Canada Pauses Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Applications in 2025

What Is Happening?

The federal government of Canada will not accept any new applications this year from people who want to sponsor their parents or grandparents to come to Canada as permanent residents.

• This program is meant to help families reunite.
• It lets Canadian citizens and permanent residents bring their parents or grandparents to live in Canada permanently.
• The pause is in effect "until further notice."

Why Did the Government Do This?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) — the government department in charge of immigration — said this change helps them:

• Manage the immigration system in a responsible way
• Reduce wait times for everyone

In a statement posted online on Wednesday, IRCC said:

• Way more people want to use this program than there are spaces available
• There are already 60,500 applications being processed
• Wait times are about 33 months (almost 3 years)
  • In Quebec, wait times can be up to 66 months (over 5 years)

Important Point: The pause on new applications does NOT change the plan to approve up to 15,000 people for permanent residence in 2026 and 2027 through this program.

How the Program Works (Simple Version)

The program started in 2020. Here is how it usually goes:

1. A Canadian citizen or permanent resident says they are interested in sponsoring a parent or grandparent.
2. In 2020, more than 200,000 people said they were interested.
3. Each year, the government picks thousands of those interested people to formally apply.
4. If approved, the parent or grandparent becomes a permanent resident.

Canada’s Bigger Immigration Plan

The government’s immigration levels plan (released last fall) includes:

• A goal to admit 380,000 permanent residents per year between 2026 and 2028
• A cut to temporary work and student visas in 2026 to almost half of what was issued in 2025

Because of these changes:

• Population growth is expected to stay flat this year
• This is the second year in a row with little to no growth

Immigration Has Become a Hot Topic

Immigration has been a politically charged (heated) topic in Canada lately.

• The federal Conservatives say the system is broken.
• They accuse the Liberals of policies that hurt the long-held belief that immigration is good for Canada.

Briefing materials for Immigration Minister Lena Diab in 2025 showed:

• Government polls found support for immigration dropped in 2023 and 2024
• This was the lowest support in 30 years
• In November 2024, more than half of surveyed Canadians said too many immigrants were coming

In a May social media video, Diab said the government is "working to restore control and sustainability to our immigration system."

Other Changes and Backlogs

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government passed a law in March that:

• Tightens rules for asylum claims (protection requests)
• Cancels thousands of old claims made after a new deadline
• Gives the government power to cancel many visas at once

The IRCC has had backlogs (piles of unprocessed applications) for years. As of April 30:

• Over 2.1 million total applications were in the system
• More than 922,000 were in backlog (took longer than the department’s own standards)
• Less than half of permanent residence applications met service standards

Between January and April this year:

• 112,900 people became permanent residents through various programs

What Can Families Still Do?

Even with the pause, Canadian citizens and permanent residents can still:

• Apply for a super visa for their parents or grandparents
• This lets them visit for 5 years at a time
• Total stay can be up to 10 years on a temporary basis

Summary

Canada is not taking new applications in 2025 to sponsor parents and grandparents for permanent residence. This is to cut wait times and manage a system with huge demand and big backlogs. About 60,500 applications are already in line, with waits up to 5+ years in Quebec. The pause does not affect the 15,000 spots planned for 2026–2027. Meanwhile, a super visa remains an option for family visits. Immigration support has dropped politically, and the government is tightening many rules.

FAQ

1. Can I still sponsor my parent or grandparent later?
Maybe. The pause is "until further notice," so new applications are stopped for now but could reopen in the future.

2. Does this mean no parents or grandparents can come at all?
No. The super visa lets them visit for long periods (up to 10 years total). Also, 15,000 people are still planned to be approved in 2026–2027.

3. Why are wait times so long?
Interest in the program is much higher than available spaces, and the department has a large backlog across many programs.

4. What is a backlog?
It means applications that take longer to process than the government’s own expected time limits.

5. Is Canada stopping all immigration?
No. The country still plans to welcome 380,000 permanent residents per year from 2026 to 2028, just with adjusted temporary visa numbers.