CANADA VIBES NEWSROOM · ÉDITION DU MATIN | MORNING EDITION — Thursday, July 23, 2026, 7:00 AM ET

---

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) confirmed last week it is suspending, until further notice, the intake of new applications under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP), citing the need to reduce a significant backlog.

The federal department announced last Wednesday it would stop accepting new PGP applications. Files already submitted will continue to be processed, with IRCC aiming to grant permanent residence to a maximum of 15,000 people in this category in 2026, in line with the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan.

Processing times remain a major issue: outside Quebec, parent and grandparent sponsorship currently takes about 30 months, compared with 65 months in Quebec, where additional provincial processing considerably extends the wait.

Families hoping to bring a parent or grandparent to Canada during the suspension will need to turn to the super visa, which allows extended stays without granting permanent residence. The government has not announced a date for reopening the program.

The pause is part of a series of recent adjustments to Canadian immigration policy: IRCC is targeting 380,000 new permanent residents annually for 2026, 2027 and 2028 (within a range of 350,000 to 420,000), while working to cut processing times in other categories, including work permits.

What to watch

A possible reopening date for the PGP, and growing use of the super visa as a workaround for families waiting to reunite.

Sources

• La Presse, “Immigration | Ottawa suspend le parrainage des parents et grands-parents”
• CIC News, “Canada shuts door to sponsoring parents and grandparents for permanent residence”
• Immigrer.com, “Le Canada ferme la porte aux nouvelles demandes de parrainage des parents et grands-parents”