Notice – Changes for 2017 Parent and Grandparent Program
Ottawa, January 3, 2017—The 2017 Parent and Grandparent Program (PGP) re-opens today. On December 14, 2016, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced changes to how applicants will apply to sponsor under the PGP.
Starting today at noon Eastern Standard Time (EST), if you want to sponsor your parents or grandparents, you must start by completing an online form and submitting it to us. This year, sponsors will be chosen at random from among those who complete the online form.
We’ve made this change as part of the government’s commitment to fairness and transparency and to improve people’s access to the application process. Before, sponsors had to rush to apply in January when the program re-opened, which led some applicants to pay higher courier fees in an attempt to secure their spot.
There is no rush to complete the online form right away. You have 30 days (from January 3, 2017, to February 2, 2017, at noon EST) to let us know you’re interested in applying to be a sponsor in the PGP.
Important information for you
- Before you fill out the form, make sure you are eligible to apply under the PGP.
- If you are eligible, be sure to include all the information requested on the form.
- Do not submit the form more than once. Doing so will not increase your chances of being chosen to apply to sponsor. We will remove duplicate forms.
- Completing the form does not mean you have applied to sponsor under the PGP. It is just a way for you to tell us you’d like to sponsor under the program.
After you complete and submit the online form, you will be redirected to a confirmation page, where you will get a confirmation number. Keep this number for your records.
After the 30 days are over, we will remove the online form from our website. IRCC will review each form and remove any duplicate forms. We will then randomly choose 10,000 numbered entries.
If your number is chosen, you will be contacted by email and invited to apply to sponsor your parents or grandparents. You will have 90 days from the date we contact you to send us your complete application.
If your number is not chosen, we will contact you by email to let you know. You can complete the online form again in 2018 if you wish.
The 2017 PGP application package will be available on our website on January 9, 2017. Please remember that only those whose number is randomly selected can apply under the program. Details on where to send the application are available in the package.
IRCC takes the confidentiality of your information seriously. The information you provide through our web form is protected under Canada’s Privacy Act.