PGP 2026: Is the Parents and Grandparents Program Open This Year?

The answer is no — the Parents and Grandparents Program is not accepting new applications in 2026. IRCC issued Ministerial Instructions in January 2026 pausing new PGP intake while the department processes its existing backlog. No new Invitations to Apply have been issued, and no new Interest to Sponsor forms are being accepted.

Here's what that means for families waiting to reunite.

What Actually Happened With the 2025 Intake

Before getting to 2026, it helps to understand the 2025 cycle that just concluded.

In the 2025 PGP intake, IRCC drew from the same 2020 pool it has used since the pandemic disrupted the previous application model. The department issued 17,860 invitations to potential sponsors who had submitted an Interest to Sponsor (ITS) form during a brief window in late 2020. The target was 10,000 completed applications.

The 2020 pool originally contained roughly 203,213 ITS submissions. As of early 2026, approximately 72,000 forms remain undrawn. That pool is being depleted with each annual cycle — but IRCC has not opened a new pool to replace it.

Why 2026 Was Paused

IRCC cited backlog management and alignment with the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan. The plan deliberately stabilizes family class admissions at around 21% to 22% of total permanent resident admissions rather than growing them. With approximately 46,600 PGP applications currently in processing (around 11,700 in Quebec alone), the department's priority is clearing existing files rather than adding new ones.

The pause is not unusual in the history of this program. The PGP has been suspended or significantly curtailed multiple times — most recently during 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. But the current pause is policy-driven rather than crisis-driven, and the 2026-2028 levels plan suggests it is likely to extend into 2027.

If You're Not in the 2020 Pool

This is the situation that affects the largest number of families, and the one where expectations are most out of sync with reality.

If you arrived in Canada and became a permanent resident or citizen after October 2020, you have never had an opportunity to submit an ITS form. You are not in any lottery pool. You cannot participate in the PGP as currently structured because no new ITS window has been announced.

IRCC has not provided a timeline for when a new pool will open. The signals from the 2026-2028 levels plan suggest the focus will remain on the existing backlog for the next two to three years.

For families in this situation, the Super Visa is the only available path right now. It provides authorized stays of up to five years per entry, with the option to extend for two additional years from inside Canada. That's up to seven consecutive years on a single Super Visa — not permanent residency, but a meaningful way to end physical separation while waiting for PGP to resume.

If You Are in the 2020 Pool

If you submitted an ITS form in 2020 and have not yet received an invitation, your form remains in the pool. You don't need to do anything to stay eligible, but you should:

• Ensure your contact information with IRCC is current
• Verify that your citizenship or permanent resident status hasn't lapsed
• Check that any changes in your life (marriage, children, divorce, new address) are documented with IRCC

If your situation has changed significantly since 2020 — for example, you moved to Quebec, your income dropped, or you need to adjust which parent you're sponsoring — document those changes carefully. When an invitation does arrive, you'll need to provide a Letter of Explanation for any material differences between your 2020 ITS submission and your current circumstances.

What the 2026-2028 Outlook Actually Looks Like

The honest answer is that no one knows exactly when the next ITS window will open. Government immigration policy changes with administrations, economic conditions, and political priorities.

What the data suggests:

• The 2020 pool is being drawn down at roughly 17,000-35,000 invitations per year
• At current draw rates, the remaining ~72,000 forms would take two to four more cycles to exhaust
• The 2026-2028 levels plan caps PGP admissions, suggesting no surge in intake targets
• A new ITS window is likely to open eventually once the existing pool is depleted — potentially in 2027 or 2028

Families who are not in the current pool should focus on two things: applying for a Super Visa now to reduce the physical separation, and staying informed so they can submit an ITS form the moment a new window opens.

Using the Waiting Period Productively

The time between now and a future PGP intake is not wasted time. Sponsors who use it to prepare dramatically improve their chances of a successful application when they do receive an invitation.

That preparation includes:

• Three years of NOA documentation: Your income assessment will cover three tax years. If your income is borderline, you have time now to understand your family size calculation and adjust your finances accordingly.
• Pre-staging documents from abroad: Police certificates, birth certificates, marriage and divorce records — these take time to obtain from many countries. Having them ready before an invitation arrives is the difference between hitting the 60-day deadline and missing it.
• Super Visa as a bridge: Parents visiting on a Super Visa remain in the sponsored family's household, which makes the eventual PGP transition smoother for everyone.

The Canada Parent/Grandparent Sponsorship Guide includes a pre-lottery readiness checklist designed specifically for the waiting period, so that when an invitation does arrive, the 60-day window isn't wasted gathering documents that could have been staged months earlier.

The Bottom Line

The PGP is closed for new applications in 2026. If you're in the 2020 pool, your form is still there — sit tight, keep your information current, and prepare your documents. If you're not in the pool, the Super Visa is your immediate option while you wait for IRCC to announce a new intake window. Monitor the IRCC website and set a news alert for "Parents and Grandparents Program" — new windows have historically opened with little advance notice.

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