 7, 2026
Thursday, May 7, 2026
Family sponsorship processing times dropped as of February 2026, with the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) showing notable reductions in wait times compared to January 2026.
The 2025 PGP intake is now closed — 17,860 invitations were sent to 2020 interest-to-sponsor registrants, with a target of 10,000 complete applications; the last day to apply was October 9, 2025.
New Ministerial Instructions for the Parents and Grandparents Program came into effect January 1, 2026, to allow continued processing of existing applications; details on the next intake have not yet been announced.
What You Should Do
- If you submitted a PGP application before October 9, 2025, check the status of your application through your IRCC secure account at canada.ca/ircc-signin — processing times for PGP have decreased as of February 2026.
- If you were not invited to apply in the 2025 PGP intake, monitor IRCC's official Parents and Grandparents Program page (canada.ca/sponsor-parents-grandparents) and IRCC's social media channels for announcements on the next intake — no date has been confirmed yet.
- If your parents or grandparents are not eligible for the current PGP intake, consider applying for a Super Visa as an alternative — check updated income requirements effective April 1, 2026 at canada.ca/super-visa before applying.
Sources
Topics Covered
Spousal Sponsorship Processing Improvements: Family sponsorship processing times, including spousal sponsorship, declined between January and February 2026, with the PGP showing the most notable improvement.
Parents and Grandparents Program Regional Disparities: The 2025 PGP intake is closed with 17,860 invitations issued from a 2020 registrant pool; new Ministerial Instructions effective January 1, 2026 allow existing applications to continue processing while no new intake date has been announced.
More Family Sponsorship Updates
Family Sponsorship Update — June 11, 2026
Jun 11, 2026
Family Sponsorship Update — June 8, 2026
Jun 8, 2026
Family Sponsorship Update — June 4, 2026
Jun 4, 2026
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